Transportation in Philadelphia involves the various modes of transport within the city and its required infrastructure. In addition to facilitating intracity travel, Philadelphia's transportation system connects Philadelphia to towns of its metropolitan area and surrounding areas within the Northeast megalopolis.

The city is crossed by the Delaware Expressway (Interstate 95 or I-95) and the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), which are the principal thoroughfares for intercity traffic. The Vine Street Expressway (I-676) travels between I-76 and I-95 in Center City Philadelphia, and the Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 1) carries crosstown traffic in northern Philadelphia.

Philadelphia's public transit system is mainly operated by SEPTA, which maintains an extensive system utilizing buses, rapid transit, commuter rail, trolleys, and the Philadelphia trackless trolley (trolleybus) system. The main rail station of Philadelphia is 30th Street Station, which has access to 13 SEPTA Regional Rail routes and 11 Amtrak intercity rail routes. Philadelphia International Airport, the primary airport of Philadelphia, is a hub for domestic and international aviation.

Roads Streets

The streets of Philadelphia mainly follow a grid plan, one of the first such layouts used in a North American city. The grid plan originated in 1682, when William Penn founded Philadelphia and appointed Thomas Holme as his surveyor. Using ,Mihaly, Mark. Insiders' Guide to Philadelphia, 2007, p. 17. Penn planned a system of organized streets to facilitate future growth. Since Penn survived the Great Fire of London and wanted to avoid similar catastrophes, he laid out streets wider than usual. Penn planned the city to stretch between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, and his grid plan of present-day Center City followed a 22-by-8-block pattern. The plan included a large square in the center of the town (the present-day location of Philadelphia City Hall), and four public squares near each corner of the city.

Since the initial grid covered only the area of present-day Center City, other settlements such as Kensington developed using different grids. The grid system was gradually extended to other regions of present-day Philadelphia, although several roads predating a grid system still exist. Certain neighborhoods of Philadelphia, such as those in the Far Northeast, do not use grid systems.

When William Penn designed the street grid for the city, he named the east–west streets after trees, four of which have since been named, and the north–south streets using numbers. Major Center City streets include Broad Street, Front Street, Locust Street, and Market Street.

The naming system of the streets differs by neighborhood, although the main north–south streets are numbered in South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and Lower North Philadelphia similarly to how they are numbered in Center City. On South Philadelphia, east–west streets use the surnames of former governors of Pennsylvania, starting with Reed Street and ending with Pattison Avenue. Several east–west streets in North Philadelphia are named after counties in Pennsylvania. Other streets are named after locally or nationally significant people. During the 20th century, several streets were renamed to honor individuals, such as John F. Kennedy Boulevard, named in tribute of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy.

The system for assigning street addresses was enacted in 1858.Do other cities have logical street numbering systems like Chicago's?, Straight Dope Chicago, August 20, 2009. In areas with a consistent grid, the street address numbers increase by an interval of 100 for each block, starting with Front Street for east–west streets and Market Street for north–south streets. For example, 1200 South Street would refer to the intersection of 12th & South Street, and 500 North 17th Street is 5 blocks north of Market Street.

Expressways

The main expressways of Philadelphia are the Delaware Expressway (I-95), which travels along the Delaware River, and the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), paralleling the Schuylkill River for most of its route. Other expressways are the Vine Street Expressway (I-676), running between the Schuylkill Expressway and the Delaware Expressway through downtown Philadelphia; the Roosevelt Expressway (US 1), a freeway portion of Roosevelt Boulevard; and Woodhaven Road, an expressway connecting to I-95 to the south.

Bridges Delaware River

Philadelphia is connected to South Jersey across the Delaware River by four bridges, three of which are maintained by the Delaware River Port Authority. The oldest is the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which opened in 1926, and was the world's longest suspension bridge span until the opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929.Celebrating 80 Years , Delaware River Port Authority. The Benjamin Franklin Bridge connects Camden, New Jersey with Center City, thus making it a main crossing between Philadelphia and New Jersey. The Benjamin Franklin Bridge carries seven lanes of roadway, two rail lines of the PATCO Speedline, and two pedestrian walkways.

The longest bridge between Philadelphia and New Jersey is the Walt Whitman Bridge, which connects South Philadelphia to Gloucester City, New Jersey. The Walt Whitman Bridge opened in 1957, with a total length of and main span length of . The bridge carries seven lanes of I-76, and carries approximately 120,000 vehicles per day.

Connecting to Northeast Philadelphia are the Betsy Ross Bridge, a six-lane bridge linking the Bridesburg neighborhood of Philadelphia with Pennsauken, New Jersey, and the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge, a three-lane drawbridge spanning the Delaware River between the Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia and Palmyra, New Jersey.

Schuylkill River

The Schuylkill River, a main tributary of the Delaware River, is crossed by 20 roads in Philadelphia. The oldest bridges were built and operated by private companies, and were initially wooden until the advent of iron and steel bridges. The Market Street Bridge, opened in 1805,pprint of Aitken, Jane. A Statistical Account of the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge, Commenced September 5th 1801, Opened January 1st, 1805, 1807. (p.67) was the first permanent bridge across the Schuylkill River. West Philadelphia has many bridges spanning the Schuylkill River, including three expressways. University City is connected to Center City by five surface roads.

