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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;When my neighbor Charlie recently told me his job may require him to travel to Scranton, he seemed downright dejected, especially as he uttered the words &#8220;Route 81&#8221; and &#8220;winter.&#8221;</p><p>So many people groan over that particular commute, even in good weather, but I recently discovered an inexpensive way to alleviate some of the burden &#8212; a Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus will take you all the way from downtown Wilkes-Barre to downtown Scranton for $1.50.</p><p>Six quarters! Can you believe it? Leave the driving to a pro and you don&#8217;t have to worry about parking or gas or wear-and-tear on your vehicle.</p><p>Now, don&#8217;t misunderstand. It&#8217;s not that this reporter hates driving. I live in a two-Nissan household and like the way a steering wheel feels in my hands. It&#8217;s just that when I drive, I want the experience to be like a car commercial.</p><p>Give me foliage, farmland, trees, maybe a horse in a corral &#8212; not tons of vehicles speeding along, cutting each other off and disregarding the admonitions about stopping distance they might have learned in driver&#8217;s ed.</p><p>But I digress. When I stumbled across a schedule that reveals the LCTA runs five Monday-through-Friday trips to Scranton, I called the office to ask about the fare and was astounded to learn a 20-mile trip across the county line costs the same $1.25 a rider might pay to get from downtown Wilkes-Barre to Hanover Township or just across the river into Kingston.</p><p>LCTA bus No. 17 departs from Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Intermodal Transportation Center at 6:40, 9 and 11:45 a.m. and 1:35 and 3:25 p.m. and arrives at Scranton&#8217;s Lackawanna Avenue, across from the Steamtown Mall entrance at, respectively, 7:25 and 10 a.m., 12:50, 2:55 and 4:30 p.m., which means most of the trips take a little over an hour.</p><p>That&#8217;s not ideal for every traveler, including my neighbor Charlie, and people who need to spend less time in transit might consider Martz Trailways for a 35-minute trip, cushier seats and an $8.50 fare.</p><p>In the interest of saving money, reducing my carbon footprint and experiencing the adventure of it all, I recently took the slower bus to Scranton for an afternoon interview. I felt good about it, too, considering my $3 round-trip fare a vote for public transportation and less-congested roads.</p><p>PennDOT spokesman James May estimates 75,000 to 80,000 vehicles travel Route 81 between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton each day. That day, my car didn&#8217;t increase the number to 75,001 to 80,001.</p><p>Sadly, I remember an aquaintance once told me she wouldn&#8217;t ride a bus because she thought it wouldn&#8217;t project the appropriate &#8220;cool&#8221; image. People might think she was too down-and-out to afford a car. Or that she&#8217;d lost her license. Or that she had a disability.</p><p>Sigh. To that, I&#8217;ll just say I noticed genuine kindness on the bus. On the trip north, a young man who had been napping woke up and helped an older man figure out where he&#8217;d be going once he got to Scranton. On the return trip, a middle-aged fellow saw a fellow rider having trouble with her &#8220;ride card&#8221; and dug into his own pocket for quarters to help out.</p><p>If you&#8217;re wondering what an LCTA &#8220;ride card&#8221; is, it&#8217;s a way to purchase 10 bus rides for $12 or 20 rides for $22, for an even less expensive price per ride.</p><p>OK &#8212; so there IS a travel bargain even better than the $1.50 trips.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Looking for an inexpensive ride between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton? Our reporter checked out a Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus ride for $1.25 each way. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_LCTA.jpg</photo0><caption0>Looking for an inexpensive ride between Wilkes-Barre and Scranton? Our reporter checked out a Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus ride for $1.25 each way. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Six quarters and an hour of your time will get you from Wilkes-Barre to Scranton