Workers from warehouses and plants in Upper Macungie’s industrial corridor who take the bus should get some protection on rainy days later this year.

The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority – LANTA – is working with the township to put in about 11 bus shelters along Industrial Drive and the Lehigh Valley West industrial park areas, according to Owen O’Neil, LANTA planning director.

“Hopefully we’ll start installing them in the summer,” O’Neill said. LANTA still has to get permission from the owners of the adjacent properties – many of whom are the employers – and get township approval for the locations. 

The impetus came from employers in the industrial parks who were concerned about their workers standing out in the rain and other bad weather at bus stops waiting for the buses for routes 213 and 613, he said. On a typical day, LANTA carries about 700 passengers to and from the industrial park areas in Upper Macungie.

“These are people who would be coming from the cities to the suburbs,” O’Neill said. The bus loop starts in Downtown Allentown and goes through Allentown’s West End to Fogelsville and Route 100, to Schantz Road, Nestle Way, and Industrial Drive, and the Lehigh Valley West area in Upper Macungie.   

LANTA is using federal funds earmarked for public transit enhancements to pay for the clear glass shelters with metal roofs. Over the next two years, LANTA expects to spend about $400,000 for 200 bus shelters throughout Lehigh and Northampton counties, O’Neil said.

All the shelters will have an advertising panel and an outdoor marketing vendor will get to keep some of the ad revenue in exchange for cleaning and maintaining the shelters.