When LANTA rerouted buses for its new Allentown terminal, it did so without considering any adverse impact on small merchants who depend on bus traffic. It also ignored their complaints until business owners and bus riders invaded a board meeting last week. Now, it's finally making some changes.But is it also getting ready to make the same mistake in Easton?
Last week, a reluctant LANTA conducted a public hearing on the environmental impact of Easton's controversial Riverwalk project, where the key to public money is a bus terminal in a flood plain, at the bottom of a fourteen story monster building. Easton's Dennis Lieb is one of the forty or so who attended. He claims nearly everyone who spoke is opposed to the notion of a bus station in a flood plain. Here is Dennis' report.
The bottom line with this project is this: LANTA has a pot of gold amounting to $4 million. It would normally not be available to any entity all at one time because lease payments for a transit facility housed in another building would usually be paid out monthly. Because LANTA has chosen to use their FTA capital improvements grant in the form of a 99 year lease payment in advance, it creates a pool of funds that many entities (Arcadia Development, Easton Parking Authority, etc.) would like to grab. It serves to defer construction costs for non-transit related projects in this so-called "public-private partnership" scam.
As they did in Allentown, LANTA has made a decision to subsidize construction of a parking facility whose need has no basis in reality. As oil becomes more scarce, the requirement to house more cars in our cities will no doubt be replaced by the need to house more people in denser, more pedestrian oriented neighborhoods - hopefully with access to rail service at some point. The bus/car paradigm is dying but our local bureaucratic bodies like LANTA still don't understand that they are supposed to be a transportation authority, not exclusively a bus company. Also, as in Allentown, LANTA has given little consideration to the impact that arbitrary relocation of bus transfer points will have on small, locally owned businesses. The fall-out from this has already created a firestorm of protest along Hamilton Boulevard resulting in 1,800 people petitioning LANTA to "fix" the problem.
This same pattern is now being foisted on Easton, where an even smaller core of local store owners struggle to survive off of the business generated by LANTA and NYC commuter bus riders along the the Third Street/Northampton Street axis. If this Riverwalk project proceeds (which I doubt as it is now clearly millions of dollars short of construction funding within a terrible real estate climate), it will destroy what is left of downtown and plunge the city off the cliff of fiscal solvency.
The Environmental Assessment process for this project is open to anyone for comment. The deadline is November 26th. The EA is available for review on LANTA's website and associated documents are located at the Easton Public Library. If any of you would like to make official comments I can forward the information regarding that process. If any of you would like to sign a form letter in protest of the project, I can forward you that information from the Delaware Riverkeeper website. They are the ones who have filed a federal lawsuit to halt the project. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. You would not only be helping us stop a desperately flawed project but you would be sending a message to LANTA that their continued disregard for the public good will no longer be accepted.
Dennis Lieb is a really bright guy. He would be a great appointment to city council here. BUT Dennis is a well known straight shooter and in politics that makes him too "un-predictable".
ReplyDeleteHe has been the most articulate on the riverwalk matter.
And I totally agree LANTA thinks its a BUs company like Easton Coach.
They need to look at SEPTA and see transportation has many fronts.
Hell there use to be a time you could get on a passanger rail in the valley and ride down to the SEPTA tracks into Philly.
If nothing else Lush winos should want rails as a alternative to getting around hosed.
I really don't see what the big deal is. A terminal is more for the bus drivers to use a restroom or get a snack than it is for the public. Lets face it,the bus is still going to stop every 2 or 3 blocks on its route. Does anyone really think someone is going to walk 12 blocks because that is where the "terminal"is?
ReplyDeleteLANTA, SEPTA,etc are all publicly funded because they cannot turn a profit. The best they can do is to break even for the year. If they made money, we would still have Trolley lines all over the LV like in 1900 and 1910. Tatamy had 4 different trolley lines running through it at that time. Public transportation is a money pit and it always will be... BUT there is a strong need for it. I just don't see why everyone is crying about Lanta being there. If by chance they did get a flood, so what. Pick up the bus at the next stop, its not like there are going to be 3000 people there. Look at the Lanta stops... 3 here 5 there none here. The buses run every hour. Environmental Impact?... its more like the other way around. We may not have another flood for 20 years, who knows. But maybes and ifs and crystal ball forcasters arent true reality when it comes to some guy or gal hopping on a bus to go to the store. Everyone cried when Lanta dropped a few stops on Hamilton street.. is this a double standard????
That will be the focal point in Easton, the transfer point. If it's under water, as it's been three times over the past three years, that will screw everything up. In addition, many LANTA customers who are disabled, both physically and mentally, will be placed in harm's way. In addition, LANTA is moving its ops away from small businesses that rely on that bus traffic. But it makes sense for the developer because it's the keystone to public funding.
ReplyDeleteAs Dennis makes clear, it's a bad idea.
river is wrong about the number of people riding LANTA buses. He may see 3 or 5 at a time, but that adds up to about 6 MILLION rides a year based on information I saw a week ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is not the bus company's responsibility to make sure 'local' merchants have customers brought to their doors. Lanta's job is to get its passengers where they want to go as fast as possible. If merchants want customers let them advertise.
Besides, just cause the bus riders will transfer at the Riverwalk place doesn't mean the buses won't still stop in the usual places. They just won't loiter there...and that's a GOOD thing.
Catty Guy,
ReplyDeleteA new station in Easton at that location is a bad idea because it's in a flood plain.
LANTA does exist to provide transporation to homes, business, and shops. It does not exist to take folks away from shops they are used to frequenting.
where is the LANTA terminal located now?
ReplyDelete