Lancaster’s Red Rose Transit Authority board took its first formal step toward a merger with Berks County’s BARTA system on Wednesday.
But the combined South Central Transit Authority will be indistinguishable from the present RRTA and BARTA.
“We’ll form a new authority and nobody will know the difference,” RRTA Executive Director David Kilmer said.
The single authority will operate RRTA and BARTA buses in their respective counties. The names on the buses will not change, nor will their colors.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The westbound turnpike has been shutdown between the Reading and Morgantown exchanges due to multiple vehicle accidents, according to Lancaster County Emergency Management director, Randy Gockley.
The detour route to avoid the area is as follows: Rt. 10 to Rt. 23 to Rt. 322 to Rt. 222.
Dozens of accidents were reported on the roadways this morning as snow was quickly laying on the roads.
Use caution and expect delays around the county.
English: BARTA bus in downtown Reading, Pennsylvania, July 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The state has agreed to cover the cost of the management pact between BARTA and Lancaster’s Red Rose Transit Authority, BARTA directors learned Monday.
That means PennDOT will pick up the $60,000 tab BARTA agreed to pay Red Rose for a six-month management contract approved last month. BARTA only has to put up $1,800 in matching funds to get the grant.
The agencies are testing whether it makes sense to share management.
Lancaster County‘s transit organization will manage BARTA for at least the next six months, officials with both groups said Monday.
The agencies will continue to operate separately but Lancaster’s Red Rose Transit Authority will share its executive leadership with BARTA.
David W. Kilmer, Red Rose executive director, will lead both organizations, dividing his time between Reading and Lancaster.
The move comes as BARTA works to restructure its leadership following the death last month of Dennis D. Louwerse, its longtime executive director. Managers have been keeping projects and operations moving with oversight from the agency’s board of directors.
Bicyclists are being welcomed onto Red Rose Transit buses, businesses are opening their doors to bikes or designating parking areas for them, and city officials are considering ways to improve bicycle transportation.
During May, national bike month, efforts are being made around Lancaster city to enhance cycling safety and promote cycling as a form of transportation.
For example, during National Bike to Work Week, May 13-17, RRTA is offering free rides to bicyclists. They can mount their bikes on the racks on the front of the buses and ride in and out of the city without charge during the work week.
Each rack holds two bikes, RRTA marketing manager Jennifer Boley said. Additional bikes may be carried in the aisle.
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Last fall, representatives of Lancaster city’s Downtown Investment District began asking what the organization should be doing to improve the city’s center over the next few years.
Among the recommendations were to consider expanding the district’s boundaries, seek more funding from nonprofit property owners and provide funding for downtown surveillance cameras.
Drafting a plan for those things will take more time than DID has before its charter expires at the end of this year, its officials say.
With that in mind, the organization is proposing a short-term charter renewal that would keep current initiatives in place. New endeavors would wait until the next charter renewal period
Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/616728_Downtown-investment-group-looks-to-future.html
Image via Wikipedia
A banner hanging in Lancaster‘s Amtrak station advertises a special promotion for travelers going to the current Philadelphia flower show.
The 15 percent reduction on tickets on Amtrak’s Keystone line is an effort to get more people to ride the rails rather than drive.
In the near future, there could be similar signs hanging in Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station or the Harrisburg train station advertising First Fridays in Lancaster.
Amtrak and the state Transportation Department — Amtrak’s partner in the Keystone line — hope to build more leisure travel on the 104-mile line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Toby Fauver, deputy secretary for local and area transportation, said.
Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/601295_Amtrak-seeks-leisure-travelers.html#ixzz1ojKUHhx7
Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties will be participating in a PennDOT sponsored mass transit study aimed at making regional mass transit better. The study will look at Capital Area Transit, Red Rose Transit, redrabbit and Lebanon Transit see how these four systems can best work together to benefit the Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York metropolitan areas. The goal is to enhance service while making all four transit systems more cost-effective.
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