ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A federal award of more than $1.2 million will boost ridership and efficiency for the local rapid-transit bus system while reducing its impact on regional air quality, officials announced Monday.
As buses arrived and departed and riders filed off and on close by, Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority announced the new allocation at Allentown Transportation Center on North Sixth Street.
The $1,204,400 award through the Carbon Reduction Program will help LANTA make the most of its limited stops along the Enhanced Bus Service’s Blue Line and Green Line routes, according to LANTA Executive Director Owen O’Neil.
Enhanced amenities along LANTA EBS lines will “improve the experience for the rider and draw more people into using transit and make it a feasible choice for them."Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority Executive Director Owen O'Neil
Officials said that will include newer and improved bus shelters, bike racks, electronic signage and infrastructure improvements to help buses along EBS routes.
Those improvements include crosswalks, curb bump-outs and even queue jumps at intersections.
Enhanced amenities en route will “improve the experience for the rider and draw more people into using transit and make it a feasible choice for them,” while improved shelters will “create a station feel, rather than just a bus stop,” O’Neil said.
'Get to good jobs now and into the future'
The EBS Blue Line starts in Easton, goes through Bethlehem, Allentown and heads west to Trexlertown.
The Green Line starts at Whitehall Township, goes to Allentown and over to Bethlehem, with a shared segment between the two cities.
EBS routes — O’Neil said they’re currently the most heavily used lines in LANTA’s entire system — run every half-hour, offering more frequent service and limited stops.
CRP funding comes directly from Congress and is allocated to the state, then to each region based on population, targeting a reduction in transportation-related carbon emissions.
“We need to diversify our riding base here in the Lehigh Valley as we continue to grow, which ultimately has air quality or carbon reduction benefits.”Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Becky Bradley
Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, the metropolitan planning organization arm of Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, facilitated the award here locally.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk described himself as “a bus kid and a friend of LANTA.”
“Enhanced bus service here coming out of the Allentown Transit Center through LANTA is one of the ways that people are going to continue to get to good jobs now and into the future,” Tuerk said.
LANTA offers more than a million rides annually across the region, according to LVPC Executive Director Becky Bradley.
Bradley said of the CRP award, “It’s going to help us make safer movements and increase higher-frequency stops and make them safer as people become more choice riders, as well as riders in need.
“We need to diversify our riding base here in the Lehigh Valley as we continue to grow, which ultimately has air quality or carbon reduction benefits.”
'Around for our grandchildren'
Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong emphasized the funding will help with a reduction in carbon emissions for generations to come.
“We’re talking about enhancing our bus transportation, getting people from place to place, getting them to their job and home again without ruining the environment," Armstrong said.
“We want this to be sustainable; we want this to be around for our grandchildren.”
State Rep. Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton, said the House of Representatives “remains committed to fully funding transit in Pennsylvania.”
“We're not talking about raising taxes. We're talking about having an increased share of the existing Pennsylvania sales tax dedicated to transit.”State Rep. Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton
“We're not talking about raising taxes,” Samuelson said. “We're talking about having an increased share of the existing Pennsylvania sales tax dedicated to transit.
“That would mean $292 million around the state; it would mean a significant investment in LANTA and all of the other 51 transit agencies all over Pennsylvania.”
The last three local CRP awards have included $600,000 for intersection improvements in Hellertown and $1.8 million for a multi-use path into Whitehall Township.
Other awards include federal funding through the Transportation Alternative Set-Aside program, including more than $630,000 apiece going to youth bicycle education for Coalition for Appropriate Transportation in Bethlehem and Community Bike Works in Allentown.
LVTS has awarded more than $11 million across both CRP and TASA for projects across the region.
