The Centre Area Transportation Authority turned 50 this month, marking the anniversary Monday with events at its State College area headquarters, including a ride on Bus 1.
“This is the first new bus that CATA ever bought that had not seen service elsewhere," explained safety and training manager Bob Beck of Bus 1, which is from 1976.
While CATA buses run on compressed natural gas now, that bus ran on diesel.
“In the day, diesel was and still is to some degree — while not necessarily ecologically friendly — very dependable," Beck explained. "You could put a million miles on the engines, and you couldn’t do that with a gasoline engine. So from a cost perspective, it gets better fuel economy, the overall cost of ownership is lower, and it made commercial bus travel possible. And it also helped with the costs of subsidized entities such as our own.”
Along with a history lesson, community members who turned out for the event could take a ride around the block in Bus 1.
“Turn on the air conditioning," suggested one passenger.
“I wish I could," Beck responded to laughs.
The day also included talks from politicians and local leaders and a ride through the bus wash.
Carol Michelotti said that growing up, she took the W bus. Now her son works at CATA.
“CATA’s been around since I was a kid," she said. "I relied on it to go downtown, see my friends, hang out.”
CATA now has 80 buses, said Executive Director David Rishel.
“The buses are getting longer. The buses are getting fuller, and we’ve got all kinds of new services serving the area," Rishel said. "We’re serving more people than we ever have before.”
And, Rishel said, they’re hiring.
“Anybody who would like to become a driver, give us a call.”
