I've actually had decent experiences using the trolleys - especially when the Blue line (Market/Frankford El) ain't workin'. I take the trolleys from 15th Street to 390th usually and not much else - plus during rush hour there are more of the trolley than there are of the El. And you can get out to West Philly easily. they also have a blue flashing "warning light" to let you know not to go down there if the light is flashing. (Wish the Broad Street line had something similar.). I am a BIG proponent of public transportantion and while it is easy (oh, so very easy) to criticize SEPTA - I think the trolley line it a great, great thing. Please improve the Orange and Blue lines and clean up the stations. And make token machines (better yet - switch to a swipe-card system like every other modern city {suppoedly in the works}) available at all stations. (I can not believe the Race/Vine station has no place to buy tokens - but that is the subject for another review(). the green line? It's running pretty well. read more

Always add an extra 15 minutes to your commute time if you're taking septa.... because this place will never fail to fail you -incompetent workers - machines that dont work - never (and I mean never) on time - dirty and smelly trains - rude employees - dumb employees - late employees - slow employees - curt employees And im sitting here writing this because I missed my (late) subway because of a machine that wouldn't work and when asked for help I got the back of a lazy employee. read more

I definitely have my issues with Septa for the long haul. But aside from being an extremely overcrowded trolley half the time I actually find the Green Line to be more efficient than most of Septa's other lines. True that doesn't always say a whole lot with Septa. But it does a pretty good job of connecting West Philadelphia to most of CC. If you miss one another one is bound to come within 15 minutes. And if not then a lot of the green line trolleys aren't to far away from each other. so if you don't like waiting you have enough options. it also connects with the El pretty effectively. Of course I might also be kind of biased since it drops me off in front of my house. read more

I"m not sure what "culture" Gordon C enjoys. Is it the screaming match that people conduct with their loved ones or formerly loved ones on the cell phone or in person? Is it the blasting music so loud from earphones that you can hear the crappy misogynist rap lyrics from the person FOUR seats down? Is it the people who INSIST on bringing oversized baby carriages on the trolley along with 5 other progeny of various heights and demeanors who then proceed to whine, talk loudly and run around? Or maybe its the conversations that people share by yelling across the aisle at each other instead of sitting next to each other. Of course then their is the lovely environment. Juniper St station still smells like garbage, though now its down to maybe 25-50% of the time. City Hall still smells like donkey piss and body odor. The floors on the majority of the Green line train stops look like they hadn't been cleaned since Street was mayor. The trains have a collection of old newspapers, bags from people's food and leftovers that can include anything from chicken bones, leftover potato chip bags and pizza crusts. Along with spilled beverages and my favorite, the empty soda bottle that rattles and rolls around. And of course I"m forgetting the lovely surprises you'll get. Like the train tracks running out of juice and stopping between 15th and 19th street. So you have to disembark and then walk down a dark tunnel with two SEPTA workers holding flashlights on the path. Oh yeah and those same SEPTA guys and the driver never offered to give us transfers after we walked all the way to 19th St. Se ,GREAT customer service. And of course the convenient hours. Want to use the Green line on the weekend,? Well it only runs X times and doesn't hit the normal stops. So sorry, Limited budget and all. If the Green line captures the vibe of the city, its a sad statement on the city. I don't think it does, but it sure captures the lows of the city. read more

Growing up in Southeastern PA I am well aquainted with Septa and public transportation in Philly and specifically the 13 route. Call me wierd, but I've always enjoyed the culture and environment Septa creates while travelling through the city. It captures the vibe of the city from all races, ages, and genders. Talking about a great opportunity to enter into people's lives, I was always amused at listening to the school age girls headed to catholic school in the morning (wow, the profanity!!) as well as the 'business guy' who can't wait to get to work to use his cell phone to start his business deals or the sports fan who was still pissed at McNabb for throwing that key interception....lol There are a million stories on those trolleys. Septa also allowed for the perfect opportunity to just meditate, prepare for my day, read my paper, and get my mind right for the daily grind. Living in Dallas now I miss Septa although I did ride the 36 route this weekend while attending the Penn Relays. Did it break down? Yes, but I didn't care, it gave me just one more opportunity to listen to my surrounding riders curse out Septa for the millionth time. read more

F- trolley experiences I did not know you could get seasick on trolleys I did not know that trolleys could catch on fire so easily I did not know that trolleys would take forever on Sundays I did not know that trolleys would almost always be diverted at 40th street I did not know the rule that every trolley except the one you want would come (sometimes multiple ones) before yours I did not know that sometimes dudes would pull out guns and you would hide behind a mailbox in case anything went down... and miss your trolley read more

