PA Intercity Bus and Rail Service
After the 2022 Statewide Service Cuts
Introduction
Pennsylvania with 12 million residents is the 5th largest state by population. And although much of the state is rural it ranks 10th in population density. Up until the start of the Covid19 pandemic in 2020 the State's had an extensive bus and rail transportation network with fixed bus route service to most of the 67 counties. Additionally service between Eastern Pennsylvania and New York City was robust and frequent.
In early 2022 PENNDOT cut subsidies to the cross state bus routes that string together the small and mid sized cities across the state. Perhaps the deepest cut was the single round trip bus along the Route 15 corridor North Central Pennsylvania. The remaining routes saw a service frequency reduction to just one daily run. New York Commuter bus routes from Bucks County, the Poconos and the Lehigh Valley which have not returned to pre-pandemic service levels due to low ridership and driver shortages.
Connecting rural and small urban bus services have also been severely cut. In many cases, rural carriers are transitioning to subscription and demand response services. However, the reservation systems are clunky and are different for each provider. As a result, the last segment of a long-distance bus trip is often an expensive ride-hailing trip or cab ride if it is even available.
Meanwhile Amtrak's Keystone Service and the Pennsylvanian continue to show strong ridership recovery since 2020. Better integration with rural and local transit lines will open up more localities that are at least partially accessible by train.
This Story Map will explore ways to make the Statewide Transportation Network user friendly and convenient.
Current Intercity Bus and Rail Service
PA Bus and Rail Transporation Network
Amtrak Service
Keystone Corridor
Pennsylvania supports the Keystone Corridor with multiple daily departures between Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York.
The new Middletown Amtrak Station
In early 2022 Amtrak launched twice daily Thruway bus service to Reading and Pottstown. The first dedicated Amtrak Bus route in the state.
Amtrak Thruway Bus Connections
The Pennsylvanian
The Pennsylvanian Train from NY to Pittsburgh is also supported by the state but there is only one round trip per day.
The Pennsylvanian on the Horseshoe Curve near Altoona
The Lakeshore Limited
The Lakeshore Limited is an Amtrak long distance train from New York and Boston to Chicago that stops in Erie.
Erie Amtrak Platform - This station is in need of a makeover
The Capitol Limited
The Capitol Limited runs daily between Washington and Chicago with stops in Connellsville and Pittsburgh.
Connellsville Amtrak - A gateway to the popular Great Allegheny Passage Trail
More Service to Pittsburgh
In 2022 the Pennsylvanian carried 176,000 passengers , nearly 250 passengers per train. Ridership has rebounded to about 86% of pre-pandemic levels.
In 2022 Governor Wolf announced that an agreement had been reached for a second Philadelphia to Pittsburgh train had been reached.
Currently service is projected to start in 2025 after about $200 million in capital improvements to reduce freight train conflicts are complete.
State Supported Bus Routes
PENNDOT supports a network of local Intercity Bus Routes . The routes are operated by Fullington Trailways (Red) and Greyhound Lines (Blue)
In March 2022 PENNDOT reduced support for intercity bus service , eliminating bus service to 21 communities.
The rural corridor between Williamsport and Elmira NY was served by two round trips including one run extended to Harrisburg which which enabled connections to and from Amtrak Trains from Philadelphia and New York.
Downtown Mansfield, PA which was largest community on Fullington Trailways Williamsport to Elmira Route.
The Anthracite Region lost service. Fullington ran coordinated bus service daily on two routes. New York - Sunbury and Philadelphia - Williamsport. The two buses were timed to meet in Lehighton.
Shamokin, PA which lost intercity bus service to New York and Philadelphia in 2022.
Greyhound (subsidiary of FlixBus) vacated its bus terminal and switched to curbside pickup at 6th and Market St in Philadelphia.
Peter Pan Bus at the new Greyhound Curbside Pickup at 6th and Market
Intercity Transit Service Frequency 2021 vs 2023
The remaining Intercity Bus Routes were reduced from 2 round trips per day to just one.
