transportation authority founded 1972 headquarters 2081 w. whitehall road state college pa 16801 locale state college pennsylvania service area state college penn state university service type local transit bus service routes 23 local 4 fare free within psu campus and downtown state college fleet 92 buses 12 paratransit vehicles 12 vans daily ridership 7.3 million yearly total fuel type cng chief executive louwana oliva website www.catabus.com the corporate logo not used on vehicles the centre area transportation authority cata is a mass transit agency that provides bus transportation within state college pennsylvania and the surrounding areas as well as pennsylvania state university . contents 1 history 2 fare free routes 3 major service routes 3.1 gameday football shuttle 4 fare information 5 fleet 5.1 2012 fleet upgrades 5.2 hydrogen bus project 5.3 cng buses 6 future enhancements 6.1 bus replacement project 7 external links 8 references history edit the company first started as centre area transit cat which was formed to provide a vehicle to subsidize public transit throughout the region . then on may 17 1974 the centre area transportation authority cata was incorporated . by the end of its first year cata was officially up and running and its annual ridership was 201 000 . by 1979 ridership was continuing to grow year after year prompting cata to add more bus routes as well as additional buses built by gmc . it was then in 1990 that ridership had officially hit the two million mark . cata then revised its bus fleet in 1996 by introducing their first fleet of cng buses built by orion bus industries . the following year cata would eventually phase out the remaining gmc diesel powered buses in favor for new state of the art new flyer low floor cng buses . currently all of cata s fleet buses are cng powered and ridership has exceeded seven million passengers the majority of riders being penn state students . fare free routes edit in the fall of 1999 cata and penn state came up with an agreement in which cata would take over all bus transportation on campus which would be fare free . four routes were created as part of the agreement the blue and white loop in conjunction with the school s colors and the red and green link . all four routes run during the fall and spring semesters including the summer which operates under a limited service schedule . blue loop clockwise route around the campus via college avenue . white loop counterclockwise around the campus via beaver avenue . red link runs from west campus to innovation park via curtin road . green link runs simultaneously with the red link from the stadium parking lots to north atherton via curtin road . only in service on weekdays during fall and spring semester . major service routes edit cata s service routes also known as the centre line travel around the penn state campus downtown state college and the surrounding areas . all routes run under full service during fall and spring semesters and reduced service during the summer . route route corridor destination a destination b service a park forest village park forest psu campus part time b boalsburg tussey mountain psu campus part time c houserville psu campus downtown part time f pine grove the meadows downtown part time g stormstown stormstown downtown part time hp toftrees scenery park geisinger gray s woods geisinger scenery park full time k cato park cato park psu campus part time m nittany mall nittany mall psu campus full time n martin street aaron drive the colonnade psu campus full time ne martin street aaron drive psu campus express fall and spring semesters only nv martin street vairo blvd. psu campus psu campus full time r waupelani drive waupelani drive psu campus full time rc waupelani campus waupelani drive psu campus part time rp waupelani campus waupelani drive psu campus part time s science park science park psu campus part time ut university terrace university terrace psu campus part time v vairo blvd. the colonnade psu campus full time ve vairo blvd. woodycrest psu campus express fall and spring semesters only vn toftrees vairo martin psu campus psu campus full time w valley vista patton forrest park psu campus full time we havershire blvd express the heights psu campus express fall and spring semesters only xb bellefonte bellefonte downtown part time xg pleasant gap pleasant gap downtown part time gameday football shuttle edit during home penn state football games cata also runs two special service routes which serve as the gameday football shuttle . the downtown shuttle runs on a loop through downtown state college en route to beaver stadium with bus stops placed in front of a number of various hotels located along the route . the other route is the south atherton shuttle which also runs from a designated parking lot in the hills shopping center to beaver stadium allowing fans to park their cars and take the shuttle to the stadium . fare information edit 1.75 for each bus route excluding the blue loop white loop red link green link . senior citizens 65 and older free individuals with disabilities half fare 0.85 fleet edit cata operates 71 buses for its fixed routes . cata also has 8 paratransit mini buses and 45 vans for vanpools . 