Station area 3 · South
Goodman Campus / Stabler Arena
Planning phase. An independent plan; nothing is funded or built yet. What this means
Why here
Lehigh's athletics campus and Stabler Arena draw large event crowds. A Spine stop plus event staging would serve games, concerts and commencement; it is also the southern end of the gondola possibility.
A gondola terminal here is an option only. No site has been chosen, and any site on Lehigh land would need Lehigh's agreement. The Spine stop would be a platform on Goodman Drive with level boarding.
Program ideas Proposed · planning phase
- Spine BRT stop on Goodman Drive with level boarding and a solar canopy
- Event bays and queue corrals, with surge plans for sellouts
- Gondola terminal (option) on open ground east of the arena
- Equipment-lending lockers and team food pickup
- Links to Rauch Field House, Ulrich and the Goodman fields (venues for recreational leagues such as Lehigh Leagues, a separate student-run initiative)
Which extras are worth it here, maybe later, or not worth it is rated further down this page.
What exists today Existing today
- Lehigh campus shuttles serve the Goodman Campus today.
- Lehigh's existing 3.1 MWdc Goodman solar array serves Lehigh, not transit.
Measured station area
- Elevation
- 96 m (USGS 3DEP)
- 10-minute walk
- 60 ha · 36 buildings · 17 places
Walk areas are slope-adjusted 10-minute walksheds on the Overture pedestrian network; building and place counts are intensity proxies, not population or jobs.
Future train access One Connect ride to a rail-ready stop
From Goodman / Stabler Arena, about 9 minutes on Bethlehem Connect to the rail-ready stop at I-78 Park & Ride.
No passenger trains run in Bethlehem today, and no regional rail route or station has been chosen. Rail-ready stops are where this plan would keep space free. How this was measured.
Measured links
- Connect Spine — electric BRT: Hellertown / Saucon Valley → Goodman / Stabler Arena · 2.13 km · ~4.6 min · max 3.2%
- Connect Spine — electric BRT: Goodman / Stabler Arena → Mountaintop / Iacocca Hall · 4.03 km · ~7.8 min · max 11.2%
Still unknown
- Municipal jurisdiction (reported Lower Saucon Twp)
- Carbonate-geology overlay
- Lehigh land use and event operations agreements
Amenities here: worth it or not Screening judgment
Event hub on Lehigh's Goodman Campus with a tiny everyday walkshed (17 places, 0 LANTA trips) but a 16,000-seat stadium and a 5,600-6,200-seat arena, so event staging drives the program and most extras wait on Lehigh agreements or the gondola option.
Worth it here
- Drop-off and paratransit loading zone: Game and concert days bring pick-up and rideshare demand; a cheap accessible loading zone can sit off the platform (Lehigh to confirm).
- Event queuing and bus staging space: Size bays for typical games (~5,000; 8-12 trips/hour). For sellouts and commencement (24-36 trips/hour), use temporary staging by Lehigh agreement.
- Driver restroom and break room: Surge buses lay over here on game, concert and commencement days. Use a Lehigh venue building by agreement, or temporary units.
Maybe later here
- Heated, enclosed waiting room: A through stop at 95.5 m needs only a wind-screened shelter; an enclosed room comes only inside a gondola terminal, if built.
- Terminal bus charger (overhead pantograph): Ordinary trips pass through. An event-layover charger is only an option, pending layover patterns, the energy model and grid capacity.
- Solar panels on the station canopy: Canopy solar is proposed, but solar on Lehigh land can't simply credit a City or LANTA account (agreement to confirm).
- Battery energy storage: Only to trim peaks if the optional event charger is built.
- Equipment-lending lockers or package lockers: Goodman fields are 247 m away, but lending lockers need a partner to manage gear. Lehigh Leagues is not a Lehigh program.
- Water bottle filler: Event crowds would use one, but only if a nearby Lehigh building or gondola terminal tap can serve it (to confirm).
- Elevators (in pairs), only at level changes: Only if a raised gondola terminal is built; the curbside bus platform uses ramps.
- Ground-source heat pumps (enclosed spaces only): Only for the optional gondola terminal, after karst screening of the carbonate-geology overlay.
Not worth it here
- Public restrooms: Very low everyday use. On event days, seek rider access to venue restrooms by Lehigh agreement; temporary units only if needed.
- Staffed customer service: Events are occasional, so use temporary event-day ambassadors rather than permanent staff.
- Secure bike lockers or bike hub, and bike-share docks: Tiny walkshed (36 buildings) and an 11% climb to Mountaintop, so carry bikes on bus racks instead.
- Park-and-ride: On Lehigh land and Lehigh hasn't proposed one. Event drivers can use the I-78 P&R or Polk St Garage by agreement.
- Food or coffee kiosk (partner-run): Too few everyday users for a kiosk; partner-run team food pickup on league or event days only.
- Small shop space: Very low footfall (17 places) and no existing ground floor facing the platform.
- Community lounge or study nook: Open-air stop with no host; a study nook fits better at the Asa Packer end if a gondola terminal is built.
- Public art and heritage or geology display: No documented heritage or geology at the stop in the project files. Art built into windscreens or paving stays optional.
- Snow-melt at the platform edge: Valley stop at 95.5 m; rely on the snow and ice plan, and revisit if a measured walking approach exceeds ~8%.
- Regional and intercity bus bays: No regional or intercity carrier stops here.
- Rail-ready space reservation: Campus and event stop that isn't on the protected rail-ready corridor.
- Hospital and 24/7 shift-worker features: No 24/7 employer with about 2,000 staff within 400 m.
- Energy display with real solar and charging data: No transit charger unless the event option is built; Lehigh's 3.1 MWdc Goodman array is Lehigh's, not transit data.
- Public Wi-Fi and phone charging: Open-air stop with ~5-minute waits and no enclosed room unless a gondola terminal is built.
Every stop also gets the essentials. Ratings are the author's screening judgment from measured data, not a design or a commitment.