Lower Anthracite Transportation System Lower Anthracite Transportation System The Lower Anthracite Transportation System (LATS) is a small transportation system serving Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area, primarily of Northumberland County. The LATS route system, based out of Mount Carmel, operates two routes that meet at Coal Township Plaza, weekdays and Saturdays, serving outlying communities of Mount Carmel, Atlas, Natalie, Marion Heights, Kulpmont, Walmart, Locust Gap and Ashland on Route 1; and Shamokin township on Route 2. A third route, operated seasonally, serves Knoebel's Amusement Resort in neighboring Elysburg. LATS implemented an adult base fare that is paid upon boarding the bus. Children pay
History of anthracite coal mining in Pennsylvania the building of a canal. By 1840, over 250,000 tons of anthracite mined from the region annually reached Philadelphia through White and Hazard’s Lehigh River system (Dublin, Licht, 12-3). A group of Germans wanted to seek the rights to the Schuylkill River. They received a charter in 1815 to incorporate the Schuylkill Navigation Company, which would have control over the Schuylkill River. After receiving investors the Schuylkill Navigation Company was able to finance a 108-mile long river and canal system that connected the Pottsville area to Philadelphia that opened in 1825. By the early 1840s, some 500,000 tons of anthracite