this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . march 2012 lehigh and northampton transportation authority lanta 0354 works the e line in downtown easton . founded 1972 headquarters 1060 lehigh street allentown pa 18103 locale allentown pennsylvania service area lehigh valley service type local transit bus service routes 24 local 7 evening and sunday 4 special services 35 total destinations allentown bethlehem easton hubs allentown transportation center atc fleet 82 buses daily ridership 15 000 weekday operator lanta chief executive owen o neil 1 website www.lantabus.com the lehigh and northampton transportation authority abbreviated as lanta and stylized as lanta is a transit agency that provides public fixed route bus service throughout lehigh county and northampton county in pennsylvania united states . the primary area that lanta serves is the lehigh valley region of pennsylvania serving the cities of allentown bethlehem and easton . contents 1 history 1.1 the new lanta 2 routes 2.1 list of metro routes 2.2 list of metro suburban routes 2.3 list of metro starlight evening routes 2.4 list of other metro services 3 fares 3.1 metro 3.2 faresaver tickets 3.3 lantavan formerly metro plus 4 references 5 external links history edit the lehigh and northampton transportation authority lanta has ten voting and two non voting members appointed by the county executives . the agency was created in march 1972 in response to the transportation crisis that was occurring in lehigh and northampton . the solution was to create a bi county municipal authority that would operate all public transit services in the two counties . lehigh valley transit company a private for profit entity formally operated transit services in the valley . the authority s main service is in the urbanized area of allentown bethlehem and easton and surrounding boroughs and townships . about 380 000 people live within 3 4 mile of a fixed route bus line . about 15 000 trips are taken daily on the metro city transit system . in 1973 the authority replaced the entire 65 vehicle fleet with modern air conditioned city transit coaches . in 1974 lanta added 30 % more service hours and established a peak off peak fare structure offering discounts in the off peak hours and saturdays to encourage ridership . seniors through a state lottery funded program were offered free fare access during off peak hours and weekends in 1975 . in the mid 1980s as the community transformed from a manufacturing based economy to a service and retail based economy was completely revamped and a new metro system was introduced in 1985 . a color coded route information system was introduced at the same time to make riding transit more user friendly . the following year deep discount fares were introduced as lanta raised the case fares but kept ticket and pass prices the same and providing frequent riders with a 25 % discount . in 1988 metro plus services for the elderly and people with disabilities were introduced . fully accessible vans are available through contracts with private operators to take people to destinations door to door for a higher zoned fare . about 2 000 trips are taken each weekday on the metro plus paratransit system . a transportation center was established in bethlehem and centers in allentown and easton are on the drawing board . as the years went on the agency grew adding more and more bus routes around the lehigh valley . ridership has grown 75 % since lanta s inception . on october 21 2001 that lanta started offering sunday bus service to further increase access to public transit . the authority is funded through revenues from the farebox ; a grant from the pennsylvania lottery program with revenue generated by rides taken on the system by seniors 65 and older grants from lehigh and northampton counties the pennsylvania department of transportation and the federal transit administration . combined these grants pay approximately 60 % of the cost of operation ; the remaining funds come through the lottery program and passenger fares . eighty buses are in the metro city transit fleet ; 118 vans are used to provide the metro plus door to door van services . the authority owns all vehicles . lanta has two operating facilities the main office garage and maintenance building is at 1060 lehigh street allentown lehigh county and there is a satellite facility located at 3610 nicholas street in easton northampton county . lanta has three operating divisions metro the main transit service that is made up of 28 core fixed bus routes in the lehigh valley . special service routes add another 17 routes to the total . metro plus a special door to door transportation service for people with disabilities and the elderly . ccct carbon county community transit a service the authority agreed to manage in 1996 for the county of carbon . shared ride van services and a fixed route bus line comprise the carbon county community transportation service . lanta is also involved with these services starlight evening service night owl service the slater express van the 400 routes the lynx silverline express the bethlehem loop the new lanta edit a new lantabus system was introduced in august 2011 that changed the route naming scheme from a letter based one to three digit based one . routes are broken down into 6 categories corresponding to the first digit of the line number and further broken down into specific routes after that corresponding to the second and third digit . for example lanta route 108 is a trunk route that offers service from fountain hill to the bethlehem square shopping center . lanta route 410 provides service for the allentown school district and only operates during the school year . new bus stop signs were also introduced throughout the system that lists the routes that operate at the stop as compared to the old signs that only displayed a picture of a bus and the words lanta metro . 