Typical (5 days a week) frequency levels for buses and trains between towns and cities. L 2021|R 2023
Other Intercity Bus Routes
Trans-Bridge at the Easton Bus Terminal
Other Intercity Bus Carriers
Megabus has express bus routes between New York, State College and Pittsburgh
Flixbus stops in Scranton, for it's New York to Niagara Falls Route.
Grey Line Route 29 from Clarksburg and Morgantown WV runs 2 to 3 times per day to Pittsburgh, Washington and Waynesburg
OurBus runs service between Philadelphia and Slippery Rock via Bedford, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.
Elmira NY has NY Trailways and OurBus service. There is Elmira's C-Tran Route 10 serves Sayre and South Waverly, PA.
OurBus in Philadelphia
New York Commuter Routes
Several private and public carriers provide commuter service from Eastern PA to New York City.
Martz serves the Wyoming Valley and the Poconos. Martz also has PA Waterparks Shuttle (Kalahari, Great Wolf Lodge and Aquatopia/Camelback Resort) at Mt. Pocono Terminal.
Trans-Bridge Lines from the Lehigh Valley and Upper Bucks County and connects with SEPTA trains at Doylestown Station.
OurBus (Klein Bus Service) has one to two round trips between Douglassville, Reading and Kutztown.
Shortline Bus has a daily run in the northern Pocono Region between Honesdale and Matamoras
NJ TRANSIT/Metro North Trains to Hoboken, NJ from Port Jervis NY. 2 blocks from the bridge to Matamoras, PA.
Port Jervis NY, Metro-North Station
Martz Mt. Pocono Bus Terminal
Local Public Transportation
Pennsylvania is served by 37 Transit Agencies with Fixed Route Service
Most have a common connection point with intercity bus routes. In rural areas there may be very long layovers between connections.
This map also shows population density. While most densly populated areas have some bus service others do not.
Some transit systems on the Northern Tier and Western PA are transportation islands that do not connect to any local or intercity buses. This includes some mid-sized towns such as:
- Warren ( TAWC )
- Kittanning ( Town and Country Transit )
- Oil City and Franklin ( CATABUS )
- Mansfield and Wellsboro ( BEST TRANSIT )
Photo: BEST TRANSIT on Facebook
Gaps
Connectivity gaps between at the local and intercity services is also also an issue in Northeast PA. There is local bus service on the Route 6 corridor on both sides of Wyoming County.
Flex Routing
To better serve low ridership areas flex routing has become a more cost effective option to fixed route services. However the reservation systems for these routes are clunky when compared to ride hailing services. Typically it involves making phone reservations at least one business day in advance. Not very useful for most casual trips.
MicroTransit
A handful of agencies are piloting on-demand transit apps to improve flex routing. Reservations are similar to Uber/Lyft rides.
Pocono Pony Plus Public Transportation
Monroe County's PonyPlus connects with the Martz Bus Terminals in Mt. Pocono and Delaware Water Gap (Green Circles). As you can see the Martz Bus Terminal in Delaware Water Gap Park is not connected to the Red Route through Stroudsburg. But it is now in the Tri-Boro Connector Service Zone.
Essential Air Service
Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintained commercial service.
For each route the federal subsidy cap per passenger is $200. Much higher than needed for any bus service.
In Pennsylvania EAS flights serve 5 regional airports, usually twice a day.
- Altoona Blair AOO (to PHL) Contour Airlines
- Bradford BFD (to PIT or IAD) Southern Airways Express
- DuBois (to PIT or IAD) Southern Airways Express
- John Murtha/Johnstown JST (to IAD or ORD) Skywest /United
- Lancaster LNS (to PIT or IAD) Southern Airways Express
- None of these regional airports have direct bus connections to the nearby city centers.
Southern Airways Express Cessna Caravan. These planes typically carry 9 passengers and two pilots with the baggage in the back to the plane.
Direct fares are competitive with bus and train fares to these locations. Even walk up fares rarely exceed $150.
