Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority

The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA; stylized as 'LANta') is a transit agency that provides public, fixed-route bus service throughout Lehigh County and Northampton County, in Pennsylvania, United States. The primary area that LANTA serves is the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, serving the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton.

Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority
LANTA #0354 works the E line in downtown Easton.
Founded1972
Headquarters1060 Lehigh Street
Allentown, PA 18103
LocaleAllentown, Pennsylvania
Service areaLehigh Valley
Service typeLocal Transit bus Service
Routes24 local
7 evening and Sunday
4 Special services
(35 total)
DestinationsAllentown
Bethlehem
Easton
HubsAllentown Transportation Center (ATC)
Bethlehem Transportation Center (BTC)
Easton Intermodal Transportation Center
Fleet82 Buses
Daily ridership15,000 (weekday)
OperatorLANTA
Chief executiveOwen O'Neil[1]
Websitehttp://www.lantabus.com

History

The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) has ten voting and two non-voting members appointed by the County Executives.

The agency was created in March 1972 in response to the transportation crisis that was occurring in Lehigh, and Northampton. The solution was to create a bi-county, municipal Authority that would operate all public transit services in the two counties. Lehigh Valley Transit Company, a private for-profit entity, formally operated transit services in the Valley.

The Authority's main service is in the urbanized area of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton and surrounding boroughs and townships. About 380,000 people live within 3/4 mile of a fixed-route bus line.

About 15,000 trips are taken daily on the Metro city transit system.

In 1973, the Authority replaced the entire 65-vehicle fleet with modern air-conditioned city transit coaches. In 1974, LANTA added 30% more service hours and established a peak/off-peak fare structure offering discounts in the off-peak hours and Saturdays to encourage ridership. Seniors, through a state lottery funded program, were offered free fare access during off-peak hours and weekends in 1975.

Logo used from 2007 until 2012

In the mid-1980s, as the community transformed from a manufacturing based economy to a service and retail based economy, was completely revamped and a new "Metro" system was introduced in 1985. A color-coded route information system was introduced at the same time to make riding transit more 'user-friendly.' The following year, 'deep-discount' fares were introduced as LANTA raised the case fares but kept ticket and pass prices the same and providing frequent riders with a 25% discount.

In 1988 Metro Plus services for the elderly and people with disabilities were introduced. Fully accessible vans are available through contracts with private operators to take people to destinations door-to-door for a higher, zoned fare.

About 2,000 trips are taken each weekday on the Metro Plus paratransit system.

A transportation center was established in Bethlehem and centers in Allentown and Easton are on the drawing board.

As the years went on, the agency grew adding more and more bus routes around the Lehigh Valley. Ridership has grown 75% since LANTA's inception. On October 21, 2001, LANTA started offering Sunday bus service to further increase access to public transit. The Authority is funded through revenues from the farebox; a grant from the Pennsylvania Lottery program with revenue generated by rides taken on the system by seniors 65 and older, grants from Lehigh and Northampton counties, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration. Combined these grants pay approximately 60% of the cost of operation; the remaining funds come through the lottery program and passenger fares.

LANTA was formerly involved with The Slater Express Van, Silverline Express, and The Bethlehem Loop.

The New LANTA

A new LANtaBus system was introduced in August 2011 that changed the route naming scheme from a letter based one to three-digit based one. Routes are broken down into 6 categories (Corresponding to the first digit of the line number) and further broken down into specific routes after that (corresponding to the second and third digit). For example, LANtaBus route 108 is a "trunk" route that offers service from Fountain Hill to the Bethlehem Square Shopping center. LANtaBus route 410 provides service for the Allentown School District and only operates during the school year. New bus stop signs were also introduced throughout the system that lists the routes that operate at the stop (as compared to the old signs that only displayed a picture of a bus and the words "Lanta Metro").[2]

Operations

LANTA has three operating divisions:

  • LANtaBus (formerly Metro): The main transit service that is made up of 28 core, fixed bus routes in the Lehigh Valley. Special service routes add another 17 routes to the total.
  • LANtaVan (formerly Metro Plus): A special door-to-door paratransit service for people with disabilities and the elderly.
  • Carbon County Community Transit (CCCT): A service the Authority agreed to manage in 1996 for the County of Carbon. Shared ride van services and three fixed-route bus lines comprise the Carbon County Community Transit service.

LANTA is also involved with the 400 Routes, which provide school service in Allentown, and The Lynx, which serves Carbon County.

Eighty buses are in the LANtaBus city transit fleet; 118 vans are used to provide the LANtaVan door-to-door van services. The Authority owns all vehicles. LANTA has two operating facilities: the main office, garage and maintenance building is at 1060 Lehigh Street in Allentown, Lehigh County and there is a satellite facility located at 3610 Nicholas Street in Easton, Northampton County.

Routes

LANTA previously operated 35 fixed bus routes in its Metro service. Seventeen LANTA routes serve the inner city areas of the Lehigh Valley, while five numbered routes serve the surrounding areas. Two shuttles named "The Rover" and "The Whirlybird", that operate from the Lehigh Valley Mall and Palmer Park Malls to various neighboring shopping strips and centers, serve as the final daily fixed routes. In the evening, LANTA operates the Starlight service made of seven fixed routes which service center city Allentown, the Lehigh Valley Mall and Palmer Park Mall, Whitehall, and Emmaus. There is also the Night Owl service that runs late-night from center city Allentown to the Lehigh Valley Hospital. Metro also operates the Silverline Express which is an express bus that serves the Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton areas via Route 22, as well as The Bethelem Loop, which serves as a shuttle for that city's downtown core.

