Getting around Erie – or getting in and out of Erie – isn’t as easy as it used to be.
There is no taxi service in town.
Low-cost Megabus service to and from Erie ended ten years ago after just one year.
And Erie’s air travelers have only two destinations, to Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina, although service to Florida may be close.
2021 report: Here’s a look at Delta’s future at Erie International Airport, and the airport’s past
Traveling by plane: Flights now and others that may land soon
Erie International Airport now has two daily flights between Erie and Chicago and two more daily flights between Erie and Charlotte. To see also : Air Traffic Control can’t handle summer travel, United Airlines says.
Fares last week started at $290 to Charlotte on American Airlines and $344 to Chicago on United.
Most seats on airplanes are reclining. Flights from Erie to Charlotte are typically 98% active, while flights to Chicago are about 84%, said airport CEO Derek Martin.
Those numbers in previous years would have resulted in more daily flights.
Here’s why: United Airlines is dropping 14 Washington Dulles routes including Erie
“When the load factor exceeds 80%, the airlines of the past tend to increase the flight. They don’t do that anymore because they don’t have pilots to fly them,” Martin said.
A nationwide air shortage is preventing many flights. American Airlines recently announced that it will stop service in four cities – Toledo, Ohio, Dubuque, Iowa, and Islip and Ithaca, New York – because there are not enough pilots to serve them. Many pilots retired during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced pilot training.
“We have 100 regional flights that we want to fly but can’t because of a pilot shortage,” American Airlines spokesman Brian Metham said in a statement announcing the four-city cut in June. .
A flight shortage earlier this year crippled Erie-Washington, D.C., flight service. The route was one of 14 Washington Dulles International Airport routes terminated by United in March.
From USA Today: American Airlines to suspend service to 4 cities in September citing flight shortages
Erie previously lost service to Detroit by Delta Air Lines in July 2020 and other flights to Chicago, by American Airlines, in 2021. It is the latest in a series of airline board changes since 2005, when the services of air were located in Cleveland, Cincinnati. , Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Charlotte on Delta, US Airways, Continental and Northwest airlines. Of those airlines, only Delta is still flying.
However, the Erie airport hopes to offer new service to Florida early next year, Martin said. The airport applied for a $332,800 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development Program that would pay $800 per flight to an airport that provides service, possibly to Orlando, Tampa or Clearwater Beach.
A similar Small Community Grant awarded in 2020 supported Erie-Washington flights operated by the regional United Express system.
Erie-Florida air service? A federal grant could make that happen as early as next year
Inter-city trains and buses
Amtrak and Greyhound offer other options for travelers. To see also : Revenge travel: the trend behind full airports and rising air fares.
Amtrak has service to and from Erie on the Lake Shore Limited, a train between Chicago and New York.
Places and rates offered last week include Cleveland, $21; Buffalo, $18; Chicago, $104; and New York, $81.
The bad news for commuters is that trains will be running from Erie’s Union Station during the morning and early morning hours. Westbound trains leave Erie at 2:10 a.m. Eastbound trains depart at 7:24 a.m.
“It’s a very tough time,” said Springfield Township native Ben Snow, 28, who now lives and works in Chicago. “When I get home, I get on the Chicago train at 9 p.m. and get into Erie, if I’m lucky, sometime after 7 a.m. To go back to Chicago, you have to be at the Erie station by midnight .”
“One thing that is very frustrating is that Amtrak has a service agreement for the right route, but on several occasions I have been on trains that have been held up for half an hour or more by trains. freighters on the road,” Snow said. .
Greyhound continues to provide bus service to and from Erie, although it closed its passenger station and waiting room at the Intermodal Transportation Center on May 1. Erie now has a Greyhound buses behind the Intermodal Center.
“It’s too bad,” Jim Joseph Thomas, 29, an MBA student at Gannon University, said May 5 while waiting for a Greyhound bus to Cleveland. Thomas arrived at the Intermodal Center at 8:30 a.m. for the bus that was supposed to leave in an hour. Due to mechanical problems, the bus did not leave Buffalo until 10:08.
