Several changes to public transportation in Centre County will go into effect on Aug. 17 when the Centre Area Transportation Authority begins its fall 2023 full service schedule.
Public hearings were held in May and June on the service changes, which include alterations to CATA Go microtransit zones, Bellefonte service and the Red Link on Penn State’s campus.
Here’s a look at what’s changing. (See maps and the full fall 2023/spring 2024 service calendar at catabus.com.)
• The CATA Bus XB Route serving Bellefonte will be removed. Riders can instead use CATA Go from the Bellefonte area to access the CATA Bus College Avenue Connector route at the Walmart/Ross/Harbor Freight stop on Benner Pike with a free transfer. CATA officials said earlier this summer that they were planning to eliminate the XB Route because of “extremely low ridership” and growing use of CATA Go.
• The Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap CATA Go microtransit zone service will operate one hour later on Saturdays. New Saturday hours for the zone will be 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• The Northwest and Southwest CATA Go microtransit zones are being combined as the Centre Area West microtransit zone, which will serve the areas of Park Forest, Science Park, Pine Grove Mills, some neighborhoods within State College Borough and the surrounding vicinity. The Centre Area West zone will operate 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and will include destination points outside the zone area, linking it with the Connector bus routes.
• The Boalsburg CATA Go microtransit zone will be expanded to include the many medical offices in Scenery Park. Riders can also travel to Mount Nittany Medical Center from this zone.
• Penn State has discontinued funding for Red Link service to Mount Nittany Medical Center and Innovation Park, citing ridership studies. Stops at the Athletic Administration Building (the former Visitors Center) and Orchard Road also will be eliminated. The updated Red Link route will run from the West Deck to the Jordan East parking lot from 6:45 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 10 p.m. Sundays.
The university will offer service to the medical center, the Centre Medical Sciences Building and Innovation Park on the expanded weekday Campus Shuttle via Beaver Avenue. Service hours will be extended to 8 p.m., with the updated route operating from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. Stops will be served every 20 minutes until 6 p.m., after which service will be every 30 minutes.
Penn State Transportation Services also will launch a special program with Lyft to provide ride credits for faculty, staff, and students for travel between campus and those destinations after 8 p.m. on weekdays and throughout the day on Saturdays and Sunday. Details will be announced prior to the start of the fall semester, according to the university.
CATA Go will be available from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m on Saturdays and from noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays with a direct link from Beaver Avenue at Schlow Library/CATA Customer Service Center to Mount Nittany Medical Center.
• Fare for CATA Ride, which provides service for individuals 65 and over and for people eligible for paratransit, will increase by 25 cents to $4.25. The CATA board approved an increase for CATA Ride fares in 2021 to take place over the following two fiscal years. This two-year increase was discussed in public hearings in the spring of 2021. Following those hearings, PennDOT approved the initial application for a 50 cent increase from $3.50 to $4.00 for 2022 but requested that CATA submit a separate application for the subsequent 25 cent increase, which will take place this year.
There will be no change to the current $2.20 CATA Bus and CATA Go fares.