2 routes edit lanta previously operated 35 fixed bus routes in its metro service . seventeen lettered routes serve the inner city areas of the lehigh valley while five numbered routes serve the surrounding areas . two shuttles named the rover and the whirlybird that operate from the lehigh valley mall and palmer park malls to various neighboring shopping strips and centers serve as the final daily fixed routes . in the evening lanta operates the starlight service made of seven fixed routes which service center city allentown the lehigh valley mall and palmer park mall whitehall and emmaus . there is also the night owl service that runs late night from center city allentown to the lehigh valley hospital . metro also operates the silverline express which is an express bus that serves the allentown bethlehem and easton areas via route 22 as well as the bethelem loop which serves as a shuttle for that city s downtown core . the new lanta comprises 29 routes that operate throughout the lehigh valley and 12 additional routes that operate during the school year for the allentown school district . routes with numbers in the 100s are trunk routes and offer the largest operating schedules for the entire week . the 200s routes operate through suburban corridors monday saturday during the day . the 300s routes operate mainly in suburban corridors monday friday during the day . the 400s routes are reserved for the allentown school district . the 500s routes are reservation based lines for suburban areas like macungie . finally the 600s routes are designed to address the needs of certain markets and include the whirlybird line and the bethlehem loop . list of metro routes edit route terminals major streets 107 village west shopping center broad & guetter streets bethlehem cedar crest blvd. tilghman st. hanover ave. 108 east hills fountain hill bethlehem square shopping center stefko blvd. east blvd. 101 broad & guetter bethlehem center square easton freemansburg ave. 104 lehigh valley mall emmaus emmaus ave. macarthur rd. 220 easton allentown hanover ave. william penn highway 215 lehigh valley mall creekside shopping center hellertown schoenersville rd w. broad st. 103 northampton lvip iv macarthur rd. broadway e. 4th st. 102 dorney park & wildwater kingdom sands casino hamilton blvd. union blvd. 209 allentown transit center crest plaza walbert ave. 211 lehigh valley hospital presidential village s. 24th st. hamilton st. macarthur rd. 210 lehigh valley mall south mall macarthur rd. allen st. 15th st. 214 north easton harlen house northampton st. freemansburg ave. 217 slate belt broad & guetter streets bethlehem route 512 route 115 route 248 604 riverside road broad & guetter streets bethlehem riverside rd. new st. 218 allentown slatington route 309 route 873 main st. list of metro suburban routes edit route terminals major streets 219 east catasauqua egypt macarthur rd. race st. 213 fogelsville allentown route 100 tilghman st. 322 trexlertown allentown route 100 hamilton st. 323 stabler center lehigh valley college s. 8th st. mack blvd. interstate 78 route route name service area fare 106 the rover west easton palmer park mall easton centre square us 2.00 602 the whirlybird lehigh valley mall whitehall mall us 2.00 list of metro starlight evening routes edit route terminals 101 bethlehem easton 102 dorney park allentown 103 northampton bethlehem 104 allentown emmaus 106 palmer park mall south easton 107 allentown bethlehem list of other metro services edit route description the slater express van weekend mall shuttle the lynx carbon county transit routes which alternate depending on the day of the week 1 the 400 routes school bus services fares edit metro edit fare category description cash one ride fare one ride fare us 2.00 day pass unlimited rides all day us 4.00 whirlybird express one ride fare us 0.50 the rover one ride fare us 0.50 transfers valid 2 hours after purchase us 0.25 senior citizens 65 all day pass with id free people with disabilities all day pass with id us 1.00 children 5 and under with paying adult free faresaver tickets edit fare category description cash 10 ride ticket faresaver ticket us 16.00 31 day pass good for 31 days after purchase or activation us 60.00 lantavan formerly metro plus edit full fare general fare to access metro plus paratransit services each way us 22.15 subsidized fare seniors 65 and others subsidized by agencies each way us 3.35 ticket books 6 tickets good for 6 one way trips or 3 round trips us 20.10 references edit http www.lantabus.com board of directors fixed route schedules for lanta bus . retrieved 6 july 2012 . external links edit lanta official web site v t e greater new york region bus transit transportation in new york city mass transit in new york city operators new york public mta regional bus clarkstown dutchess long beach huntington kingston nassau poughkeepsie putnam roosevelt island suffolk rockland ulster westchester private academy coach usa community olympia rockland short line suburban hampton jitney hampton luxury liner leprechaun liberty monsey nyc airporter pine hill adirondack new york trailways spanish veolia new jersey pennsylvania public nj transit bus rutgers lehigh and northampton monroe county private a & c academy ameribus broadway coach usa community olympia rockland short line suburban decamp greyhound lakeland martz susquehanna trans bridge connecticut connecticut transit stamford new haven waterbury norwalk bridgeport housatonic area milford routes new york bronx brooklyn manhattan queens staten island express within nyc dutchess nassau putnam rockland suffolk ulster westchester new jersey bergen passaic essex hudson union mercer middlesex monmouth morris north jersey to nyc special event and park ride suburban connecticut bridgeport danbury new haven norwalk stamford pennsylvania lehigh and northampton monroe defunct operators new york varsity & command fifth avenue coach earlier 5th ave transportation green jamaica liberty madison avenue long island new york bus new york city omnibus new york transportation north shore queens surface soundview steinway surface triboro atlantic