Transit and Bethlehem Connect
Bethlehem Connect in brief
A separate plan, not a service
Scroll sideways to see the whole drawing.
Figure 9. Transit connection — the studied places and Bethlehem Connect
v0.3 · 2026-10-19 · Schematic — not to scale; positions simplified
A schematic of Bethlehem Connect, the proposer's separate transit plan, with its planned lines dashed and today's buses in solid grey, and the two studied center places shown as approximate areas near its planned stops.
Figure notes
- Connect Spine: about 16.5 km and 35 min end to end.
- River Line: about 2.5 km, from Downtown via Farrington Square to Third Street / SteelStacks. That stop would be rail-ready (planned).
- Gondola option: Goodman – Mountaintop – Asa Packer, about 3.4 km. It is drawn to the nearest Spine stops.
- Research home at Mountaintop / Iacocca Hall: labs and high-bay space, only if Lehigh invites it. Goodman / Stabler Arena: occasional events, only if Lehigh permits.
- LANta 105 runs Hellertown – Lehigh University – Southside – City Hall – BTC – LVIA. Its run beside the Spine is not drawn. It does not serve Mountaintop, which has no public transit today.
- Downtown / Broad Street is the Transportation Center stop. North Bethlehem is at Linden & Elizabeth.
- Airport (LVIA): the LANta transit center, reached today by LANta 324 and 105.
- Existing bus service, today (LANta, Trans-Bridge)
- Connect Spine — electric BRT (planned)
- River Line — upgraded bus core (planned)
- Gondola option (planned)
- Planned stop
- Center place, approximate area (studied, not selected)
Bethlehem Connect is in its planning phase, not funded or engineered by any agency, and the center does not depend on it. Sources: [172,173,189] Planning phase.
Where the center's places meet the plan
| Center place (studied, not selected) | Nearest Connect stop (planned) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Public front door — South Bethlehem, near Third Street | Third Street / SteelStacks (River Line) | On the plan's rail-ready corridor; the industrial history museum is about a 6-minute walk.[189] |
| Research home — Mountaintop, only if Lehigh invites it | Mountaintop / Iacocca Hall (Spine; gondola option) | About 8 minutes on Connect to Farrington Square; the hill is about 190 m above it, too steep for a conventional train.[189] |
| Occasional events, if Lehigh permits — Goodman | Goodman / Stabler Arena (Spine) | About 9 minutes to a rail-ready stop.[189] |
| Visitors from the south — Hellertown and the I-78 Park & Ride | Hellertown / Saucon Valley; I-78 Park & Ride (Spine) | The plan's southern terminus; its park-and-ride site is still to be determined.[189] |
Getting there, step by step
Step 1
Today: existing buses and walking
LANta's Enhanced Bus and Route 105 to the South Side, then a walk from Southside Station to a South Bethlehem front door. Trans-Bridge runs from the BTC to New York.
For: Works now, costs the center nothing, and favors the walkable South Side.
Against: LANta cut service twice in 2026. Mountaintop has no public transit today.
Step 2
Bethlehem Connect Phase 1 (if it is built)
River Line to the public front door. Connect Spine to Mountaintop for the research home, if Lehigh ever invites it, and to Goodman for occasional events. For the airport, today's LANta routes (the center's own suggestion, not part of Bethlehem Connect).
For: One network for the front door and a possible Mountaintop research home, with a rail-ready stop near the front door.
Against: No funding or engineering yet; the center must not depend on it.
Step 3
Gondola option for the South Mountain climb
A Bethlehem Connect option: Goodman – Mountaintop – Asa Packer, about 3.4 km.
For: Could make a Mountaintop research home reachable in minutes from campus and the South Side.
Against: Only an option inside that plan. Conserved woodland, FAA Part 77 and City airport-zoning review, and the nearby hospital heliport.
Demand first
Worldwide links — a framework, not a plan
How a regional system could one day link cities to airports, seaports, research centers and licensed spaceports. None of these extensions is assumed to be built. Each link and its status today is under More detail.
