CATA eliminates fares, makes other big changes to accommodate social distancing

As COVID-19 cases continue to increase, Centre Area Transportation Authority passengers will see several changes the next time they board a bus. In an effort to help with social distancing, CATA will not collect fares on any services as of Thursday. Additionally, passengers who are able are asked to board the bus using the rear door. Riders using mobility devices will still board at the front.

“CATA is committed to being an essential service to our community. Like many other businesses in this community we are struggling with the impact this crisis has had on our ridership and revenue and we are attempting to provide as much service as we can for as long as we can,” Executive Director and CEO Louwana Oliva said in a statement. “Part of making this happen is to protect our bus operators and other team members that have face to face interactions with the public where we can. The modifications being made allow the passenger to skip the fare box and practice social distancing.”

CATA’s downtown customer service center will be closed to walk-ins, but staff will answer questions from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday at 238-CATA (2282).

For more information, visit www.catabus.com or call CATA’s customer service center.

What else will be different?

As of Monday, CATA will end bus service at 8 p.m. each day. CATAGo service will end at 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 p..m. Saturday. CATAGo does not run on Sunday. Riders who work second and third shifts and will be negatively affected by these changes are asked to share their thoughts with CATA customer service.

Route changes

CATA will stop running these routes: A (Park Forest Village), B (Boalsburg), C (Houserville), F (Pine Grove), G (Gray’s Woods), and S (Science Park). The XB (Bellefonte) and XG (Pleasant Gap) routes will also be discontinued, but CATAGo will be expanded to serve Pleasant Gap during this time. CATARide will continue in the 3⁄4-mile zone around the XB and XG routes.

Changes to the K, N, R and V routes scheduled to start Thursday will continue. The K (Cato Park) Route will run every hour, instead of every 30 minutes. The N (Martin Street/Aaron Drive), R (Waupelani Drive) and V (Vairo Boulevard) routes will be reduced from every 20 minutes during peak times to every 40 minutes.

CATARide

CATARide service will end at 11 p.m. each day except in Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap, where service will end at 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and at 7 p.m. Saturday. Call-in hours to reserve next-day trips will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Loop and Link

Changes are not being made at this time to Blue Loop and Red Link service, as CATA works with Penn State.

This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 3:18 PM.