The Centre Area Transportation Authority is adding six operating hours a day to the B-Line service for Bellefonte and Benner Township.
Beginning Monday, Nov. 18, the B-Line will be available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. It has been operating from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. since it replaced CATAGo and CATARide in July.
“The level of usage has allowed CATA to expand hours,” the authority wrote in a news release.
Other aspects of the point-to-point service will remain the same. It offers 22 designated locations for pick-up and drop-off in the Bellefonte area, with a main connection point to CATA Bus service at the Nittany Mall.
Riders are required to schedule their trips one business day in advance by phone.
Fares are $4, cash only, for each ride, with no passes or tokens accepted. Free transfers are provided to CATA Bus routes but not to CATAGo.
The B-Line replaced CATAGo microtransit service and CATARide paratransit service after the authority was unable to reach new agreements with Bellefonte and Benner Township to overcome an operating deficit for their contracted services. Nearby Spring Township is not included in the B-Line after withdrawing from CATA participation effective July 1.
Both Bellefonte and Benner Township have indicated they plan to withdraw from CATA at the end of their current agreements on June 30, 2025.
CATA had been seeking substantial contribution increases to close a combined operating deficit of more than $250,000 for contracted services in the Bellefonte and Benner Township area. The authority, which was chartered by and has primary responsibility to State College and College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton townships, is not legally permitted to run deficits for contracted services.
The B-Line and its initial operating hours marked “effectively a 90% reduction in the level of service that we’re able to provide out there…,” CATA Executive Director David Rishel said in June.
“We can’t run at a deficit so we’ve really just done our best with the resources they’re able to provide to craft a service that’s going to provide as many rides as we can to the residents who are going to be using the service,” Rishel said at the time. “We are continuing to talk with the folks in Bellefonte and Benner Township, so we are hoping that this is an interim solution and that we’ll be able to provide some other ideas for service in the coming years.”