More detail
Bethlehem Connect, as that project describes it
Connect Spine (Phase 1 plan)
An electric bus rapid transit line from the I-78 Park & Ride through Hellertown / Saucon Valley, Goodman / Stabler Arena, Mountaintop / Iacocca Hall, the Lehigh University Center, Farrington Square, Downtown / Broad Street and Moravian to North Bethlehem (Linden & Elizabeth): about 16.5 km and 35 minutes end to end.
River Line (Phase 1 plan)
An upgrade of LANta's existing Enhanced Bus core from Downtown via Farrington Square to Third Street / SteelStacks: about 2.5 km.
Options and later steps
A gondola for the South Mountain climb (Goodman – Mountaintop – Asa Packer, about 3.4 km); a Valley Express bus; extensions to Wind Creek or Bethlehem Square only if demand supports them; a long-term rail-ready valley corridor.
Status
Stage P0 — conversations and data; planning phase. Not funded, engineered or reviewed by any agency. 2028 and 2030 are conditional targets in that project, not commitments. Not the City's 2016 'BethConnects' trail study.
Source: Bethlehem Connect's own plan.[189]
What runs today
- Reported Bethlehem Transportation Center (BTC): LANta's hub at 635 Guetter St (Broad & Guetter). Some Route 324 trips to the airport start or end here from 2026-06-15.[63,172]
- Reported South Bethlehem / SteelStacks: LANta's Enhanced Bus Service Green Line (Route 100) and Blue Line share a core between downtown Allentown and the South Side; Southside Station eastbound moved to E 2nd St at Fillmore in August 2024. No stop is named 'SteelStacks'.[172]
- Reported Downtown Bethlehem: Enhanced Bus stops moved from Broad St to Walnut St at New St on 2025-11-20; the Route 601 downtown shuttle stops at the Walnut Street Garage.[172]
- Reported Hellertown / Saucon Valley to the airport: LANta Route 105 runs Hellertown – Lehigh University – Southside – City Hall – BTC – LVIA; some evening trips were cut on 2026-06-15.[63,172]
- Reported Funding pressure: LANta made funding-driven service reductions on 2026-01-26 and 2026-06-15 after warning of route eliminations in its FY2026 budget.[172]
- Reported Lehigh University buses: Hub-and-spoke from Asa Packer; the Mountaintop Connector runs on 30-minute headways on weekdays (Spring 2026). Since 2026-01-20 there is no transit between Goodman and Mountaintop. Whether non-affiliates may ride was not found.[24,25]
- Reported Intercity bus: Trans-Bridge Lines runs scheduled service from the BTC to New York's Port Authority Bus Terminal (schedules effective 2026-07-10) and added Newark Airport service in 2025, reportedly on its separate Wind Creek schedule rather than from the BTC (unverified).[173]
- Reported Passenger rail: No Lehigh Valley corridor was in FRA's Corridor ID Program in the latest report found. PennDOT's 2024 analysis studied five options, two to New York via New Jersey, with a 10–12-year process estimated at $552M–$841M. No committed funding was found. This plan does not depend on rail.[174]
- Reported Trails: Forest Park's first public trail opened in April 2026 from the City's South Mountain Park trailhead. Saucon Rail Trail and South Bethlehem Greenway alignments were not verified this session.[27]
Worldwide links, one by one
| Link | Today | Status |
|---|---|---|
| City ↔ local airport | LANta 324 and 105 link the BTC and LVIA.[63,172] | Exists today |
| City ↔ major airports | Trans-Bridge runs buses from the BTC toward New York; whether a BTC trip stops at Newark Airport was not confirmed. PHL is about 51 mi, EWR 64 mi, JFK 84 mi straight-line.[35,173] | Partly exists (bus) |
| City ↔ seaports | PhilaPort and Port Newark–Elizabeth are regional seaports; no direct passenger link is assumed. | Not assumed |
| Research center ↔ licensed spaceport | The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA Wallops is about 184 mi away. Links would be through partners' programs only.[35,133] | Not assumed |
| Worldwide network | Any community could map the same pattern (city, airport, seaport, research center, licensed spaceport), with local agencies deciding what gets built. | Future ambition |