Citing low ridership, the Centre Area Transportation Authority is temporarily discontinuing service for its eight commuter bus routes.
Beginning Oct. 5, the A (Park Forest), B (Boalsburg), C (Houserville), F (Pine Grove), G (Grays Woods), S (Science Park), XB (Bellefonte), and XG (Pleasant Gap) routes will be temporarily discontinued.
Riders dependent on those routes are encouraged to contact CATA at (814) 238-2282, ext. 7500, to discuss their transportation need.
Also starting Oct. 5 the CATA Go microtransit service will be extended to also service to Pleasant Gap Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The service currently operates in Bellefonte 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday through Friday and Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap 6 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturdays. Expanding to Pleasant Gap on weekdays will help provide to county and PennDOT services where no other public transportation option would be available.
CATA Executive Director and CEO Louwana Oliva said that Penn State’s expansion of remote learning opportunities and reduction of fully in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more space for passengers to physically distance on vehicles, but has also corresponded with lower ridership numbers. Nearly half of Penn State classes for the fall are remote or a mix of in-person and remote.
“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,” Oliva said. “ 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.”
Oliva said CATA views the ridership declines as temporary and expects they will return to normal levels when the university determines it’s safe to increase in-person instruction.
“Meanwhile, we will continue to provide as much service to the community as is appropriate and monitor transportation needs, reminding everyone of what they can do, such as wearing a mask and planning ahead for quicker boarding and what we are doing such as electrostatic cleaning of our buses each night to help ensure good health for everyone,” she said.
