NEW HOPE, PA – The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission today announced that the free courtesy shuttle service between New Hope and Lambertville will operate on a weekends-only basis moving forward.
The decision to reduce the shuttle service operations is based on two factors:
- Ridership has been extremely low.
- The temporary walkway installed across a portion of the bridge’s roadway deck has sufficiently handled pedestrian crossings in both directions since the bridge’s permanent walkway was taken out of service in mid-July.
Starting this evening, the shuttle service shall consist of a single minibus operating as follows:
- 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays
- 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Sundays, and holidays (Labor Day).
The service is intended solely for bridge walkway patrons, especially during periods when the temporary bridge walkway might experience heavy use. There are two designated stops, one in New Hope and the other in Lambertville. Both stops are close to the bridge in the commercial centers of the two riverfront towns:
- New Hope loading/unloading stop: on the northbound side of North Main Street approximate to the park benches near the building that houses the PNC Bank and Starbucks Coffee.
- Lambertville loading/unloading stop: the Pennsylvania-bound side of Bridge Street in the general area of the former Black River and Western Railroad crossing and the Princeton Bank building.
A one-way trip between the two stops is approximately 12 to 15 minutes. The shuttle vehicle exceeds the 4-ton gross vehicle weight restriction on the New Hope-Lambertville Toll-Supported Bridge, the free crossing linking the riverfront towns’ commercial centers. For this reason, the shuttle must travel across the toll bridge immediately north of New Hope and Lambertville.
The weekend/holiday shuttle service is expected to continue until the bridge is outfitted with an improved walkway surface and that new facility is determined safe for the public’s use.