“I’m sitting out here when it’s cold outside. There are benches, but they’re hard bars and you can’t sit on them for more than five minutes,” Thomas said.
Guest benefits include accommodations and fees. Greyhound passengers can connect to almost any city in the continental U.S. Destinations and ticket prices issued last week from Erie include Cleveland, $18; Pittsburgh, $50; Buffalo, $20; New York, $71; Washington, D.C., $56; Philadelphia, $84; and Columbus, $37.
Tours are booked online. Payments can be made online or in cash at local stores including some Family Dollar stores, Walmart and CVS.
Getting around locally: EMTA
Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority buses run multiple routes in Erie and Erie County every day, including free weekday rides on the Bayliner Trolley and free rides Friday and Saturday between downtown and Presque Isle State Park. To see also : Netflix’s role ‘as a must-have service’ is ‘more of a curse than a blessing’: Analyst.
Passengers 65 and over ride all routes for free with a special pass.
EMTA also offers free rides on designated routes for some city employees as well as college students with a PennWest, Gannon, Behrend, Mercyhurst or Erie County Community College ID.
The toll for other routes is $1.65, and 45 cents for transfers. Regular passengers can purchase tickets or passes for discounted fares.
EMTA Lift Service is available by appointment for seniors and those unable to ride regular fixed routes. There is no cost for visits to the doctor and senior centers. Otherwise, fees range from $3.30 to $6.75.
Booked rides
Erie has been without taxi service since June 2019 when Erie Transportation Services, formerly Erie Yellow Cab, folded. Purchased transportation is now provided by Uber, Lyft and other services. Costs vary by location, driver availability and other factors.
Hansen’s Errand Service provides transportation by appointment – to and from the airport, Presque Isle Downs and Casino, medical offices, weddings, concerts and other events and destinations to Erie and Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.
“Transporting people is a big part of our business and really is our main focus, especially since the car service is gone,” said Hansen owner Peggy Allin.
Companies as well as individuals book rides.
“We do a lot of work for hospitals that have patients brought in by ambulance as well as others who don’t have a way to get home. We also work with organizations that need to get people to work odd hours, Allin said. “With labor shortages especially, companies are thinking outside the box to find workers.”
Another company pays Hansen’s to bring refugees who live in Erie to work in the Northeast and take them home after shifts.
“It’s not just medical appointments or fun places that people want to go. We also take people to work,” Allin said.
Uber and Lyft offer rides in minutes as long as the drivers are available. And there may not be as many drivers on the road in Erie as in the past, especially during peak times.
Karen Baur, 54, who has been a part-time Uber driver for five years: “Some days I don’t stop because there aren’t that many drivers.” “Because of high gas prices, some people have stopped driving.”
Baur often offers Uber rides in and around Erie. The need for paid transportation isn’t high in Conneautville, where he lives, and it’s happening more quickly in Meadville, Baur said.
“My full-time job is three, so I go to Erie in the morning and pick people up and take them to work,” Baur said. “On the weekends, I usually take people out to eat and go to bars.”
Baur started driving for Uber to earn extra money.
“My full-time job was to pay the bills, but as a single mother, I wanted extra money that we could spend on other things,” says Baur. He plans to quit his full-time job soon and give Uber rides full-time.
“I like to drive. I like to meet new people and talk to people. And with Uber, I set my own hours,” said Baur.
Book Uber and Lyft riders and pay for rides online or pay cash to the driver.
Some drivers race to run between cities in a short amount of time. Snow, an Amtrak commuter who lives in Chicago, was recently stranded in Cleveland when his travel plans for his sister’s wedding in Conneaut, Ohio, suddenly changed. He booked an Uber car.
“It was an experience,” Snow said. “The first driver came up to me, he must have looked at the device and went, ‘Oh, hell no,’ and he let go of me. The second guy asked if Conneaut where is he, and I told him I’m on the state line in Pennsylvania but And it was a joke.”
Snow paid about $100 for a last-minute long-haul trip.
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNmyers.
