SCRANTON, Pa. — Nicole Peretta waits for her bus on Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton. She picks it up there to get to work in Dickson City.
Come September 8, she may take another brand new route: Bus Route 11. It's aimed at serving people who work in the industrial parks near Jessup. More than 2,500 people work there.
"It's really good actually because there are very minimal routes I can take to get to work, and seeing as this bus stops in Main Street in Dickson City, it'll be right by my job, so that's perfect for me," Peretta said.
Bus Route 11 will run Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. It will not run on weekends.
The route travels from Giant Market in Dickson City through several industrial parks in the Jessup area and ends up at the Jessup Sports Complex.
"The industrial parks are growing in northeastern Pennsylvania, and we have to provide access to get to work who don't have access. Otherwise, they may not be able to take the jobs," Executive Director for the Lackawanna County Transit System Bob Fiume said.
Officials in Lackawanna County wanted to create this new bus route to help more people get to work and bring in more business to the area.
"With the development that's happening on this mountain between Chewy, Trammwell Crow, Can-Pack, and Mid-Valley Park, we're talking about adding another 2,500 jobs probably within the next year, year and a half," Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President Bob Durkin said.
Durkin tells Newswatch 16 the Chewy and Trammwell Crow warehouses will both be opening in the Jessup area within the year and will employ 1,500 people.
Durkin believes the bus line will help those people get to work too.
"We're really getting over a tremendous hurdle here. I think the result is going to be exponentially positive both in the number of individuals able to work here in Lackawanna County but also potential further growth," Durkin said.
"I take the bus all the time, so I just appreciate it," Peretta said.
The new bus route is set to start Monday, September 8, at 6:30 a.m. at the Giant Market in Dickson City.