After community feedback, here are the changes that could be coming to CATA routes
After community discussion and feedback, the board of directors of the Centre Area Transportation Authority are set to vote Monday on several changes to routes and a fare increase for CATARide.
The changes come after a significant drop in ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic but in anticipation of ridership trends as Centre County continues to reopen and Penn State plans for a full in-person fall semester.
Pending board approval, a number of changes will take effect Saturday, Aug. 21.
CATA will bring back several commuter routes that have been on hiatus during the pandemic, including A, F, G and S (Park Forest, Pine Grove, Gray’s Woods and Scenery Park routes, respectively).
A modified commuter level will be created for what was previously the XB (Bellefonte) and XG (Pleasant Gap) routes.
“They were intertwined and ran very sporadic. ... So what we’re doing is, CATAGo has been operating throughout the pandemic but we are bringing back a commuter level and XB and XG, to help people during those peak times, a.m. and p.m.,” Chris Jordan, director of service planning and community engagement, said.
Earlier this month, the Harris Township Board of Supervisors discussed the impact of service cuts on the area, including the elimination of the B (Boalsburg) Route. The P Route will go as far as Jack’s Mill Drive/Centre Estates in Boalsburg on an 80-minute frequency, and a shortened P Route to Geisinger Scenery Park will operate on a 30-minute frequency. This will supplement an additional pilot of CATAGo in the Boalsburg and Harris Township area, Jordan said.
Harris Township Manager Amy Farkas said the township, prior to the new changes, shared concerns with CATA. After the meeting, she said she thought these new changes would be better for the community.
“I think we’re pretty happy with the changes CATA made after our meeting,” Farkas said. The concern was that residents wouldn’t be able to get to grocery stores or their doctors appointments. But since CATAGo includes destination points such as Weis, Nittany Eye Associates and Geisinger Medical Center at Scenery Park, she thought the concerns were heard and understood.
CATA’s Executive Director and CEO Louwana Oliva said part of the reason they’re looking to put CATAGo in that area is because the P Route presents barriers for people, such as no sidewalks or pedestrian connections.
“We’ve been trying to figure out what’s a good way to get people either to the route or to the shopping and medical appointment areas,” Oliva said.
The microtransit CATAGo is similar to Uber or Lyft, Jacqueline Sheader, public relations manager, said.
“It’s almost door-to-door service, so we’ll come pick you up where your original destination is, as long as you’re within those zones that we’ll be providing service to,” Sheader said. Riders can download the TransLoc app, call or schedule a ride online and the van would be scheduled to pick up and transport to where the rider needs to go. The cost for the microtransit is $2.20.
Farkas said she’s heard from residents who are excited to have CATAGo, though she said there might be a learning curve initially.
There aren’t any other major changes planned to routes, Jordan said, although CATA will bring back Friday and Saturday night service for the HM (Toftrees/Nittany Mall), N (Martin Street/Aaron Drive), R (Waupelani Drive), V (Vairo Blvd) and W (Valley Vista) routes, which will operate until 2:30 a.m.
Other routes that will be eliminated include the C (Houserville) Route; some of the area along this route will be served by the HM Route. The HM will be expanded to provide service to portions of Trout Road; service to the UEC 12 Theater on Premiere Drive will be eliminated.
The White Loop service, which operates counter-clockwise around Penn State’s campus serving Beaver Avenue, University Drive, Curtin Road and Burrowes Road, will be reinstated, with service until 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
The only fare increase will be for CATAride (paratransit service primarily for seniors and people with disabilities), which will increase by 50 cents to $4.
For now, face masks are still required while using CATA services. Sanitation stations are also available on the buses and electrostatic cleaning of the buses will also continue.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, CATA lost about 97% of its ridership overnight, Oliva said. Since then, CATA has only recouped about 12% of its riders.
“Prior to the pandemic, we covered about 46% of our operating costs from either the fares that people put in the fare boxes, our passes and our contracts with Penn State, and then we have an apartment complex program for the student housing,” Oliva said.
With ridership hovering around 10%, so is the local funding. Through three different stimulus bills, CATA has been allocated $22.9 million, Oliva said. To date, CATA has received funds from the first of those bills in the amount of $9.5 million, she said.
As the fall services begin, Oliva said they’ll continue to watch and study things while they decide some other outstanding items. But they’ll also continue to watch the routes that are set to start in the fall.
“If the ridership falls off, we may have to either find a different way to serve that area or we may have to decide that there’s just not enough ridership for us and we have to put our money in other places where we have the higher ridership,” Oliva said.
For more details on the proposed changes, visit catabus.com/proposed-fall-service. The CATA Board of Directors will meet at 4 p.m. Monday.
