Tensions rise in Bellefonte area as CATA discussions continue. What’s next?

The future of public transportation services in the Bellefonte area remains unclear, with leaders in local municipalities weighing how to handle significant increases to continue using CATA at the level residents are used to.

Spring Township plans to end service with CATA on June 30, while Benner Township and Bellefonte Borough met this week to discuss what service may look like after that point. According to CATA, services in those municipalities, and Bellefonte Borough, are operating at a significant deficit, and their contributions must increase in order to keep service at its current level.

On Monday night, Bellefonte council members voted unanimously to send a letter to CATA expressing their “great displeasure” over what they said amounts to a ten-fold increase notice they received after the 2024 budget had been set.

The financial support currently paid by the municipalities would enable only three CATAGo buses in the region for about two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. That just won’t work for Bellefonte residents, council member Randy Brachbill said.

“They travel to various places up toward State College and between State College and Bellefonte,” he said. “It’s not fair to those residents to try and maneuver how they get there.”

Residents voiced their strong opposition to the proposed changes in Bellefonte, Benner and Spring during a Jan. 30 public hearing held by CATA.

CATA Executive Director David Rishel showed a table of the level of CATAGo services that could be provided if the three municipalities didn’t increase funding levels for the next year. In combination, about 3,482 hours of service could be provided.

“What that means to those of you who are our customers is that really only enables us to provide a couple hours of CATAGo service in the morning and a couple of hours of CATAGo service in the afternoons using three vehicles. That’s as much services we can provide at that funding level,” he said. “We also would be phasing out or eliminating CATA Ride service and passengers who are relying on CATA Ride could ride CATAGo.”

During the hearing, several people spoke about the impact a decrease or elimination of CATA services would have on those incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.

Morgan Gheen, a drug and alcohol case manager at Centre County, works with the DUI and Drug Treatment court programs. CATA Go is “vital” to those participants, she said — not only in their personal lives but in their court requirements.

“I have participants that have to report to the courthouse every single day. Plus go to sober support meetings every single day. And with the DUI court, there’s a mandatory loss of license, so they have no other way to get around. ... These services are the only way for some of these people to get to Bellefonte,” she said.

Similar concerns were brought up during Benner Township’s board of supervisors meeting on Monday. Supervisor Kathy Evey said she spoke with the work release program office at the county correctional facility and was told “there would be a significant negative impact to the program and its participants.”

Both the Benner Township board and the Bellefonte Borough Council voted at their meetings to begin conversations with outside entities, such as the county and state governments, to see if leadership could help subsidize the cost to the township.

But from the county side, Commissioner Mark Higgins said Tuesday there’s not much assistance they’ll be able to provide.

“While yes, it’s a large shame that this problem is happening here, this truthfully isn’t necessarily a county issue,” he said. “This issue is very nuanced to the point where the municipalities must work with CATA to find a potential solution to the problem. Whether it be dropping CATA services all together or finding a way to obtain the funding to continue their services, we commissioners can’t do much in terms of helping.”

Evey said continuing CATA services in the area is important but doesn’t want to raise taxes to cover the increased service fees.

“If we want our area to sustain our property values, draw more real estate and commercial income to our limited tax base, Benner Township’s participation in CATA transportation is a keystone to the ... Centre Region,” Evey said.

During a work session held Monday before the Bellefonte Borough Council meeting, Rishel answered questions from council members who were particularly concerned about the impact on Bellefonte residents if Spring and Benner townships leave the CATA system. CATA would be able to travel through those areas but not drop people off at places like Weis in Spring Township.

While officials were hopeful for a reversal of Spring Township’s decision, that didn’t happen at this week’s meeting, and township manager Michael Danneker doesn’t expect it to.

“I believe they quoted us for around $124,000 and we just cant take on a payment like that,” he told the Centre Daily Times. “Maybe in the future something will arise where we can work with them again, but for now, it’s just not in the equation.”

At Monday’s meeting, Bellefonte Borough Council member Joanne Tosti-Vasey asked Rishel whether it would be possible for CATA to change the fare structure in so that it would be separated into three different zones, with each zone having a differing fare. That way, there would be just fees for each respective area that CATA services. Rishel said that CATA considered this idea in the past and found the area that the company services isn’t large enough to support a zoned fare system. But it’s something CATA could reexamine in the future, Rishel said, adding that any change would need to be systemwide.

Because Spring Township is no longer continuing its service with CATA, the amount of money that Bellefonte and Benner would owe CATA for the next fiscal year needs to be recalculated, Lori Miller, CATA’s director of business development and community engagement, wrote in an email Thursday.

“At this point, we know that Spring Township will not be renewing its contract with CATA,” Miller wrote. “As a result, the figures will need to be recalculated, and we do not have those figures yet.”

Benner Township and Bellefonte have until June 30 to make a decision about service levels after this calendar year.