PHILADELPHIA, PA — A turbulent December for transit riders left its mark on the region’s largest transportation system, as system-wide ridership at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority slipped slightly despite pockets of growth tied to weekend travel and bus substitutions.
SEPTA reported that average daily ridership in December 2025 fell 1 percent compared with December 2024, a decline of about 8,611 unlinked passenger trips per day. Across all modes, SEPTA averaged 693,261 unlinked trips daily.
The headline decline masked diverging trends across the system. Bus and trackless trolley ridership edged up 0.2 percent year over year, adding roughly 730 daily trips. Weekend travel stood out as a bright spot, with Saturday ridership climbing 7 percent and Sunday ridership holding steady compared with last year.
Officials pointed to construction disruptions as a key driver of bus growth. Bus alternatives to trolley routes posted strong gains during the December closure of the trolley tunnel, funneling riders onto surface routes. The five bus routes with the largest year-over-year increases in total trips were Routes 2, 21, 40, 42, and 3.
Metro ridership told a different story. Overall metro trips declined about 2 percent, or 4,508 trips per day, compared with December 2024. The impact of the trolley tunnel closure was especially pronounced on the T and D lines, which saw ridership plunge 31 percent, a loss of nearly 16,000 unlinked passenger trips per day, marking their lowest level since 2022. By contrast, the G line posted a 19 percent increase.
Other subway lines showed gains despite the broader metro downturn. Average daily ridership on the Broad Street Line, Market-Frankford Line, and the L combined rose 6 percent year over year, adding more than 11,000 average weekday trips.
Regional Rail was the weakest performer in December, with ridership down 6 percent, or about 4,597 trips per day, from a year earlier. SEPTA attributed much of that decline to an ongoing shortage of Silverliner V railcars and a federally mandated FRA safety inspection that limited available equipment and service levels.
Taken together, the December data reflect a system in flux, shaped as much by infrastructure constraints and equipment availability as by rider demand. SEPTA officials have said they expect ridership patterns to continue shifting as projects conclude and fleet issues are resolved, with bus and weekend travel remaining key indicators to watch heading into 2026.
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