STATE COLLEGE — Centre Area Transportation Authority Board Chairman John Spychalski retired from the CATA board of directors on Dec. 31, having served as Ferguson Township’s appointee for almost 43 years. CATA is grateful for his longstanding leadership and devotion to the advancement of public transportation.
Spychalski served as a member of CATA’s board of directors since 1980, helping to build CATA from theground up with the reorganization as a joint municipal authority in 1981. During his tenure, CATA became a premier small transit system and received the prestigious recognition of being named American Public Transportation Association Outstanding Transit System in North America in 2001.
In 2015, Spychalski was the recipient of the APTA Outstanding Board Member Award for more than three decades of service on the CATA board and overall contributions to the public transportation industry. In 2018, in recognition of the many accomplishments made during his tenure, CATA’s John C. Spychalski Administration and Maintenance Building was dedicated in his name.
Under Spychalski’s leadership as a board member, and then as chairman, a few of the authority’s major accomplishments have included:
• The integration of CATARide paratransit, CATACommute carpool/vanpool and CATAGo on-
demand microtransit programs into CATA’s family of services.
• The conversion of CATA’s fixed-route fleet to clean-burning compressed natural gas, which resulted in CATA being one of the first transit systems on the East Coast to have an active fleet powered entirely by CNG.
• The implementation of a GPS-based technology program, which allowed for the integration of real-time bus arrival information, iPhone and Android apps, audible and visual stop annunciators and automated passenger counters.
“I am leaving the CATA board with full recognition of the commitment to duty, hard work, safe work practice, ingenuity, creativity, innovation and resilience to critical challenges shown by successive generations of CATA staff in all categories of employment. It is their collective effort over the course of more than four decades that has enabled CATA to fulfill its public service mission. For that, I offer great thanks and appreciation,” said Spychalski during his retirement announcement.
