Public Hearing Policy - Updated January 2021
It is the policy of CATA to provide opportunity for public comment on fare increases and significant service level changes. This opportunity will be provided for any proposed changes in trip frequency, routing or boarding locations, and related passenger access conditions that staff and/or the CATA Board of Directors consider significant.
Determination of the significance of any proposed service change shall be based on a blend of quantitative and qualitative criteria, including the following:
- Any reductions in the total number of round-trips on a specific route on which the total number per service day is less than one per hour per day between existing times for the first and last trip of the day on the route.
- Changes in service frequency, total discontinuance of a route, and rerouting of all or a portion of a route that would place riders' access more than ¾ of a mile from any remaining service. Application of the ¾ of a mile criterion will be made with consideration of access conditions, including walking time to and from boarding locations and walking path safety.
- Any significant reductions in service, as determined on a case-by-case basis by the CATA Board of Directors, to sites providing with significant public benefit-related functions, such as including health care facilities and senior citizen complexes.
- Other case-specific conditions, such as external funding, fare revenue, and capital and operating cost impacts.
Public comment will be accepted at a formal public hearing. The public hearing may be held in conjunction with a regular or special meeting of the CATA Board of Directors, or it may be held separately. The public hearing will be presided over by the Chair of the Board or his/her designee.
The public hearing will be held at a time and place convenient to the public, with special attention being paid to the needs of persons traveling to the hearing via public transportation. All public hearings will be held at accessible locations, and efforts will be made to make materials relating to a hearing available in alternative formats if requested at least five days prior to the hearing.
All persons wishing to provide comment will be afforded the opportunity to do so. Persons unable to attend these public hearings are provided the opportunity to submit comment via email, telephone, and/or mail.
Notice of any public hearing will be given through the legal notices section of the Centre Daily Times, published at least two weeks prior to the date of the hearing. Hearings are further advertised through a press release, posters in CATA vehicles, and in the CATA Customer Service Center, the CATA website and social media announcements, in the CATA newsletters, and CATA’s Limited English Proficiency (LEP) support organization list. Display ads in the local print media may also be used if deemed appropriate.
All comments provided via telephone or received through email and/or mail from those unable to attend the public hearing will be provided to the CATA Board of Directors for review. All comments provided at a public hearing and/or during the comment period will be recorded in the minutes for the meeting and will be summarized and presented to the Board for consideration, along with a recommendation for action by staff. For those comments to be considered by the board as part of any final decision, they must be received by CATA no later than one week after the public hearing.
Final decisions on fare increases and service reductions will be made by the CATA Board of Directors at a meeting open to the public.
To specifically engage Limited English Proficiency (LEP) populations in this process, public hearing notices can be translated directly for the client using the Google Translate function of CATA’s website, or will be made available to the client by CATA staff via the same method. Moreover, public hearing presentation materials can be made available in Chinese if requested at least five days prior to the hearing.
CATA Public Hearing Policy (PDF)