Beginning Monday SEPTA will be offering on-demand bus service for third-shift workers in Lower Bucks County.
SEPTA’s Owl Link service begins Monday night at 10 pm and will run daily until 6 am as a pilot program SEPTA officials announced last week.
Passengers will be picked up along Bus Routes 14 (Horizon Boulevard) 56,(Torresdale and Cottman Loop) and 66 (City Line Loop) through Philadelphia into Bensalem.
The new bus service will take riders to and from bus stops close to about a dozen businesses in Bensalem, Bristol Township, Bristol Borough and Middletown Township, SEPTA officials say.
Current businesses include Woodhaven Mall in Bensalem, the Keystone Industrial Park and the Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol Township.
The link was created to close what a SEPTA officials described as the “first-and-last mile transit gap, or the distance between an existing transit stop and a destination.”
SEPTA partnered with New York based company VIA, which specializes in on-demand small group transportation to create the new overnight service with third shift workers in mind, officials said last week.
This on-demand service will help ensure that third-shift workers have safe, reliable and affordable options as they plan for job-related travel,” SEPTA General Manager Leslie S. Richards said in the release.
There is no charge to use the link, but riders do have to have a SEPTA Key card — a refillable debit card SEPTA offers as a contactless and cash-free fare paying system.
Transportation Director for Bucks County said the new service will help shift workers get to their jobs better since most SEPTA routes in Lower Bucks stop at 10 p.m. He said it is vital as there are more jobs that offer late night and overnight shifts, including in warehouses and other business in the area.
In order to use the link, riders will need to make reservations via the SEPTA Owl Link Mobile App, or call 215-580-7114. A reservation can be made anywhere between one week to 30 minutes before a pick-up time.
More information about the link and can be found at www.septa.org/owllink.
