A nearly $49.9 million first phase of infrastructure work along the heavily traveled Airport Road corridor anchors the Lehigh Valley’s long-range transportation plan, even as the region’s public bus system trims service after Pennsylvania’s state budget stopped short of fully funding mass transit.
Across the Lehigh Valley, the twin pressures of explosive warehouse growth and a swelling population are forcing officials to rethink how people and freight move through Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and the townships between them. Two efforts sit at the center of that conversation: a multiphase reconstruction of the Airport Road corridor and the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, the region’s public bus operator known as LANTA. One is a long-term capital bet on a congested freight artery; the other is an everyday lifeline that thousands of commuters depend on to reach their jobs.
What the Airport Road Corridor project covers
The Airport Road Corridor Phase 1 Infrastructure Implementation project is budgeted at $49.9 million in the region’s long-range transportation plan, which is coordinated through the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study, the federally required planning body staffed by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission. The plan also flags roughly $9.4 million in unmet needs to fund a second phase of upgrades along the same corridor.
Airport Road runs south into Allentown and northeast toward Bath, with interchanges along U.S. Route 22 in Hanover Township, Lehigh County. The route has become one of the Valley’s busiest freight corridors as distribution centers have multiplied around Lehigh Valley International Airport.
The corridor work is one piece of a far larger program. The region’s long-range plan anticipates more than $4.39 billion in regional and local funding through 2050, including major efforts such as the $595 million first phase of the “22 Tomorrow” Route 22 reconstruction and the roughly $69.8 million Hill-to-Hill Bridge rehabilitation in Bethlehem.
Why the corridor matters: trucks and growth
The case for investing in Airport Road is written in traffic counts. About 2,270 big rigs travel the stretch of Airport Road between City Line Road and Grove Road in Hanover Township every day, roughly 10.2% of all vehicles on that segment, up from about 6% (around 901 trucks) in 2013.
That surge tracks the Valley’s transformation into a regional logistics hub. Local municipalities approved plans for 48.1 million square feet of industrial and warehouse development between 2015 and 2024, equivalent to about 1,100 acres. Population has climbed in step: Lehigh and Northampton counties added an estimated 49,613 residents between 2010 and 2023.
The strain shows up on other corridors too. Over the past decade, daily traffic on Route 33 between Route 22 and Hecktown Road rose more than 45%, while the I-78/Route 22 merge to Route 100 jumped 54.5%, to 126,705 vehicles a day.
LANTA: a daily lifeline to work
While road projects dominate the dollar figures, LANTA carries the everyday burden of moving people who cannot, or choose not to, drive. Founded in 1972, the authority serves Lehigh and Northampton counties and logs more than 5.6 million rides a year. More than 11,000 people ride its fixed-route buses on a typical weekday, and more than 380,000 residents live within walking distance of a bus route.
For many of those riders, the bus is not optional. According to LANTA Executive Director Owen O’Neil, a recent survey found that 75% of riders rely on the system to get to work, and more than 20% use it to reach school. Roughly three-quarters of fixed-route riders report having no other way to get around.
23 fixed bus routes plus 10 special routes
An 83-vehicle bus fleet and 118 accessible vans and mini-buses for paratransit
More than 5.6 million annual rides across the two counties
A budget squeeze and scaled-back service
LANTA spent much of 2025 bracing for the deepest cuts in decades. The agency faced an $11 million recurring shortfall, about $8 million on the bus system and $3 million for its Shared Ride for Seniors paratransit service, after federal COVID-19 relief funds ran out. Its draft budget assumed a 20% cut to fixed-route service and a 25% fare increase.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget proposal sought a $292.5 million statewide increase for mass transit, the first major boost in more than a decade, and would have delivered LANTA $32.8 million in state operating funds. But that proposal stalled, and the $50.1 billion budget Shapiro ultimately signed on Nov. 12, 2025, did not include long-term transit funding. Instead, LANTA received a $26.5 million operating grant from PennDOT, less than proposed, but enough to soften the blow.
The result is a far smaller rollback than once feared. Effective Jan. 26, 2026, LANTA reduced fixed-route service by about 5%, trimming trips on 13 routes, primarily evening and weekend runs, without eliminating any full routes. “It’s a question of reducing certain trips at certain times of the day or certain days of the week,” O’Neil said. He added that the agency does not plan layoffs: “We are not planning layoffs. Because these are gradual, any type of changes in staffing can be done through attrition.”
Fare increases on the way
Riders will also feel the pinch at the farebox. LANTA has moved to raise its single-ride cash fare from $2.00 to $2.50, a 25% increase, and its 31-day pass from $60 to $70. The base cash fare had not gone up since 2009, and the monthly pass had held steady since 2014.
For transit advocates, the episode underscored how vulnerable smaller systems are to swings in state support. Officials have continued to press lawmakers for a durable funding formula, arguing that road and transit investment must advance together if the Valley wants to keep both commuters and freight moving as it grows.
Airport Road Corridor and LANTA at a Glance
Airport Road Corridor Phase 1 is budgeted at $49.9 million, with about $9.4 million in unmet needs for a second phase.
Roughly 2,270 big rigs use Airport Road between City Line and Grove roads in Hanover Township daily, about 10.2% of traffic there.
The region’s long-range plan anticipates more than $4.39 billion in funding through 2050.
LANTA carries more than 5.6 million rides a year and over 11,000 weekday fixed-route riders across Lehigh and Northampton counties.
About 75% of LANTA riders use the system to get to work; roughly three-quarters say they have no other option.
LANTA received a $26.5 million PennDOT operating grant after the state budget omitted long-term transit funding.
Service was cut about 5% on Jan. 26, 2026, and the single-ride fare is set to rise from $2.00 to $2.50.
