August 2008 CATAlog Newsletter
I. From the General Manager…Special Event Shuttles To Be Discontinued
New charter regulations issued by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) earlier this year are seriously impacting CATA’s ability to provide special event shuttle services. The new FTA charter regulations define charter service much more broadly than ever before. Traditionally, “charter service” has referred to exclusive transportation for a group of people traveling together, with the service typically being charged per vehicle. The new rule, however, has expanded the definition of charter to include service to special events where premium fares are charged and/or the service is subsidized by a third party.
After reviewing the new regulations and gathering advisory opinions on the topic, the CATA staff has concluded that CATA may no longer provide several of its popular special event services, including the Arts Festival Shuttle, Ag Progress Days Shuttle, the Bellefonte Arts & Crafts Shuttle and the First Night® State College Shuttle. Although we don’t yet have a final decision, we’ve discovered that FTA regulations may also preclude CATA from providing its annual Holiday Lights Tour, which would have been running for its tenth year in 2008.
Nonetheless, CATA is exploring alternatives for meeting the public transportation needs of the community in ways that are consistent with the new regulations. For instance, for the Arts Festival, we discontinued the Arts Festival Shuttle but added service to the Blue LOOP, which also served both downtown State College and the remote parking at the Bryce Jordan Center. The end result was service that was actually more direct, more frequent, and more efficient than the old Arts Festival Shuttle. On the other hand, we could not figure out any way for CATA to operate the Ag Progress Days Shuttle, so Penn State will itself assume the operation of that service.
Despite the limitations imposed by the new charter regulations, one special service that will not be affected is the Football Game Day Shuttle. Because this service is not supported by Penn State, and we don’t charge what would be considered a premium fare, this service does not fit into the new FTA definition of “charter service.” Therefore, CATA’s Football Shuttle will resume as scheduled on Saturday, August 30, for the Penn State football game against Coastal Carolina University. Information for this service will be available in mid-August.
These new regulations have been put into place to give private charter operators the opportunity to provide services for major sporting events, such as the Kentucky Derby, the Indianapolis 500 and major league baseball and football games. Unfortunately, it appears that the federal government has “thrown the baby out with the bathwater,” as small community events, which have typically enjoyed the benefit of special shuttles operated by local transit systems, can no longer obtain such services.
If you’d like additional information on the new FTA charter regulations and their impact on CATA’s services, please feel free to contact me. I can be reached by phone at (814) 238-CATA(2282) ext.130 or via e-mail at hmose@catabus.com.
Hugh A. Mose
CATA General Manager
II. CENTRE LINE Full Service Schedule To Resume Monday, August 25
CENTRE LINE
CATA will resume its CENTRE LINE Full Service Schedule on Monday, August 25. Below is an abbreviated list of enhancements and service changes that will take effect on that date.
•New Service to Grays Woods: Implementation of a new G (Grays Woods) Route that will serve Grays Woods, Graysdale, and the new Geisinger Grays Woods facility. The schedule is built around providing service between Grays Woods/Graysdale and the Campus and Downtown State College during traditional work hours.
•Increased evening and Saturday service on the N, R & V Routes: The frequency of service has been increased on the N (Martin St./Aaron Dr.), R (Waupelani Drive) and V (Vairo Boulevard) Routes, allowing for 32-40 minute frequency daily until 10:00 p.m. year-round and until 12:30 a.m. nightly during Full Service. Service will also start two hours earlier on Saturdays and operate twice as frequently.
•Increased Saturday service on the H, K & W Routes: The Saturday service on these three Routes has been expanded from every 120 minutes on the H (Toftrees) &W (Valley Vista) and two trips/day on the K (Cato Park), to every 60 minutes, 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. on all three routes.
•Earlier commuter service into Campus: Earlier inbound trips have been added to three routes - the X (Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap), M (Nittany Mall) and S (Science Park) routes.
Other Changes:
• The B (Boalsburg) Route has been extended to the end of Kimport Avenue to better serve the newer section of the Hill neighborhood.
• A 10:15 a.m. X (Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap) Route trip has been added to improve mid-morning service to and from Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap.
• The UT (University Terrace) Route has been removed from the Free-Fare zone, meaning it will no longer be free while on Campus.
LOOP & LINK
CATA will resume its LOOP and LINK Full Service Schedule on Saturday, August 23. Below is a description of enhancements that will take effect on that date.
•GREEN LINK service extended out to Atherton St.: The western end of the GREEN LINK has been extended along Curtin Road to the Pattee Transit Center and then down Burrowes to College Avenue and back up North Atherton St. to the Curtin Road Extension. The new loop will mean the service will follow the WHITE LOOP route from the Intramural Building to College Avenue and then the BLUE LOOP route from College Avenue back to the Stadium parking lots.
Fall/Winter 2008 schedule and service information will be available mid-August in the Fall 2008 Ride Guide, on the CATA website at www.catabus.com, and by calling (814) 238-CATA(2282).
III. CATA Ridership Hits Record High in FY 2007/08
CATA is pleased to announce that in Fiscal Year 2007/08, which ended on June 30, bus ridership climbed to 6,508,096, the Authority’s highest annual total ever. This number easily eclipses the Authority’s previous annual record of 6,378,710 rides, set in FY 2001/02. Total ridership increased 5.1% from the previous fiscal year, with patronage on CENTRE LINE up nearly 12%.
“The substantial increase in ridership we have seen over the past twelve months has resulted from a number of factors,” notes Hugh Mose, CATA General Manager, “the most obvious of which is the price of gasoline, which has shot up dramatically over the past year or so. Interestingly, on a percentage basis, the largest ridership increases are occurring on our ‘neighborhood’ routes, suggesting that more and more people are choosing to commute by bus.”
CATA has also seen substantial increases in participation in its CENTRE COMMUTE program, which provides services to long-distance commuters. The number of participants in CATA’s carpool matching database has increased to 930, up a whopping 63% from the 572 registered at the end of 2007. The program also includes eleven vanpools – up from six last October – with six more groups waiting for new vans to become available.
As measured by riders, CATA is the third largest transit system in Pennsylvania, behind only SEPTA in Philadelphia and the Port Authority Transit in Pittsburgh, while in terms of rides per capita, the Centre Region is the most “transit-intensive” small urban area in the nation.
If current trends continue, CATA will carry in excess of 7,000,000 riders in the year that runs from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009.
For additional ridership information for CATA’s services, please refer to the CATA website at www.catabus.com.
To contact CATA with feedback or questions, please email Jacqueline Sheader, CATA Marketing Manager, at jsheader@catabus.com.