Sit back. It’s one of those days where you would love to just run away to a deserted island or jump in the car and drive with no plan in mind. Now imagine a bus – destination unknown – that brings downtrodden passengers closer to those who share in their hopelessness. This Pennsylvania urban legend tells the story of dejected souls on a bus to nowhere.

Countless buses traverse the city of Philadelphia day and night. All have destinations, pick-up and drop-off times, and regular passengers...except one.
Flickr/Darius Pinkston
If you've been a passenger on one of these Philadelphia buses, perhaps you've passed by the mysterious bus to nowhere.
One bus, at least if you believe the local urban legend, has and displays no destination. It has no route number nor does its unknown route appear on any known transportation maps.
Flickr/Perry Quan
Would you climb aboard a bus that doesn't display a destination? Some do. This might be the most chilling of Pennsylvania urban legends.
This SEPTA bus stops for no one – at least anyone with a specific destination in mind.
Flickr/Paul Sableman
Then how do the passengers climb aboard?
Yet, if you ask some Philadelphians, they'll tell you they’ve seen this bus winding its way through the city streets. Some call it the bus to nowhere. Others call it the wandering bus. And for some it’s merely zero.
Flickr/BKL
Despite what you call this bus to nowhere, one thing is certain. Its passengers are those who suffer from incurable hopelessness, at the bottom of one of their very worst days in memory.
Flickr/LMAP
You don’t want to suffer the type of despair of the bus’s passengers but, if you do, you mustn’t wait for the bus to slow down to let you on. You must chase after it and…
Facebook/Jukie Bot

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Seeing your desperation to ride, the mysterious bus driver – a man or a woman, no one knows – will slow down and allow you and your despair to enter.
Flickr/Nicholas Raymond
You’ll look out the window, no idea as to the final destination, and wrapped in your thoughts, desperate only to get far away – anywhere – from the pain and despair.
Flickr/Chris Waits
Your fellow passengers share the same desire and, like you, sit in the silence of their thoughts and hope to travel to a destination where their problems no longer exist.
Flickr/Robert Rowe
Perhaps you'll find that peace as the bus wanders aimlessly. Then you will be ready to get off of the bus and return to the bustling real world.
Pull the cord when you’re ready to disembark. As you step off of the bus, you leave your memories of the ride – which could have lasted minutes or years – behind.
Flickr/Oran Viriyincy
You may not even remember the experience at all - or will you?
The faces of the bus driver and the passengers. Your thoughts and feelings as you watch the landscape pass by. Your final destination. All wiped from your memory as you finally find yourself where you’re supposed to be.
Flickr/Chad Martin
Count yourself as lucky if you’ve never been a passenger on the bus to nowhere. But, if you find yourself in the depths of despair, wait for the bus to nowhere to appear for only those at their lowest points can see it.
Flickr/Paul Sableman

Have you heard of this Pennsylvania urban legend? Or, perhaps you’ve taken a ride on this mysterious bus to nowhere? Have you heard of these Pennsylvania urban legends?

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More to Explore

Mysteries In Pennsylvania

Beth Price-Williams | January 09, 2023

Are there any other urban legends in Pennsylvania?

The bus to nowhere, although chilling, isn’t the only urban legend in Pennsylvania that is sure to stir emotions. Here are several other urban legends in Pennsylvania:

  • Blue Mist Road in Irwin is said to be haunted by a half-dog, half-deer, half-human.
  • Fairies are said to dance at Wildwood Cemetery in Williamsburg at night, but some also hear the sounds of residents banging to get out of their coffins once the sun goes down.
  • A green man is said to wander a tunnel in Pittsburgh.

Get the full stories about these urban legends in Pennsylvania (and a few more).

Are there any unsolved mysteries in Pennsylvania?

Chances are you’ve heard of a few unsolved mysteries in Pennsylvania, including these:

Here are several more unsolved mysteries in Pennsylvania.

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