There is a bus in Philadelphia that is not like any other bus in the city, it is known as the Wandering Bus, the Bus to Nowhere, or Bus Zero. The bus carries the appearance of other Philadelphia buses, seeming to belong to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA. However, it is not a SEPTA bus, this particular bus does not belong to any public transit company. The mysterious driver, a middle-aged man, stops for passengers but is said to have little to no communication with them; and it is also said that this driver is not on record in SEPTA’s employee files. The bus is not tracked or traced and does not follow any specific route on SEPTA’s mapping system. There are no indications of pre-determined departures or any particular destinations. It shows up where it needs to be and goes where it needs to go. The bus comes from nowhere, and it goes nowhere; and the riders it takes are only riders of a certain kind.

      The bus stops at whatever intersection (or crossroads) the distressed person happens to be at. It seems the bus, and/or the driver himself have the ability to intuitively know where there is a rider in need of escape from whatever terrible situation they have found themselves in. The desperate person is picked up by the bus in the midst of the hardest times of their lives. They are individuals who are at a point of despair that has taken them directly to rock bottom, with no obvious way back up. The passengers include addicts, those in terrible grief, those who have committed horrible crimes, and other such people in hard times.

      Previous passengers have vague memories of a driver and other riders and stops made besides their own. There is no noise, other than the sound of the bus itself; the riders do not speak to each other. Once a passenger boards, they are not asked to pay the usual Septa fare price, however they are strongly encouraged to pay a fare of some kind. A passenger can remain on the bus for however long it takes for them to reach the point of clarity and are able to see their way out of their hopelessness. This can be hours, days, or supposedly even years. Ultimately all of the passengers are hoping to get to where there is a solution to their problems, it is why they are drawn to the bus and the bus is drawn to them. Once clarity hits, they are ready to end their ride and get off the bus. Exiting the bus is as simple as pulling the cord to request a stop; the bus will just so happen to be exactly where the exiting passenger needs to be.

      On some occasions a passenger may not reach the point of clarity or see the solution to their problems. If this happens, the bus will make the decision for them; it will either let the passenger off at a stop that represents the starting point of their troubles, or it will have them remain on the bus. They will remain in limbo on this bus until they figure things out. However, it is said that eventually the bus will leave the city entirely. It will either go off to another location or disappear into some misty other-world. Should either of those happen, the passengers who remain onboard will be taken with it. Perhaps they will be forever trapped on the bus to nowhere.