CATA will soon study the feasibility of making its entire bus system fare-free for all riders, the public-transit agency confirmed.

The state Department of Transportation has awarded the Centre Area Transportation Authority a $100,000 grant to investigate the idea formally, CATA transit planner Greg Kausch said. He said the study, funded through PennDOT's Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative, is expected to last 18 to 24 months.

It's not clear exactly how the State College-area transit system might be able to restructure revenue streams and make its routes fare-free for Centre County residents. That's one key question the study will explore, Kausch said. He said versions of the ridership-building approach, known as universal access, are used already in a number of "transit-intensive" university communities.

Some, he said, allow anyone with university identification cards to use all public buses without paying a direct fare. The first step of the PennDOT-funded study will explore bringing that concept to Penn State in particular, Kausch said.

He said the university is looking for more transportation options at and surrounding University Park -- and is interested in the new study. If universal access reaches fruition for Penn State-affiliated riders, Kausch said, one funding option may have the university supply CATA with new, lump-sum payments directly.

"Obviously, Penn State land is at a premium. And parking facilities are not the highest and best use of that land," he said. Kausch said the university wants to minimize its investment in parking structures and facilities.

Penn State already offers university employees unlimited CATA access for $5 a month. The "Ride for Five" program, as it's known, is available to workers who waive an on-campus parking permit. Ridership through the program grew six percent in the last fiscal year; overall, it represents nearly seven percent of CATA's non-Loop, non-Link usage, Kausch said.

A similar unlimited-access program, provided to tenants of participating apartment complexes, accounts for about half of total CATA ridership. Ridership yielded through the apartment-complex program grew about 6.4 percent in the last fiscal year, according to CATA figures. (Participating complexes usually pay CATA a regular lump sum.)

Shifting more riders to new universal-access -- or near-universal-access -- arrangements would "obviously streamline a lot of CATA's financial transactions ... and speed up boarding," Kausch said.

Right now, the standard cash fare for a CATA trip is $1.50, but Loop and Link route service on the University Park campus is free for all riders. Penn State, in exchange, provides direct financial support to CATA.

Kausch said a second phase of the PennDOT-funded study will investigate more broadly the feasibility of universal access throughout the CATA system -- not just for Penn State-affiliated riders. The transit system plans to issue a formal request for proposals and work with transportation consultants on the study.

"We're going to rely on the experts in modeling these types of (approaches) to determine our best method, our best path for moving forward," Kausch said. 

While some CATA routes are heavily used -- including those serving Waupelani Drive, Vairo Boulevard and Martin Street -- others have excess capacity, he said. The latter category includes the Stormstown and Pine Grove Mills routes.

Earlier coverage

• CATA Sets New Policy for Carry-on Items (Jan. 12, 2011)

• CATA Board Finalizes Service Cuts (Nov. 23, 2010)