As part of the Lancaster on the Move series I will follow several Lancastrians as they commute in Lancaster.
To kick this off, I am following Ben Hogan on his home-to-work commute from Elizabethtown to Downtown Lancaster. Ben is a Public Works Engineer at the City of Lancaster.
His car-free commute takes about 35 minutes door-to-door and includes biking his e-bike to the Elizabethtown Amtrak train station, hopping on the train to Lancaster’s Amtrak station, then using the public Bike It bike share program to bike along the Christian Street bike boulevard to reach City Hall. He prefers this way of travel over driving and being stuck in traffic, especially during peak hours in the northern side of the city.
His commute is typical of what is called multimodal transportation, where multiple modes of transportation are used to get from A to B. Seamless connections between the various transportation modes and alignment in scheduling can greatly improve the experience of getting around.
As mentioned in the new City of Lancaster’s comprehensive plan, establishing mobility hubs to connect multiple transportation modes is envisioned to connect people and places in Lancaster. Several policies and actions include:
- Establish mobility hubs at key locations within the city where people can transfer from one transportation mode to another.
- Develop the Lancaster Train Station area and RRTA Center to better facilitate seamless connections between trains, buses, cars, bicycles, and other relevant modes.
- Identify smaller hubs in each quadrant that can enrich the intermodal network and facilitate travel.
Multi-municipal collaboration between legislative jurisdictions is ongoing in Lancaster and needs further deepening. One example of collaboration is between the City of Lancaster and Manheim township to better align the bike lanes from the City towards Lancaster’s Amtrak station.
As Lancaster continues to grow and develop, it would be great to establish better and more seamless car-free transportation connections.
Additional Resources
- Commute PA
- City of Lancaster Comprehensive Plan – Connecting People and Places
- Bike It Bike Share Program
Bryant Heng is a Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellow studying how Lancaster City can make transportation better. Learn more here.
