LANTA Board Meeting, December, 2012

The LANta Board of Directors met on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at the Authority offices in Allentown.  At this meeting much was discussed and committees requested various contract awards. The Authority approved the purchase of nine heavy-duty, hybrid buses for LANtaBus, the purchase of 15 para-transit vans for LANtaVan, the purchase of seven vans for Carbon County and awarded the IT services contract for all LANta facilities.

1.  The Chair of the Operations Committee started off the meeting by recommending that the Authority award the 2013 heavy-duty, hybrid bus purchase to Gillig Corporation LLC of Hayward CA. The purchase of these vehicles through Gillig Corporation LLC was awarded by the Pennsylvania State Bus Consortium in February 2011. In an effort for consistency and ease of ordering, this consortium of Pennsylvania transit agencies will all use the same vendor. LANta will be purchasing 5-35’ buses and 4-40’ buses and they will be delivered in spring of 2014. At an estimated cost of $600,000 for each bus, LANta has already acquired the funding for these vehicles. The buses were ordered on December 12, 2012, the day after the project was awarded.

2. The next order of business was the approval of the LANtaVan van acquisition for 2013. LANta will purchase 15 para-transit vans to replace current 2004 and 2005 vans that are in use by Easton Coach. These vans have a five-year life and each van puts on roughly 40,000 miles a year. Chevy 4500 series vans will be ordered, the same make and model as last year. They have the capacity to seat 12 passengers and accommodate two wheelchair spaces. The seats are all "flip" style so the van can handle up to six wheelchairs. 
This van purchase will be made utilizing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) bid process for para-transit vehicles. The budget for this capital project is just over $1.2 million.

3. Next the Operations Committee recommended the Authority award the contract for a seven van purchase for Carbon County Community Transit (CCCT). The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has awarded Carbon County a "New Freedoms" fund grant in the amount of $339,580 for this purchase. These new vans will replace existing CCCT fleet vehicles.  This vehicle purchase will be completed utilizing the DGS bid purchase of para-transit vehicles. The contract for the vehicles is with Rohrer Bus Company of Duncannon PA at a total cost of just under $348,000.

4. Finally, the Operations Committee recommended that the Authority award the IT Service Contract for LANta to Hodges Technology Inc. of Easton PA. LANta has specialized computer systems in place for real time bus viewing, scheduling and entering and tracking records and data necessary for daily retrieval. Hodges is the current provider and they are very knowledgeable about the systems that are in place throughout LANta.  The contract is for three years with options to renew for an additional two years.

Holiday Service hours: 2012

In observance of New Year's Day, the following service modifications are noted for LANtaBus and LANtaVan services:

 






Regular service Monday, December 31st;  NO service Tuesday, January 1st; Regular service resumes Wednesday, January 2nd.

Customer service office hours:

Regular hours Monday, December 31st; Closed Tuesday, January 1st.

Business offices, Allentown and Easton:

Tuesday, January 1st, Closed 

Allentown Transportation Center, & the Bethlehem Metro Mart: 

Closed when buses are not running.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to customers, employees and all who support public transit!  Enjoy the holiday.  No service tomorrow, Nov 22; regular service resumes Friday.

LANtaBus and LANtaVan Services Resume Weds

The Authority has announced that LANtaBus and LANtaVan services will resume tomorrow morning, Wednesday, October 31, 2012.  LANtaBus routes and schedules will be operated on as normal a schedule as possible given the street conditions.  Passengers concerned about their LANtaVan trip, should call the carrier.  

The service cancellations that occurred over the past two days are extremely rare and were implemented because of the concern the Authority has for the safety of its passengers and employees and its fleet equipment.

Hurricane Sandy has been termed "the storm of the century" and the "worst storm conditions in recorded history."  The Authority acted in the most prudent manner possible given the conditions reported and observed.  These include local area flooding, street closures and unsafe conditions at bus stops.

We appreciate the patience of our customers during this most challenging period.

Tuesday, Oct 30, 2012 Service Suspended

LANTA has announced that LANtaBus service will be suspended on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 in response to very severe weather conditions caused by hurricane Sandy.  LANtaVan services are also cancelled except for semi-emergency medical service trips already scheduled.

LANTA Operations staff will continue to monitor conditions and service will be resumed as early as those conditions permit.

Such service cancellations are extremely rare and only implemented when the Authority believes that the safety of its passengers and employees would be in jeopardy if service was operated.

Hurricane Sandy has been termed "the storm of the century" and the "worst storm conditions in recorded history."  The Authority is acting in the most prudent manner possible given all the conditions reported and observed and these include local area flooding, street closures and unsafe conditions at bus stops.

We appreciate your patience and will resume service at the earliest possible opportunity.

No Service Monday, Oct 29, 2012

LANtaBus service will not be operated tomorrow, Monday, October 29, 2012 due to storm conditions caused by hurricane Sandy.  LANtaVan service will be very limited: only dialysis and major medical services that are life-sustaining.

Public transit services in the Valley are rarely cancelled.  Only in the event of major storm or snow conditions has service been interrupted.

We apologize for this inconvenience, but common sense informs us that the best place to be in the midst of this storm is home.

A message from Gov. Corbett: Hurricane Sandy: What to Expect

Follow @GovernorCorbett on Twitter or like Governor Corbett’s facebook page to get the latest updates on the storm and Pennsylvania’s response. Governor Corbett is advising Pennsylvanians on what to expect during Hurricane Sandy.

This storm is historic. Pennsylvania is currently operating under a state of emergency and Governor Corbett today requested a federal declaration of emergency from the President.  

Weather reports at this time indicate that Pennsylvania can expect the following over Monday and Tuesday of this week:

·   Sustained, high winds close to 45 miles per hour. These winds could be sustained in some areas for 24 to 36 hours.  

·   Heavy rainfall across the state, in some areas up to 10 inches total.

·   Snow in higher elevation areas in the western part of the state.

·   Possible flooding in low lying areas.

Click here to download a guide on how you can prepare.

LANTA Awarded Prestigious AdWheel Award

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) recently announced the winner of their annual AdWheel Award for the most creative internet homepage from among their national membership. The 2012 award recognized Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANta) for “excellence in communications and web page design.”  The award was announced at the Annual APTA Conference in Seattle, Washington on October 2 (2012).

Entitled the “best of the best” in the public transportation industry, according to APTA, the annual AdWheel award winners “represent an outstanding role model of excellence, leadership and innovation whose development of their website have greatly advanced public transportation,” stated APTA President & CEO Michael Melaniphy.  The more than 500 applicants were categorized by size and specialty.  LANta qualified in the group of peer transit agencies with more than four million and fewer than 20 million passenger trips annually.

“An AdWheel Award recipient sets the bar for extraordinary public transit communications,” Melaniphy said. “We celebrate their remarkable ability to create engaging materials and messages to advance public transportation,” he added.

The web page, which was redesigned as part of the Authority’s Moving LANta Forward initiative implemented last year, was a result of a detailed analysis of LANta’s corporate identity and communications program.  The page (www.lantabus.com) was re-organized, given a new and modern design and tested for ease of use and quick access to bus information, including state-of the-art real-time information at the forefront of modern web-based marketing.

The web page was designed by Thiel Design / Brecon Hill Consulting, Milwaukee, WI.  LANta also recognized Genna Communications of Lower Macungie Township (PA), the Authority’s marketing consultant and Koury Enterprises, Lehigh Valley (PA), the authority’s webmaster and publisher for their roles in implementing the new website into the full marketing program.

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of 1,500 public and private member organizations, engaged in the areas of public bus transit, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, as well as intercity and high-speed rail.  More than 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada are served by APTA member systems.