Effective Monday, CATA will temporarily suspend commuter routes. Here’s what to know
Due to low ridership resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centre Area Transportation Authority announced a few adjustments to its services.
Effective Monday, CATA will temporarily discontinue its commuter routes — A, B, C, F, G, S, XB and XG — and expand the CATA Go! ride service to serve both Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap.
The Blue Loop on Penn State’s campus will also be reinstated, by the order of CATA and Penn State Transportation Services, with service starting at 4:45 a.m. during the week and 9 a.m. on Saturdays, ending at 10 p.m. each night.
CATA Go, a microtransit service, currently operates in Bellefonte from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Friday and in Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap on from 6 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays. Starting Monday, the program will extend to also provide service in Pleasant Gap from 6 a.m.-11 p.m. on Monday-Friday.
CATA attributed the extra space on its buses this fall to more Penn State students learning remotely. While the university is providing in-person instruction, 28.3% of classes are mixed mode, meaning a hybrid of in-person and remote learning, 36.9% of course sections are remote synchronous, and 16.1% of course sections are remote asynchronous. Fully in-person classes make up 18.6%.
“While it has been a pleasure to welcome back students, we’ve seen that throughout the region’s transportation infrastructure, there has been a significant reduction in ridership,” CATA Executive Director and CEO Louwana Oliva said in a written statement. “ The ridership reductions appear to be in proportion to the scale at which students are attending class remotely. With a reduction in ridership, we’ve seen an increase in space so that passengers can ride more comfortably.
“Our view is that the current level of ridership is temporary and will change as the university deems it appropriate and safe enough to increase levels of in-person instruction once again.”
The Blue Loop was initially discontinued at the beginning of the fall semester to make more buses and drivers available for other routes in the community, according to a Transportation Services release, but as that demand as proved to be low, CATA reallocated resources back to campus.
Riders are encouraged to follow passenger safety protocols for mask-wearing and social distancing when utilizing CATA services.
More information on how to pay fare and schedule trips via CATAGO can be found at catabus.com/GO!.
CATARIDE service for senior citizens and people with disabilities will continue with no changes to its service area or hours.
Riders dependent on commuter lines are asked to call 238-2282 ext. 7500 to discuss their transportation needs.