1 2 order year manufacturer model power train engine transmission fleet series quantity length ft. fuel propulsion 1996 orion v 05.501 detroit s50g allison wb 400r 50 65 16 ; retired 40 cng 1997 new flyer c35lf detroit s50g allison wb 400r 38 47 10 ; retired 35 l35lf cummins westport c gas plus zf 6hp 66 73 8 ; retired 35 lng 1998 c35lf detroit s50g allison wb 400r 74 77 4 35 cng c40lf detroit s50g allison wb 400r 78 83 6 40 2000 c40lf detroit s50g allison wb 400r 84 93 10 40 2002 c40lf cummins westport c gas plus allison wb 400r 94 99 6 40 eldorado national ez rider ii cummins isl allison wb 300r 94 97 4 30 cng 2011 2012 new flyer xn40 xcelsior cummins westport isl g voith d864 .5 2 12 11 40 cng xn40 xcelsior cummins westport isl g voith d864 .5 13 29 17 40 2014 xn40 xcelsior cummins westport isl g voith d864 .5 30 31 2 40 2014.5 xn40 xcelsior cummins westport isl g voith d864 .5 37 46 10 40 2014 ford f550 cutaway van 6.8 l ford modular engine unknown 32 36 5 32 cng 2012 fleet upgrades edit cata took a delivery of 28 brand new 40 new flyer xcelsior cng powered buses in the summer of 2012 . those buses replaced the 16 40 orion v buses and also the 9 35 new flyer c35lf lynx buses 38 45 and 47 from orlando fl . all of the xcelsior buses are 40 despite the fact that nine replaced 35 buses . this replacement plan also allowed cata to make a net gain of 3 40 buses in their fleet as only 25 buses were replaced . hydrogen bus project edit one of cata s buses bus 85 was a hydrogen powered bus a part of an extensive hydrogen demonstration project that is being conducted by penn state s pennsylvania transportation institute pti . air products & chemicals of allentown pa and collier technologies of reno nv have teamed up to study the possibilities of using hydrogen as a fuel for public transportation . pti was able to get funding by the pennsylvania department of environmental protection and the pennsylvania department of community and economic development to convert one of cata s forty foot new flyer c40lf buses to run on hcng which is a hydrogen natural gas blend . the bus can be seen and heard given its distinctive higher pitched engine noise primarily on the blue loop as well as the n r and v routes . this project has been halted as of 2009 . cng buses edit in the summer of 2009 orlando fl s central florida s regional transportation authority lynx donated 10 35 new flyer buses to cata . these buses were donated because of cata s extensive knowledge of cng powered systems . these buses are most frequently seen on the lower capacity routes although they occasionally appear on the n v r and nv routes . these buses replaced the six gillig phantoms in cata s fleet . 3 future enhancements edit bus replacement project edit in january 2008 cata officially received 1.4 million in federal funding earmarks through the transportation hud appropriations bill for the 2008 fiscal year . with these funds cata will begin a fleet replacement project where 10 of the 16 orion buses will be replaced with newer low floor cng powered models . following that the remaining six buses will eventually be replaced with 4 articulated buses to accommodate the demand on the n r and v routes during rush hour on weekdays as well as penn state football games and other high profile events . external links edit centre area transportation authority official site . references edit http www.catabus.com achistory.htm http www.catabus.com aboutcata.htm http www.catabus.com acgeninfo.htm apta ridership statistics http www.catabus.com newsletter 2007 1007.htm http www.catabus.com newsletter 2008 0308.htm http www.catabus.com catalogapril2008.htm fall2008servicechanges http www.catabus.com julycatalog.htm fromthegm http www.collegian.psu.edu archive 2009 07 22 new buses bring new routes.aspx http www.centredaily.com 2012 03 05 3113734 cata ready to roll out fleet.html http www.catabus.com aboutcata board meetings minutes 2015 iv % 20 % 20 % 20a % 20 % 20minutes % 2001 27 15 % 20.htm http www.catabus.com aboutcata business procurement rfp % 20advetising % 202015.pdf http www.collegian.psu.edu archive 2009 07 22 new buses bring new routes.aspx v t e state college borough and happy valley metropolitan area state college university park college harris patton ferguson centre county happy valley state college dubois csa education pennsylvania state university state college area school district state college area high school schlow centre region library culture arts state theatre central pennsylvania festival of the arts industry pennsylvania state university innovation park accuweather minitab transportation university park airport centre area transportation authority sports state college spikes medlar field at lubrano park shopping nittany mall colonnade at state college newspapers the daily collegian the centre daily times television wpsu 3.1 pbs 3.2 create 3.3 world wjac 6.1 nbc 6.2 metv 6.3 comet 6.4 grit wwcp 8.1 fox 8.2 watm wtaj 10.1 cbs 10.2 escape 10.3 laff wscp lp 13 ind wpcw 19.1 cw watm 23.1 abc hd 23.2 wwcp tv hd 23.3 this tv 23.4 atv whvl lp 29.1 mntv 29.2 buzzr w36be d 36.1 abc 36.2 atv 36.3 justice wkbs 47.1 cor radio w268bb w269bz wqke308 w264bz waly wapy wbhv fm wblf wbus wchx wfeq wfge wibf wiez wjsa wkdn wkps wkvb wlak wmaj fm wmrf wowy wphb wpsu wqbr fm wqck wqju wqkk wqwk wrky wrsc wrxv wryv wtlr wtrn wvnw wwot wxm59 wzww other alpha fire company mount nittany medical center retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title centre area transportation authority & oldid 672577716 categories bus transportation in pennsylvaniastate college pennsylvaniatransit authorities with natural gas busesmunicipal authorities in pennsylvaniatransportation in centre county pennsylvaniagovernment of centre county pennsylvania navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 22 july 2015 at 13 10 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy