Beginning Sept. 13, LANTA will take the first step in the development of a bus route system that offers service with a limited number of stops along major corridors in the Lehigh Valley. The announcement was made by Executive Director Owen O’Neil.

The new Route 101, the longest in the system, will run between Trexlertown and Easton. However, the segment of the route between Allentown Transit Center and Bethlehem Transit Center will have limited stops, making stops only at designated enhanced bus stops.

“Our goal is to reduce the commuting time on this major corridor, making using transit attractive to more people,” O’Neil said.

In addition to the Route 101 LANTA will introduce a new circulator Route 613 from Trexlertown that will serve several industrial and business parks in the Breinigsville area.

The new routing will eliminate the current Route 322, moving service along that corridor to Routes 101, 102 and the new Route 613.

While the plan is to have the Route 101 use Tilghman Street, it will continue to use the detour until construction on the bridge is completed. The service between ATC and BTC will stop only at the following enhanced bus stops:

•Allen Street (on Sixth and Seventh Streets at Allen Street)

•Jordan Heights (on Tilghman Street at Fourth Street)

•Sixth Ward (on Tilghman Street at Ridge Avenue)

•Ballpark (on Union Boulevard at Home Run Lane)

•Irving (on Union Boulevard at Irving Street/Airport Road)

•Plymouth (on Union Boulevard at Plymouth Street)

•Gateway (on Union Boulevard at Club Avenue/Lehigh Shopping Center)

•Pennsylvania (on West Broad Street at Pennsylvania Avenue)

•Rose Garden (on West Broad Street at Eighth Avenue)

•West Broad Street (on West Broad Street at Second Avenue)

Westbound trips will continue from ATC to Trexlertown making all stops and eastbound trips will continue from BTC to Easton Intermodal Transportation Center, also making all stops.

For several years LANTA has been developing a plan to modify the system to attract more commuters who travel longer distances from home to work, shopping, medical appointments and other regular activities. “Limited stops are the first step,” AJ Jordan, manager of planning and scheduling said. “In addition to enhanced bus stops, future enhancements include modern bus shelters, increased access to schedule information and other amenities like the new Token Transit App from which riders can now get real-time updates on their trips,” he added.

Complete details on LANTA routes and schedules are available at www.lantabus.com or by calling 888-253-8333.