In the fiscal year of 24-25, ride-sharing service CATA hits a significant milestone by achieving a total of five million riders.
The Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) has reported significant growth in ridership during the 2024-2025 fiscal year, with a 2.8% increase in system-wide ridership and a 4.7% rise in community service ridership. This growth is attributed to a series of service improvements across CATABUS, CATAGO!, CATARIDE, and CATACommute programs.
One of the key improvements was the expansion of service frequency in high-demand corridors, particularly on CATA’s three major corridors, resulting in an over 16% rise in ridership on these routes. During morning and afternoon peak times, buses now operate with headways as short as 11 minutes, enhancing convenience and reducing wait times.
CATA also expanded weekend and holiday service, improving access and reliability for riders beyond standard weekdays. This expansion provided more transportation options during non-peak days, likely attracting more casual and occasional users.
System-wide validity of apartment passes was another significant improvement, streamlining access by allowing these passes to work across the entire CATA network. This eased the transit experience for local residents, particularly those living in apartment complexes.
Earlier move-in dates for off-campus housing facilitated better travel planning for new students by allowing them to establish transit routes before the semester began, improving overall student access to transit services.
CATA is also implementing a new fare collection system via Token Transit, offering passengers more flexible payment options. This system includes an upcoming open payment tap card option scheduled for release in fall 2025, simplifying fare payment and enhancing system modernity.
These improvements collectively support a return to pre-pandemic ridership levels of around 5.95 million. Furthermore, the service area nearly doubled during this period, with plans to expand further in the following fiscal year.
CATA CEO David Rishel stated that the changes made over the last year have been revolutionary, making public transit a more reliable, sustainable, and attractive choice for everyone in the region. By the end of the current FY, every resident in the Centre Region will have access to the CATA system for the first time in the system's history. These changes have boosted the community's confidence in the transportation authority.
- The Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) plans to expand the implementation of a new fare collection system, Token Transit, to additional programs such as microtransit, which offers passengers more flexible payment options.
- Industry experts have noted the management of CATA's finance has been effectively leveraged to fund various public-transit improvements, including the addition of rail services.
- With the recent growth in ridership, CATA is now considering the potential integration of microtransit services with its existing bus, rail, and commute programs to accommodate the demand for flexible transportation options.
- As part of their ongoing efforts to modernize public-transportation systems, CATA is scheduled to release an open payment tap card option for the Token Transit system during the fall of 2025, aiming to improve convenience and fit within the evolving fare collection landscape of the transportation industry.
