PA: Will Lehigh Valley bus routes be cut? LANTA plans steep cuts if Pa. doesn’t provide more money

The Lehigh Valley’s mass transit system has been trying to keep up with the region’s growth over the last decade, but it faces significant cutbacks if it doesn’t receive additional funding from Harrisburg.

LANTA on Tuesday released a draft budget for the 2026 fiscal year, which starts July 1, that doesn’t include any extra money from the state. It instead includes a 20% service cut, a 25% fare increase on fixed routes and a 25% fare increase on shared ride services for seniors.

It also includes an unfunded deficit of approximately $8 million on the bus system and an additional $3 million for shared ride services.

Cuts could include half of service after 7 p.m. daily, half of Saturday service and 75% of Sunday service. Service to northern destinations in the Valley, including the Slate Belt, Walnutport and Slatington, could be eliminated. LANTA said specific plans have not been finalized, but any cuts would begin in January.

LANTA Executive Director Owen O’Neil said the agency had been approaching this point for a few years. The state transit funding level hasn’t increased since Act 44 in 2007 and capital projects were last funded by Act 89 in 2013.

Additional funding during the COVID pandemic helped extend LANTA services, O’Neil said, but that has finally run out.

“We’ve been kind of working and advocating along with the other transit systems around the state because they are kind of in the same boat,” O’Neil told The Morning Call on Tuesday. “They might just be getting to this point next year instead of this year, but we’ve been working over the last couple of years, advocating for a new funding bill. We knew that if it wasn’t for the COVID dollars, we would have been in this situation two years ago.”

The 2026 LANTA budget includes an operating cost of $66.8 million, a $2.8 million increase from 2025. Government subsidies make up a lot of that money, including $9.5 million from the federal government, $36.8 million from the state and $1.4 million from local governments.

It anticipates revenue of more than $3.5 million from individual fares. About 5.6 million passengers use LANTA annually. Other revenue streams include such things as advertising on buses.

Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed increasing transit’s share of sales tax from 4.4% to 6.15% in both the 2024 and ’25 budgets. That could provide LANTA an additional $7 million annually, enough to close the fixed route funding gap.

Its fate in the Legislature is uncertain.

Even if funding comes through, there may be some hard decisions to make on shared ride services, O’Neil said, as some funds may have to be diverted from the fixed-route service.

Rick Molchany, director of general services for Lehigh County and chair of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study’s comprehensive committee, said LANTA is an important resource for many residents.

“Although we are optimistic that the commonwealth will provide valuable funding to continue the services, while maintaining rates that are reasonable and competitive, we understand their need to budget conservatively,” Molchany said. “The county will continue to fund our local share, which will involve an increase to our match for both operating and capital budget needs.

“LANTA is a critical asset that provides transportation access throughout the Lehigh Valley. Riders depend upon services, and we need to create plans to satisfy their expectations,” he said.

LANTA is the third-largest transit agency in the state. Its much bigger siblings also face large deficits and potential service cuts: SEPTA is in a $213 million hole and may have to raise fares more than 21% while cutting dozens of bus routes and some rail lines, and Pittsburgh Rapid Transit is facing a $100 million deficit and could cut service by 40%.

“Across our commonwealth, we have noticed a rising mass transit funding crisis characterized by substantial cuts in services due to budget limitations,” state Sen. Nick Miller, D- Lehigh, said during an April 15 hearing on mass transit in Pittsburgh. “Consequently, we are jeopardizing the daily lives of our residents who depend on public transportation to get to work, visit friends and loved ones, and traverse these regions for everyday needs.”

If LANTA needs to implement service cuts, the agency said, it would hold public meetings to present specific service reduction plans as well as fare increases. Additional cuts, which could be more than 40%, may come if new funding still isn’t provided.

“We’re doing everything we can to advocate for transit funding at the state level,” O’Neil said. “We’re really hoping to avoid this as service cuts are the last thing we want to do. People really rely on our service, so we’re working really hard to try to make sure that we advocate for that funding bill.”

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