This line really just cant get it together... First, and most importantly, For the sake of everything that is public transportation, please, be on time. Why cant you be on time? tell me? There is a schedule these drivers should abide by isn't there? Just get to the stops at about the same time everyday. Thats it. I dont even care what time it is, just make it the same time as yesterday and the day before. Me and a few hundred other people are automatically happy. Also, comon, stop at every stop. i dont care if you dont see anyone there, stop and wait for a few seconds, just a few seconds. I cant count how many times ive been sitting on a PW box drinking a cup a' coffee a few feet away from the stop and the trolley just buzzes by me at 25mph. What is this? I dont get it. Just fucking Stop the fucking trolley! Its not hard! And stop filling the damn trolley to ultra-max capacity, its freakin dangerous! Pointblank, i dont want to be in smelling range of anyone else on here. If i can smell your shampoo or shit-breath or guido cologne, im too close. commission another trolley in the mornings, make it easy on us. Question: Has anyone ever seen a trolley driver training another driver? yea, me neither... damnit. And what the hell is with the SEPTA slogan "we're getting there". Are you not "there" yet? why would they make a slogan with such negative connotations...? Shouldnt it say "we're getting YOU there" . The green line makes me want to cut myself. so infuriating... i just wanna punch SEPTA in the stomach. read more

On a train headed to downtown Philadelphia, then off to New York. It got me to where I needed to be without any hassle.

I used it. Made some new friends, learned more about the city (and I thought I already knew it all.) Delightful. read more

While I am no fan of SEPTA (or its management anyway), I'm a huge fan of public transportation and I have to take issue with a few points Dave C. made about the Green line. First, the line is shared with traffic so trying to schedule an exact arrival time at each stop is impossible, just as impossible as getting in your car at home every morning and trying to pass each corner (since practically every damn corner is a 'stop') at the same time each day... all the way to work on the other side of the city. Good luck with that. Secondly, since practically each block has a 'stop' it would be completely impractical and a big delay to stop at every single 'stop' regardless of need. That would probably add a half hour over the entire route with all the lights that would be missed and whatnot. We'd probably get more benefit if they limited to stops to every other block - or once every 3 or so. Fewer stops, less delay... less time spent on a route, more availability to run more frequently... less time waiting after missed trollies. Fewer stops mean less compounding of the delay times, which might make scheduling more accurate. Anyway, there's only so much you can ask for when PT shares the road with the rest of traffic. read more

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (AKA Septa's green line) is just like a Disney ride that probably should have been mothballed years ago except for the fact that it's the only easy link to get to some of the western Philly environs. Inbound trolleys seem packed to the gills most of the the time and I have even seen a fight break out between patrons on a Saturday afternoon. But other than that it's ok. read more

SEPTA Green Line - At Market East Station. - Public Transportation Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

See all

I live a good trolley car rude. When the trolleys are running, they are pretty great. But when waiting late at night...epic. And then there's this thing called "diversion service." I always thought that this was a temporary arrangement, but no: it's like a recurring illness that never heals. But yeah, I do love a good trolley car ride and feel luck that Philly still has trolleys whereas other cities wiped them out. read more

As a daily commuter of the 34 route, I gotta chime on Philly's ol punching bag, SEPTA. Service is not all that friendly or timely, the infrastructure is underfunded and crumbling, it breaks down, catches on fire, It may have been the second gunman or caused the crack epidemic, whatever. But listen up people, do you realize that Philly has one of the few remaining trolley services left on the east coast? Do you know it takes 15 awesome minutes to get to my job on the 34? No? While America became seduced by the bus, SEPTA stayed true to keeping the trolley and not abandoning it like our sister to the east, Pittsburgh. If you hate SEPTA, try Pittsburghs transit, yeesh. Now citys nationwide are reembracing the forelorn trolley again. See, Philly's cutting edge! All SEPTA needs are some incorruptable officals and some congressional earmark love and I guaruntee, it will be known as one of the best systems in the country. Really! read more

John Krakauer should write a book about waiting for the 34 in the winter.

Solid line. Going underground saves time in Center City and the above ground portion in West Philly is relaxing. Would ride again.

I recommend using the El instead if you can. Much faster and more reliable.

If there's one thing people like to complain about, it's public transportation. Though everyday the highways are gridlocked, if the train is 5 minutes late, we explode. I've lived in a few American cities, DC, just outside Boston, and Philadelphia. Overall I'd say Philadelphia needs more train coverage in areas, but living in West Philly, we're covered. The trolley lines run quite well, I almost always can walk up 50th from Spruce and not have to wait long for a ride. I imagine if I downloaded the app, I could make my wait even less. From the middle of West Philly to City Hall in less than 20 minutes is hard to beat. It does get a little squished at rush hour, but if you have a minute, just wait for the next car to come. Despite massive funding shortages, political opposition and general Philadelphia negativity toward everything, SEPTA does a really decent job. If you don't think so, try almost any other (American) city's public transit, with th possible exception of DC, Philly is on par. read more