CamTran gets new natural gas-fueled buses; officials say government cooperation keyed $2.7M purchase

May 14—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Government officials working together to provide basic needs for their constituents was the basic message Monday at a Cambria County Transit Authority dedication program for four new buses.

"These are opportunities where a community comes to Washington and says, 'This is important to us,' " U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-Blair, said, standing in front of the new buses in CamTran's bus garage on Maple Avenue in Johnstown's Woodvale section. "We need to upgrade the vehicles we use to transport the constituents of Cambria County, and we'd like to do that with compressed natural gas buses."

The four Gillig buses include two 31-passenger models and two 21-passenger models.

They replace four seven-year-old diesel buses, putting CamTran's total fleet of 72 urban and rural buses at more than 50% natural gas-powered, with 44 natural gas-powered buses.

A $2,200,138 federal Community Progress Fund grant that Joyce acquired was matched with $550,034 in funds through the Pennsylvania legislature to fund the $2,750,172 purchase.

"When this Community Progress Fund grant was presented to us, it was easy to get behind, just as it was easy to get behind increasing the safety and the communication devices for the Johnstown police," Joyce said.

"It is important to recognize and acknowledge you are the backbone of transporting so many constituents in Cambria County," he said, addressing CamTran members participating in Monday's program.

"Without your hard work, there are so many individuals who would not be able to achieve their transportation needs. CamTran keeps Cambria County on the move."

State Rep. Frank Burns, D-East Taylor Township, thanked Joyce for obtaining the grant and thanked the state legislature for joining him in support of the matching funds.

"It's that working together that will continue to move this area forward," Burns said. "We've got to put our political parties aside and do what is best for our area because, I can tell you, the people that just need a ride to work and need to get on that bus, they could care less about Republican and Democrat."

CamTran Executive Director Rose Lucey-Noll shared customer experience stories CamTran has received from riders.

One woman had a job interview scheduled, but it would take two bus rides to get there, and the connecting bus was scheduled to leave before the first bus would get to the station. She thanked CamTran for having the bus to which she wanted to transfer wait a few minutes.

"That's the thing if you don't ever rely on public transportation," Lucey-Noll said. "We all think about just jumping in our cars and driving to a job interview or to the store. You can't do that if you are a bus rider."