Traditional CATA services are leaving the Bellefonte area. What to know about the replacement
Traditional CATA transit services will soon no longer be available in the Bellefonte area, but a new program will offer a scaled back option for Bellefonte Borough and Benner Township residents.
The Bellefonte/Benner B-line program, which has been in the works since mid-March, was discussed Wednesday at a public hearing. It will take the place of the CATAGo and CATA Ride services in the two municipalities and will take effect on July 1.
CATA CEO David Rishel and CATA Programs Manager Derek Sherman both helped present the plan to the residents, with Rishel explaining how, due to financial restrictions, this plan was the best option for the area.
“We’ve got this plan roughly 90 to 95 percent complete — we just wanted to hear the public’s feedback, which is why we scheduled this meeting,” Rishel said. “I recognize that it isn’t the perfect program, but because of the financial parameters we’re facing, the B-line is the best possible idea that we could come up with for this area.”
Discussions about the future of CATA in the Bellefonte area have been ongoing for months, with CATA saying the municipalities have been operating at a significant deficit and would have to increase contributions to keep service at the current level. In response, Spring Township decided to discontinue its relationship with CATA.
How does it work?
The B-line is not a fixed route that will be going from stop to stop throughout the day — it’s a flexible, hybrid program that’s meant to accommodate a wider variety of people.
The route is a fully-accessible point-to-point service where residents in Bellefonte and Benner Township can schedule to be picked up from an assigned point in either municipality and be taken to the Nittany Mall.
From there, any patron who arrives at the mall can connect to other CATA services such as CATAGo and any other fixed routes that stop at the mall.
When scheduling the pickup, you must also schedule the drop-off time as well.
Across the two municipalities, there are 20 total pickup spots — 13 in Bellefonte and seven in Benner Township.
“When we were in the early phases of creating this program, we knew that we wanted to pick spots that provided easy access points to anyone living anywhere in the area,” Sherman said. “If you can manage to get to one of those spots, we’ll take you to the mall and try to get you to where you need to go.”
Those wishing to schedule a ride on the B-line must do so by calling CATA and requesting to be picked up at a preferred pickup spot, and you must call in from the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the day prior to your pickup. Scheduling pickups for Mondays must be done within the specified hours on the Friday before.
According to Sherman, the service also runs on a first-come-first-serve basis.
“We recommend anyone that would like to use the B-line to call in and schedule a pickup and drop-off as early as possible, as the seats may fill up quickly depending on how busy things are on any given day,” he said.
All rides on the B-line will require a $4, cash-only fare — passes and tokens will not be accepted. The line will be in operation Monday through Friday, from the hours of 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3-5:30 p.m.
From the Nittany Mall, free transfers can be made to other CATA routes, but any CATAGo trips from the mall must be paid for. Pre-registration for the B-line starts on June 3.
For further questions and updates about the new program, CATA can be reached by phone at 814-238-2282 and www.catabus.com.
