Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce...Community Development Award

        For more than forty years Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANta) has been an engine for community and economic development throughout the greater Lehigh Valley region. As our demographic, business and residential patterns shifted so did LANta’s response in providing bus service. Today LANta serves some five million riders a year. More than 50% of those trips are taken by people going to and from their jobs. Riders and their employers know the important role LANta plays, through its LANtaBus fixed-route division, in the economic vitality of the valley.

        LANta’s leading role in the development of centralized transportation centers is appreciated by riders as well as business and municipal leaders. With the completion later this year of the Easton Intermodal Transportation Center on Third Street, LANta will have major modern transfer centers in all three cities: at Sixth and Linden Streets in Allentown as well as Broad and Guetter Streets in Bethlehem. Lehigh Valley Mall also serves as an important hub for the transit system.

        In addition, LANta provides leadership as we move to a more transit, bicycle and pedestrian-friendly smart growth paradigm. And through its LANtaBus paratransit division, LANta has been a pioneer since the 1970s in providing specialized, door-to-door transportation at a low cost for the elderly and people with disabilities.

       While keeping their eye on its mission to provide safe and reliable transit service LANta has committed to helping the community’s environment with the addition of hybrid-electric buses. Given the millions of miles driven LANta’s slogan on those buses, ‘A Greener Lehigh Valley…One Mile at a Time’, may be a bit modest.

       For decades the people of LANta including bus drivers, maintenance personnel and administrative staff, have been a very important part of LANta’s commitment to the development of our great community. Hundreds have participated in United Way campaigns, blood drives, as well as food, clothing and toy drives for the less fortunate among us. And LANta is always at the ready when local emergencies strike.

      As the Lehigh Valley continues to grow we can be assured that LANta will to play a vital role in our economic development.

Happy Thanksgiving and Hannukah!

Happy Thanksgiving - one of the 7 holidays LANta observes during the calendar year - No bus or van service Thursday, Nov 28th. Regular service resumes Friday, Nov 29th.  This year, Thanksgiving and Hannukah fall in the same time period so Happy Hannukah to all our Jewish friends.  We are thankful for you!  Gobble tov!

LANta does not operate service on Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas
and New Year's Day.  The specific dates are listed on LANta's web page: 

http://www.lantabus.com/holidayservice.html

Armando V. Greco Maintenance Facility

October 22, 2013 was a major day in the forty-year history of Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority. The dedication of its new $14-million state-of-the-art maintenance facility was crowned by its naming for long-time Executive Director Armando V. Greco.

Named LANta's first executive director in 1977 the young Villanova University engineering graduate laid the groundwork for the formation of the Authority from his position at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. Under Greco's leadership LANta has grown significantly both in fleet size as well as ridership. Since 1997 ridership has risen by more than 70 percent.

In remarks at the dedication board chairman Timothy Brady noted Greco's leadership role in many capital improvement programs  "that not only improved the physical assets of the Authority, but replaced the fleet twice during his tenure, all of which ensured the very best travel experience for our riders." 

"Over the decades," Brady added, "Armand has also been leader in the development of major transportation Centers in Allentown and Bethlehem, with the new Easton Intermodal Center scheduled to open in 2014."

The newly minted Armando V. Greco Maintenance Facility replaces a structure built in 1953, with parts dating to 1909.  It is three times larger than the original facility and features in-ground self –contained lifts, more space to work between buses, pressure washing steam room for undercarriage cleaning of buses,  tire room and battery rooms, a nearly full-length skylight for better vision,  above ground storage tanks, and additional modern equipment and utilities.

More than one hundred guests attended the dedication including Greco's wife, Jacqueline, their twin daughters and grandchildren, LANta board members, staff,  bus operators and mechanics and other leading members of the Lehigh Valley community.            

Greco was also cited by Lehigh Valley Congressmen Charlie Dent "for his untiring dedication to the riding public in this great community" and State Senator Pat Browne provided a resolution honoring the LANTA Executive.

