The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) is making a number of changes to its routes, effective June 21, 2021. At first glance, these don’t look like cuts so much as refactoring. I’m going to focus on the changes within Easton:
- West Ward, Northampton Street: routes 101 and 216 replace 106 and 220. There’s still a one-seat ride to Nazareth Commons and downtown Bethlehem, but we lose Allentown. However, 101 does appear to have a timed transfer with the 107 in Bethlehem for Allentown service, and the 107/220 are on an every half-hour schedule between the two. 101/216 are both hourly as before, with a 15/45 separation inbound and every 30 minutes outbound. The latter is a real improvement over the current schedule, where the 106 and 220 leave Easton six minutes apart.
- West Ward, Lehigh / Washington: the re-routed 106 and 220 replace the 216 and 101, respectively. The 106 follows the old 216 route to 18th, but then turns north to sere Nazareth Commons / Northampton Crossings. The 220 follows Freemansburg to Emrick, then rejoins its old route at the William Penn Park & Ride. Outbound separation is 20/40, inbound is half-hourly to hourly, as the 106 is on a ninety-minute frequency inbound only. Again, this is something of an improvement; the current frequency is 50/10 outbound and half-hourly inbound.
- College Hill / South Easton: the 214 is extended into South Easton, replacing the 106 and 216 which now terminate downtown. The 214 does a circle in South Easton to cover both routes. The old 214 schedule was bizarre, with no relationship to any clockface. The new one is hourly between Easton Food Market and Forks Plaza South, with additional rush-hour service offest by a half-hour to Cattel / High for Lafayette College. Connection from incoming buses to/from the 214 should be half-hourly or better; it’s not clear if there’s a recommended pairing. This is a massive improvement on the previous service offering, as far as College Hill is concerned.
I’m curious to see how this affects food access. The 214 will still hit the Giant in Forks Township and the Easton Food Market and the 106 / 216 the stores out at Nazareth Highway / PA-33. That still leaves the Giant in Palmer Town Center without direct service, and for the Aldi and Lidil on Freemansburg you’re relying on the 220, with uneven timekeeping as it comes from Allentown. I think the lack of bus access to Hugh Moore Park and the National Canal Museum remains a growth opportunity, but the roads in West Easton are a rat’s nest. Route 507, a demand response service, covers it at present.