The new LANta comprises 28 routes that operate throughout the Lehigh Valley and 12 additional routes that operate during the school year for the Allentown School District. Routes with numbers in the 100s are "trunk routes" and offer the largest operating schedules for the entire week. The 200s routes operate through suburban corridors Monday-Saturday during the day. The 300s routes operate mainly in suburban corridors Monday-Friday during the day. The 400s routes are reserved for the Allentown School District. The 500s routes are reservation-based lines for suburban areas like Macungie. Finally, the 600s routes are designed to address the needs of certain markets, and include the Whirlybird line and the Bethlehem LOOP.

List of LANtaBus Routes
Route Terminals Major streets
101
 Broad & Guetter Streets (Bethlehem) Easton Intermodal Transportation Center Freemansburg Ave.
102
 Lehigh Valley Hospital Sands Casino Hamilton Blvd., Union Blvd.
103
 Northampton LVIP IV MacArthur Rd., Broadway, E. 4th St.
104
 Lehigh Valley Mall Emmaus Emaus Ave., MacArthur Rd.
105
 Lehigh Valley Mall South Bethlehem U.S. Route 22, Schoenersville Rd., E. 4th St.
106
 Northampton Crossings South Easton Nazareth Rd., Northampton St.
107
 Village West Shopping Center Broad & Guetter Streets (Bethlehem) Cedar Crest Blvd., Tilghman St., Hanover Ave.
108
 Fountain Hill Bethlehem Square Shopping Center Stefko Blvd., East Blvd.
209
 Allentown Transportation Center Lehigh Carbon Community College Walbert Ave., Route 309
210
 Lehigh Valley Mall South Mall Fullerton Ave., Lehigh St.
211
 Lehigh Valley Hospital Presidential Village S. 24th St., Hamilton St., MacArthur Rd.
212
 Fountain Hill Route 33 Park and Ride Pembroke Rd., Freemansburg Ave.
213
 Fogelsville Allentown Transportation Center Route 100, Tilghman St.
214
 Easton Intermodal Transportation Center Amazon - ABE4 Sullivan Tr.
215
 Lehigh Valley International Airport Creekside Shopping Center (Hellertown) Schoenersville Rd, W. Broad St.
216
 Northampton Crossings South Easton Nazareth Rd., Greenwood Ave., Freemansburg Ave.
217
 Slate Belt Broad & Guetter Streets (Bethlehem) Route 512, Sullivan Tr., Route 248
218
 Fogelsville Allentown Transportation Center Tilghman St.
220
 Easton Intermodal Transportation Center Allentown Transportation Center Hanover Ave., William Penn Highway
319
 Lehigh Valley Mall Bethlehem Square Race St., Stoke Park Rd., Brodhead Rd.
322
 Trexlertown Allentown Transportation Center Route 100, Hamilton St.
323
 Penn State Lehigh Valley Allentown Transportation Center S. 4th St., Emaus Ave., Lehigh St.
324
 Lehigh Valley International Airport Allentown Transportation Center Airport Rd., American Pkwy.
325
 Lehigh Valley Mall Walnutport Route 329, Route 309, Route 873, Main St.
327
 Bethlehem Square Broad & Guetter Streets (Bethlehem) Brodhead Rd., Center St.
603
 Lehigh Valley Mall Parkway Shopping Center MacArthur Rd., Allen St., Jefferson St.
605
 Lynfield Broad & Guetter Streets (Bethlehem) E. 4th St., Market St.
Route Route Name Service Area
602
 The Whirlybird Lehigh Valley Mall, Whitehall Mall

List of LANtaFlex Routes
Route Description
501
 Macungie-Alburtis Flex
502
 Slate Belt Flex
503
 Walnutport-Slatington-LCCC Flex
504
 Coplay-Airport-Mall Flex

List of Other Services
Route Description
The Lynx Carbon County Community Transit routes, which alternate depending on the day of the week
The 400 Routes School routes for the Allentown School District

Fleet
Fleet Number(s) Year Manufacturer Model Length Engine Transmission Source
0121-0130 2001 New Flyer D40LF 40 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0131-0140 2001 New Flyer D35LF 35 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0241-0245 2002 New Flyer D40LF 40 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0246-0250 2002 New Flyer D35LF 35 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0351-0360 2003 New Flyer D40LF 40 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0461-0465 2004 New Flyer D35LF 35 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0466-0470 2004 New Flyer D40LF 40 feet Detroit Diesel Series 50 Allison B400R [3]
0671-0674 2006 Gillig Low Floor 35 feet Cummins ISL 280 Allison B400R [3]
0675-0678 2006 Gillig Low Floor 40 feet Cummins ISL 280 Allison B400R [3]
1079-1081 2010 Gillig Low Floor 35 feet Cummins ISB Allison E-40 [3]
1082-1083 2010 Gillig Low Floor 40 feet Cummins ISB Allison E-40 [3]
1289-1293 2012 Gillig Low Floor 35 feet Cummins ISB Allison E-40 [3]
1284-1288 2012 Gillig Low Floor 40 feet Cummins ISB Allison E-40 [3]
1400-1403 2014 Gillig Low Floor 40 feet Cummins ISB Allison E-40 [3]
1404-1408 2014 Gillig Low Floor 35 feet Cummins ISB Allison E-40 [3]
gollark: Octuply linked lists.
gollark: ↑ implement
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gollark: I don't know *how* I did that, really.
gollark: See? That's not 9 hours.

References
  1. http://www.lantabus.com/board-of-directors/
  2. "Fixed Route Schedules for LANta Bus". Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  3. "Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA)". Philadelphia Transit Vehicles. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
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