In his own remarks, Greco thanked the board for "an honor that is rightly shared by hundreds of LANta employees who over these many years helped make this the quality organization that it is."  Greco stated that he "accepted this honor on behalf of the hundreds of employees over the decades, who were responsible for LANTA's successes."

       

At the conclusion of the dedication a large bronze plaque was unveiled. It will be affixed to an exterior wall where the executive offices meet the new Armando V.  Greco Maintenance Facility.

The New Garage

In mid April, 2012, the LANTA Board of Directors, representatives of the Federal Transit Administration, PennDOT and invited guests and employees, gathered for the groundbreaking for a new garage and maintenance facility at the Allentown headquarters, 1060 Lehigh Street, Allentown.  Here it is 18 months later and the same group has been invited to a ceremonial dedication of the new facility on Tuesday, October 22 at 10:30 a.m.

The Armando V. Greco Maintenance Facility - 2013

The new building was actually occupied two weeks ago as maintenance staff and mechanics moved into the new environment and workspace.  It is working and working well as a state-of-the-art bus maintenance facility.

As with most of LANTA capital improvement projects, this one has been completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

The new garage was necessitated in order to accommodate new vehicle technologies and different kind of buses.  In the past three decades, electronics are more and more essential elements of a city transit vehicle.  You are as likely these days to see a bus mechanic with a laptop as you are with a wrench. Therefore, new diagnostic and electronic calibrating repair tools are necessary: this new facility offers those in abundance. 

Also, within the past 10 years, LANTA has made a commitment to purchase hybrid vehicles - vehicles powered by a combination of diesel and electric energy.  Hybrid buses are more efficient in terms of fuel economy, pollutants are kept at a minimum and systems last much longer with less maintenance. These vehicles are engineered differently than the standard diesel engine bus. Many of the systems on the vehicle must be accessed above not below the vehicle.  So, a garage with high ceilings and catwalks in addition to bus lifts was needed.

The building is of course, more energy efficient; brighter in terms of illumination; and easier to keep clean.  Special materials were employed on floors and walls to make clean up easier and more effective.  It is also a healthier work space with great attention paid to safety and a cleaner air environment.

We will publish more about the building after next Tuesday's Dedication Ceremony but one surprise announcement we cannot wait to reveal: The LANTA Board of Directors earlier this year decided to name the new facility in honor of its long term Executive Director.  The building will be officially dedicated next Tuesday as the Armando V. Greco Maintenance Facility.

Again, we will publish more about this next week, but right now we want to say congratulations to Armand for a most fitting honor.  He was instrumental in the planning effort that led to the creation of LANTA back in 1972 and, since 1977 has guided the Authority to stability and growth that exceeded everyone expectations way back when.  With more than 40 years of public service, Mr. Greco is one local municipal authority executive who truly deserves recognition.

Encouraging ridership

The last newsletter was the first article in a series that highlighted a department at LANta and reviewed cost saving efforts. Each department is doing their part, and this week we go in depth in the Marketing and Publicity Department and have found they are working diligently to achieve cost savings in through addressing certain target audiences.  This is one area where money invested can achieve a return: each new rider for LANTA brings in revenue and since the Authority's purpose is to provide service, the more provided, the more success is gained.

1. LANta’s web page, which was designed as part of the Authority’s Moving LANta Forward initiative and implemented a year and ½ ago, was a result of a thorough analysis of LANta’s corporate brand. The page, www.lantabus.com, was revamped, given a face-lift, and tested for ease of use locating bus information, as well as background about the Authority.

This new web site is more user-friendly and almost anything you would like to find out about LANta can be found there. Technology makes the web site available for access 24/7. With this option customers have far greater opportunities to ride the bus and it also gives them the choice to ride at all different times.

Last year LANta took home the AD Wheel Award from the Annual APTA meeting. This recognized them for excellence in communications and web page design. LANta was also called the “best of the best” of the public transportation industry, representing an outstanding role model of excellence, leadership and innovation whose accomplishments on their website have greatly advanced public transportation.