Other States
Bustang is a statewide bus service in Colorado.
Bustang Routes
Virginia has expanded its Virginia Breeze Bus Service to four rural routes .
Virginia has also added a second Amtrak round trip to Roanoke and a third round trip to Norfolk
In California there is a coordinated bus and train network with Amtrak Thruway Buses feeding into the 3 main Amtrak Corridors.
Thruway Buses also complete the gap between Bakersfield and Los Angeles.
There are 150 Amtrak Train and Thruway Bus destinations in California. Most buses are scheduled to meet the trains.
Ideas for Improving Intrastate Service in PA
Luxury Bus Service
Prices seem reasonable, for example on VonLane; $99 between Nashville and Atlanta for a 250 mile trip.
Video: Napaway 's overnight sleeper bus service from Nashville to Washington D.C.
Coordination with Amtrak Keystone Trains
Coordinating with Amtrak schedules and ticketing is probably one of the simplest ways to increase ridership. More people will likely hop on a bus if there is a guaranteed train connection.
Keystone Train and Regional Bus connections at Harrisburg (Weekdays)
Amtrak's almost hourly service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg make convenient connections to nearly all bus services in Harrisburg. Schedules based on January 2023 timetables.
Branding
Some states have branded their rural intercity bus service with a presence on the Web and Social Media.
Real Time Vehicle Tracking
Some carriers have real time location mapping but there is no statewide tracking application that can be easily accessed. Real Time Links:
TRANSIT APP is a location based real time information. Partners with Real Time:
- Pocono Pony
- LANTA
- SEPTA
- Port Authority (also ticketing)
- Mid-Mon Transit
- rabbittransit
- Erie MTA
- Capital Area Transit
- Centre Area Transit Authority
Several transit services in PA use Avail Technologies myStop®
Provide Rural Bus Stop Amenities
Simple bus shelter and bus stop signs would not only offer seating and weather protection but would also reduce drivers bypassing customers waiting on a roadside, which is quite common.
Access to Parks and Resorts
Many parks and other vacation destinations are already served by Transit, here are a few examples. But getting to these places by public transportation often takes research.
This Pocono Pony Bus Stop is hidden from guests behind Kalahari Resort in Pocono Manor
Add Bike Racks
Nearly all Pennsylvania Intercity Buses do not allow bicycles unless they are disassembled/folded AND boxed. On the other hand the overwhelming majority of local buses agencies have bike racks on buses.
Sportworks sells Luggage Bay Racks to make it easier to stow bikes underneath motor coaches.
Water Gap Shuttle
Since 2012 Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area has partnered with Monroe County's Pocono Pony bus service offering hiker and boat/bike shuttles on weekends between May and September. The shuttles connect with Martz and Greyhound buses at the Delaware Water Gap (Stroudsburg) bus terminal.
Delaware Water Gap NRA Shuttle Service Brochure
An Excursion Train Goes Big
The Reading Blue Mountain and Northern RR is a short haul rail carrier that has invested heavily in scenic rail tours. Since 2004 they have operated the Lehigh Gorge Scenic RR. .
In 2021 they launched seasonal all day excursions to Jim Thorpe from their new Reading Outer Station. Beginning in May 2023 they will begin service from the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Regional Rail Station in Pittstown.
Jim Thorpe Depot
Expand Service
Restore Service and Frequency to 2021 Levels
Add stops at Regional Airports with Essential Air Service
All 5 regional airports with EAS service are located near intercity bus routes and local bus service
Fill in the Gaps for a Regional State Network
The entire local and long distance transit network should become a seamless statewide web
Conclusion
You can get there from here! But navigating Pennsylvania's non-auto transportation system is difficult, confusing and often frustrating.
Providing a safe dependable service and making it easier to coordinate local and long distance transportation can make it easier for everyone to access jobs, school, family and recreation in the Commonwealth while reducing our carbon footprint.
Link to this Story Map tinyurl.com/pa-bus-train
