Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) Executive Director and CEO David Rishel outlined several service changes and upgrades during a presentation at Monday’s State College Borough Council meeting.
Rishel proposed a fare increase from $2.20 to $2.50 for all community and express CATABUS routes as well as for the CATAGO! on-demand transit service. Rishel attributed the increase to the rate of inflation between 2020 — when the fare was last increased — and 2025.
Rishel also said CATAGO! would be extended to serve the entirety of Centre County by the end of the year so residents outside of State College can access CATABUS routes.
He then discussed the potential to make the University Parkway (UP) and parts of the Happy Valley (HV) trial routes permanent, stating that the former route helped to cover a “drought of service” between University Park and Easterly Parkway.
Rishel announced the discontinuation of the B-Line route, which runs to Bellefonte and Benner townships, due to both municipalities choosing to leave CATA, with service ending on June 30. He said he is currently speaking with the Centre County Office of Transportation to see if State College residents could use the county’s services in place of the B-Line.
He also announced the replacement of fare boxes with scanners that allow paper tickets, credit cards and smartphone apps to be used to pay CATA fares, adding that the scanners will be implemented in August, prior to the start of the fall 2025 semester.
Rishel said CATA was in the process of developing a new app that would consolidate all of CATA’s services that he said could include on-demand connections to the State College Regional Airport as well as connections to train lines in Lewistown and Tyrone in coordination with Amtrak.
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