2. As always, LANta has live operators answering the phones from 7:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. If the phones were covered 24/7 the costs would skyrocket.  During times when Customer Service is closed, or even if they are open, we encourage customers to download our free app. to their iPhone or iPad and access bus real-time information (a Droid app is in the works). They are also encouraged to go through the, www.lantabus.com, to access weather alerts, LANtaVan information, and stay current on happenings at the transit Authority.  This gives riders, and future riders, a far greater opportunity to ride the bus and it also allows them the option to ride at all times. As ridership goes up so does revenue!

3. LANta can be found on social media sites, currently Facebook, Twitter,  YouTube, , and this blog which also appears on the on the home page of LANTA's website: www.lantabus.com. These are additional avenues that customers can follow to find out the latest news and updates with their public transit system.  Staff is very diligent in answering all posts, as each one of our customers is important.

4. A series of How to Ride the Bus videos, which can be found on the Authority’s website and at You Tube, have been updated to give a more accurate and up-to-date overview of the system. Currently, there is a separate video which provides an introduction to riding public transit in the Lehigh Valley. The other videos highlight tips, suggestions, and rules for riders; explain people with disabilities accessing the service; a tutorial on how to read LANta bus schedule; and current fares.  In the works is a chapter on technology and how to access transit information 24/7.

With the technology that LANta is providing the community to access public transportation information, our ridership is being supported in various alternative ways. Also, it is imperative that the younger, technical generation be addressed, as they are the future riders of public transportation. Providing technical opportunities to access the bus will go a long way with them, and provide LANta with an increase in revenue.

Efficiencies in Transit - LANTA style

We are publishing a series or articles on the savings the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) has achieved over the past few years.  These were originally published in a series of weekly newletters:

In today’s economy it’s all about making shrinking dollars go further and LANta is doing its best to keep costs down. Over the next few weeks, we intend to highlight various areas of LANta operations and focus on efforts to keep costs down.

Information technology (IT) is one of the major costs any business has today. Hodges Technology, Inc. (HTI) of Easton is LAnta’s subcontracted IT Department and one of their goals is to reduce the need for costly IT infrastructure investments. 

1. About 1 ½ years ago HTI looked into changing the data communications system from a T1 line to a dedicated high-speed fiber-optic system.  At that time LANTA was using two T1 circuits with a total of 3Mg /second bandwidth and LANta was paying close to $1,268 a month. RCN fiber-optic lines are now providing LANta 20Mg /second of dedicated bandwidth for $560 a month. Increasing the data communication performance by 677%, while at the same time saving LANta $700 a month is the kind of efficiency we strive to achieve

2. Systamec System Recovery is the industry standard for server backup and recovery. This software costs $600 per license. Due to the complexity of LANta’s server installation, it requires 19 licenses in order to fully protect in the event of a disaster. The backup software needs to be updated every three years. This works out to $316.67 per month, and does not include the costs of hardware replacement and maintenance. HTI estimates the hardware costs to be approximately $150 per year. Recently LANta has been migrated to a cloud-integrated Barracuda Backup Server with automatic redundant off-site replication. 
         The Barracuda Backup combines a plug-and-play appliance for onsite backups with cloud and private cloud disc-based replication to quickly and securely store data in multiple locations off-site. This service, with higher functionality and reliability, and lower maintenance overhead costs LANta $250 per month. This works out to nearly a $1000 savings per year.

3. HTI has proposed the consolidation of LANta’s current file and SQL Database servers down to a single Unified Commuting System (UCS) server. The UCS will take the place of two physical servers, as well as allow for low cost expansion.   The new UCS server will be able to provide resources for up to six virtual servers.  Another advantage of the UCS system is that this new file server will provide increased data security and protection against corruption, virus and malware damage, as compared to a Windows server based system. 

While all this is technical in nature, the bottom line is, it is an example of the continuing effort to improve LANta’s bottom line. Constantly evaluating its network and taking steps to reduce ongoing and capital costs will have a significant return on investment as funding becomes more and more constrained.

Minor Service Changes Feb 11

A number of small service adjustments are going into effect on Monday, February 11th.  These are detailed here.  These adjustments are routine changes resulting from passenger and driver information to make routes respond better to demand and changing conditions.