Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority

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Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority

LANTA #0354 works the E line in downtown Easton.
Founded	1972
Headquarters	1060 Lehigh Street Allentown, PA 18103
Locale	Allentown, Pennsylvania
Service area	Lehigh Valley
Service type	Local Transit bus Service
Routes	24 local 7 evening and Sunday 4 Special services (35 total)
Destinations	Allentown Bethlehem Easton
Hubs	Allentown Transportation Center (ATC) Bethlehem Transportation Center (BTC) Easton Intermodal Transportation Center
Fleet	82 Buses
Daily ridership	15,000 (weekday)
Operator	LANTA
Chief executive	Owen O'Neil[1]
Website	http://www.lantabus.com

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.

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 letters to one-to-three digits. 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[]

List of LANtaFlex Routes[]

List of Other Services[]

Fleet[]

References[]

External links[]

• LANTA Official Website