Pedestrians and bicycling

Like most larger American cities built out well before WWII, Philadelphia has a densely packed, highly walkable urban core, surrounded primarily by suburbs where single-family homes predominate. It was also an early innovator in that respect: Philly's well-known Main Line suburbs were constructed in tandem with the completion of the Main Line railroad connecting the suburbs with Center City, though at the time the Main Line primarily served as a "country home" destination for the urban elite. The city's SEPTA public transportation network offers a variety of transit options, including subways, buses, trolleys, and commuter rail. As of 2019, Philadelphia was the second-most traffic-congested city in the U.S.

Unlike other major East Coast cities, such as New York City and Boston, Center City Philadelphia, originally the core of Philadelphia's white-collar workforce, has seen a marked decline in jobs, as companies have gradually relocated to the suburbs. As of 2019, Center City had approximately 180,000 daily commuters from the suburbs. Center City had 23% fewer jobs as of 2021 than it did in 1970. Further, an even larger percentage of Philadelphia's population reverse-commutes to jobs in the suburbs; as of 2018, at least 260,000 people did so each week, and 41% of the city's population is employed in its suburbs.

In 2020 and 2021, SEPTA ridership plummeted 85% as a result of quarantining and stay-at-home orders. While its ridership increased significantly in 2022, SEPTA still has less than half of its annual pre-COVID ridership.

Unlike most other large American cities, Philadelphia has no network of dockless e-scooters available to rent. The city has greatly expanded its network of bike lanes, however, and its Indego docked-bike sharing network – which debuted in 2015 with 60 stations and 600 bikes – now has 213 stations and a total of 2,200 bikes, including some electric-assist versions introduced in 2019.

Underground transit concourse

Philadelphia has a Pressroom, Center City District/Central Philadelphia Development Corporation. underground transit concourse in Center City, which connects the SEPTA Regional Rail lines with local rail and trolley lines. Throughout the entire concourse are underground entrances to adjacent buildings, as well as the "MetroMarket", a group of small shops and eateries near Suburban Station. Within the underground concourse, it is possible to walk between 8th Street & Market and 18th Street & JFK Boulevard, or from City Hall to Locust Street.

Trails

Philadelphia has several multi-use river trails. A segment of the Schuylkill River Trail passes along the Schuylkill River from Locust Street northward to Valley Forge, near the King of Prussia mall. In Philadelphia, most of the trail runs through Fairmount Park. The trail to Valley Forge totals ,First Map Paths, Schuylkill River Trail. and when completed, will total to Hamburg, Pennsylvania.

The Wissahickon Trail branches off from the Schuylkill River Trail and runs along Wissahickon Creek, terminating near Germantown Avenue. The Pennypack Trail runs along the Pennypack Creek, from the Delaware River to Fox Chase Farm. Sections of Cobbs Creek and Tacony Creek also have trails.

Bicycling

Public bicycle sharing system service Indego serves Philadelphia at 125 stations with 1,000 bikes. As of 2025, the system operates 250 stations and over 2,000 bicycles. The system is operated by Bicycle Transit Systems, a Philadelphia-based company, with bikes provided by B-cycle and stations as well as bicycles owned by the City of Philadelphia.

Buses SEPTA buses

SEPTA lists 117 bus routesSEPTA Media Guide throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, with most routes being within Philadelphia. Some of SEPTA's bus routes run 24 hours a day ("Night Owl" service), although most routes end by late night. SEPTA's bus service consists of its City Division routes within Philadelphia and parts of the suburbs and Suburban Division routes in the suburbs. The Suburban Division consists of the Victory ("Red Arrow") District for routes in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, and the Frontier District for buses in Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties. Other bus routes are its Regional Rail connector routes, the "Night Owl" bus service replacing the Market–Frankford and Broad Street subway lines during their closure, and other specialized services. SEPTA leases buses for third-party charter routes, and runs the charter buses for the School District of Philadelphia.

The City Transit Division runs 76 bus routes (including three trackless trolley routes), and the Suburban Division runs 44 bus routes. In 2009, SEPTA had a fleet of 1153 revenue buses for its City Transit Division, and 262 revenue buses for its Suburban Division.SEPTA Operating Facts, SEPTA. Accurate as of fiscal year 2009 (year ended 6/30/09).

SEPTA currently operates trackless trolleys on Routes 59, 66, and 75. Routes 59 and 75 are connected to the Market–Frankford Line at Arrott Transportation Center Station, near the terminus of the Market–Frankford Line. Route 59 travels primarily along Castor Avenue through Northeast Philadelphia, and terminates at the end of Castor Avenue, near Pennypack Park. Route 75 travels along Wyoming Avenue, and connects to Wyoming Station of the Broad Street Line, ending at Wayne Junction in Nicetown. Route 66 connects to the Market–Frankford Line at the Frankford Transportation Center, and extends along Frankford Avenue to the extremity of Northeast Philadelphia.