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Bethlehem ConnectPlanning phase — home

Interactive Network Map

Where the plan would connect

Planning phase. An independent plan; nothing is funded or built yet. What this means

Turn layers on and off to compare what exists today with what is proposed for study. Destinations are plotted at the representative points used for measurement — areas, not sites; proposed lines are illustrative connections, not engineered alignments or tracks. Long-term rail ideas are listed as text only below the layers: no rail route or tunnel is drawn. Use Whole network under the map to see the Airport Link option to ABE airport, the North expansion to Bethlehem Square and the two park extensions, which would come only if demand supports them. Every proposed line and stop on this map is Phase 1 (conditional target 2029), except the optional South Bethlehem stop, which has no target year; the existing LANTA, trail and rail layers are context; the Phase 2 corridors past Bethlehem (conditional target 2030) are on the regional map below. Neither year is a commitment.
Connect Spine — electric BRT (Phase 1)River Line — upgraded EBS core (Phase 1)Valley Express — bus option (Phase 1 option)St. Luke's branch option A (feasibility test)St. Luke's branch option B (feasibility test)River Line extension to Wind Creek (if demand)North expansion to Bethlehem Square (if demand)Airport Link — bus option to ABE airport (Phase 1 option)Hanover Township (Northampton County) park extension, from the Airport Link (if demand)Bethlehem Township park extension, from the North expansion (if demand)Gondola possibility (illustrative straight section)Gondola possibility (illustrative straight section)1I-78 Park & Ride2Hellertown / Saucon Valley3Goodman / Stabler Arena4Mountaintop / Iacocca Hall5Lehigh University Center6Farrington Square7Third Street / SteelStacks8Downtown / Broad Street9Moravian University10North BethlehemSLWCNXMHAPHTBT4WSBExisting today: LANTA Bethlehem Transportation CenterExisting today: Walnut St & New St EBS stopExisting today: SouthSide Station area / Polk St GarageExisting today: Wind Creek EBS terminusExisting today: LVIA Airport Transit Center (LANTA stop at the ABE terminal)

Illustrative only — not engineered alignments, sites or tracks

View:

Use two fingers to move or zoom the map, or the + / − buttons. Zoom in to see station names; tap a number for details.

Basemap and existing layers: Overture Maps Foundation 2026-09-23.1 (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL; land cover © ESA WorldCover, CC BY 4.0) and USGS 3DEP terrain. Existing transit is a schematic based on LANTA public information — see lantabus.com for official routes. Proposed lines connect destinations for illustration only; measured distances follow existing streets.

Phase 2: corridor options past Bethlehem

Five corridor options on existing streets, each from a Phase 1 station or line end to a transit hub or town center in a neighboring town. 2029 and 2030 are conditional targets, not commitments: they depend on a sponsor adopting the route, funding and operating partners, and comparable projects often slipped 1–2 years.
Phase 2 · conditional target 2030Added 20 October 2026. Not drawn on the PDF maps yet; the two-page summary (v1.1) lists them.
Regional map: five navy dashed Phase 2 corridor options from Bethlehem Connect's Phase 1 network to Allentown, Easton, Nazareth, Bath, and Saucon Valley south and Coopersburg (PA 309), on existing streets, with existing LANTA hubs as gray squares (opens the full-size image)
Phase 2 corridor options (navy, dashed) on existing streets, with Phase 1 drawn thin for orientation. Squares at the town ends sit on public streets; gray squares are LANTA's existing hubs. Not engineered routes. Tap to open full size.Overture Maps 2026-09-23.1 (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); paths measured in build/analysis/network.py (20 Oct 2026); LANTA hubs: LANTA GTFS feed, 2022.

Measured on existing streets; in-vehicle minutes in the kinematic model, without intermediate stops.

  • Corridor
    Allentown
    From
    Downtown / Broad Street
    km
    8.98
    min (model)
    17.5
  • Corridor
    Easton
    From
    North Bethlehem
    km
    16.00
    min (model)
    30.6
  • Corridor
    Nazareth
    From
    Bethlehem Square / US 22
    km
    8.37
    min (model)
    16.4
  • Corridor
    Bath
    From
    Moravian University
    km
    11.69
    min (model)
    22.6
  • Corridor
    Saucon Valley south and Coopersburg (PA 309)
    From
    Hellertown / Saucon Valley
    km
    14.49
    min (model)
    28.5

LANTA's buses already reach most of these towns (2022 data)

In LANTA's 2022 data, its buses stopped within 400 m of the town ends in Allentown, Easton, Nazareth and Saucon Valley south, but no stop was within 5 km of Bath or Coopersburg (current service to confirm). A Connect Phase 2 corridor would be coordinated with LANTA, which decides, and would not simply run beside its buses. LANTA has agreed to nothing, and the plan's records show no request to LANTA about Phase 2. Measurements, existing routes and caveats are on Corridors & Stops.

How to read this map

Points are station areas, not sites

Numbered circles mark the area each stop would serve. On Lehigh, hospital, casino and private retail land the number sits on a shaded area instead of a marker. Shaded areas mark station areas, not sites. No site has been offered, surveyed or studied. The gondola is drawn as a line only: about 12 towers; sites illustrative.

Lines are illustrative

By default, proposed lines simply connect destinations in order. The optional street-path sketch shows the shortest drivable paths used to measure distances and grades (the Airport Link instead favors main roads by road class; see its method on the Corridors page) — still a sketch, not a route chosen by any agency.

The Airport Link is drawn on its own

The brown dash-dot line is a Phase 1 option to study: a bus on existing streets, mostly main roads (the last 0.3 km is the airport's own access road), from Downtown via LVH–Muhlenberg to the ABE passenger terminal. It is drawn and listed separately from LANTA's existing airport service and Trans-Bridge's Newark Airport buses, and changes neither. A stop at the terminal would need the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority's agreement; none has been asked. See Airport Link.

Park extensions and stop options are options on options

The short-dashed brown and teal lines are extensions to two township parks, shown only as extensions if demand supports them. One continues the Airport Link (Phase 1 option · conditional target 2029); the other continues the North expansion to Bethlehem Square (Phase 1 · if demand supports it). Each ends at a stop on the public street at the park's entrance or edge. Neither Hanover Township (Northampton County) nor Bethlehem Township has been asked. The small blue square between Farrington Square and St. Luke's is a candidate stop at 4th & Wyandotte on St. Luke's branch option A. The purple square SB, on the Valley Express just north of station 1, is an optional stop near City parkland in South Bethlehem: only if a separately proposed park is built. See Park extensions, 4th & Wyandotte and South Bethlehem (City parkland).

Existing layers are context

LANTA's Enhanced Bus Service trunk is drawn as a schematic, and trails and railroad tracks come from OpenStreetMap data. Check lantabus.com for official routes and schedules.

Long-term rail ideas are text only

No valley rail route or South Mountain tunnel is drawn, because none has been chosen. No passenger trains run in Bethlehem today; the regional rail study has not picked a route or stations, and any service would need the railroad's agreement, funding and approvals. A South Mountain tunnel could not stop at Mountaintop (a station would be about 196 m deep). See rail-ready siting.

All destinations (text list)

The same information as the map, for screen readers and quick reference.