LANTA released its final bus route changes Monday ahead of a 7% reduction of its system.
The Lehigh Valley’s transit agency said some revisions were made after taking public comment during a meeting April 29. These changes include tweaking routes to help workers and retaining Saturday service to the Slate Belt and Nazareth, including Gracedale Nursing Home.
The route changes go into effect on June 15 and are part of a series of cuts and fare increases that began in January due to stagnant state funding.
Northampton County Council Member Jason Boulette lauded the decision to keep routes 214 and 217 running on Saturday.
“But make no mistake: We will find ourselves in this situation again if the agency’s funding shortfall isn’t addressed,” he said in a statement.
The following routes were modified after the April 29 public meeting. These final versions replace the originally proposed changes for these routes.
• Route 101: The last trip in both directions was retained. A lower-ridership midday trip was removed
• Route 210: Two partial Sunday morning trips were added to better align with employee schedules at Lehigh Valley Mall and South Mall.
• Route 214: Saturday service from about 8:30 a.m. to 6:12 p.m. was retained.
• Route 217: Six of eight Saturday trips were retained.
Overall, changes will be made to 24 routes. The full schedule can be found on LANTA’s website.