CATA marks 50 years; Harris Township approves $47,014 local match for 2024

Center Area Transportation Authority officials visited the Harris Township Board of Supervisors on May 13 to accept a township proclamation honoring CATA’s fiftieth anniversary and to brief the board on operations and the agency’s funding picture.

Dave Rischel, a CATA representative, told the board the agency is rebuilding service and adding technology to improve connections. He described a combination of service adjustments made in response to driver shortages and an expansion of microtransit (Katago) paired with a summer route and a youth-pass program. "We have reduced our deficit to about $747,000," Rischel said, and described steps to reduce operating costs while increasing ridership.

Rischel reviewed CATA’s 2024 operating budget ($26.2 million), revenue mix (state and federal subsidies, fares, Penn State and apartment-pass arrangements, advertising) and performance metrics, including cost and subsidy-per-trip comparisons. He emphasized that municipal local-match dollars unlock $26.10 of service for every local-dollar contributed under the authority’s funding model.

After board questions about local-match formulas and relative contributions among member municipalities, the board considered Resolution 24-06 adopting the Center Area Transportation Authority local-match allocation for Harris Township. The resolution, as presented in the meeting packet, lists Harris Township’s share this year as $42,478 for operating costs and $4,536 for capital — $47,014 in total. Speaker 2 moved to pass the resolution; the motion was seconded and passed by a unanimous voice vote.

CATA invited residents to a May community event marking its 50th anniversary. Board members and residents raised operational questions during the presentation and were told staff and Mr. Rischel would continue to answer data and service-level questions after the meeting.