Bethlehem, PA – Trans-Bridge Lines, the Lehigh Valley’s premier motorcoach service, has announced that it is expanding service on all of its schedules. The company has been actively recruiting motorcoach drivers amidst a nationwide driver shortage in order to provide additional routes.
“Our goal is to best serve our customers’ needs, offering vital transportation for the Lehigh Valley and the surrounding areas we serve, such as areas of Bucks County, and northwestern New Jersey,” said Tom JeBran, Trans-Bridge Lines President. “We are happy to be in a position where we have new drivers trained and ready to begin routes, allowing us to make these new runs available. This is something we’ve been wanting to do for some time now, and we are excited that these changes are impacting all of our schedules to accommodate the most passengers positively.”
Commuters and early morning travelers who utilize the Allentown/Clinton/New York Schedules will enjoy two new eastbound runs, both beginning with pick-ups at 6:00 a.m., as well as two westbound routes from New York. There will also be changes in stop locations on various routes to allow quicker arrival times to destinations. Additionally, routes that were previously Friday service only, are now transitioning to Monday through Friday service.
On the company’s Doylestown/Flemington Schedules, weekend service will resume for the first time since October 2022, with one eastbound and one westbound run.
“Our office has received many requests for the weekend service to return,” stated Mark Ertel, Director of Operations. “We have several New York passengers who use the routes to travel to areas like New Hope for leisure and recreation and weekend getaways. They relied on this service in the past, and we are proud to reinstate it into our schedules after a seven-month hiatus.”
On its Wall Street Schedules, Trans-Bridge Lines is introducing two added runs geared for commuters who require a slightly later arrival to Lower Manhattan and alternately, a slightly later return. The runs will operate Monday through Thursday.
On the more aesthetic side of things, schedules have been revamped for a cleaner, easier-to-read look, and run numbers on the Allentown/Clinton/New York Schedules have been renumbered for consistency.
“Some numbers will remain the same, and some will be the same but correspond to different routes. We are alerting passengers to be mindful of their new run number for the routes they use,” said Ertel.
Last, but not least, and one of the most applauded changes to happen, is the return of pier transportation to Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey.”
“This highly-anticipated service is returning for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jennifer Lechiski, Communications Manager. “This is the service that has been the most requested. We have received hundreds of email messages inquiring about its return over the past few years. With the driver shortage we were challenged with post-pandemic, we had to focus on our commuter routes before we were able to consider reinstating this pier location.”
The Pier Transportation Service, which is reservation-based and also serves the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, has been greeted with open arms by cruise travelers. The schedule is based on a fixed schedule and coincides with the cruise lines’ itinerary times to cruise ports. Trans-Bridge Lines offers the service with departures from the Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE), and the Clinton, New Jersey Park and Ride.
“This latest round of schedule changes is our biggest since the pandemic and the result of passenger requests and travel trends,” JeBran said. “Although our industry has not recovered from the events of the last few years and will be forever changed by them, these positive modifications make our employees excited for the future and motivated for what we can accomplish in the future for our customers. We are thankful for the opportunity for growth.”