Local bus service in State College began in September 1946, with the Nittany Transit Company. However, low ridership forced Nittany Transit to discontinue all service in February 1948, after which there was an extended period where the community was without bus service.

Local service reappeared in 1960, when Suburban Express Company began a route between Park Forest Village and downtown State College. Suburban Express later added a Campus Loop route to serve travel needs between different parts of the expanding Penn State campus. In 1966 another operator, Fullington Auto Bus Company, initiated transit service on three routes between the campus, the downtown area and the southern parts of State College. Four years later, in April 1970, Fullington purchased Suburban Express’s operations. However, the merger of the two bus systems did not bring profitability, and rising losses prompted Fullington to threaten total elimination of local service.

In 1972, in response to Fullington’s threats to abandon the service, Centre Area Transit (CAT) was formed to provide a vehicle to subsidize public transit throughout the region. Two years later, on May 17, 1974, the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) was incorporated. Actual transportation under the CATA name officially began following the purchase of franchise rights and equipment from Fullington on February 28, 1975. However, the transfer from Fullington to CATA did not include the Campus LOOP, as Penn State had taken over operation of that service with its own personnel and equipment in 1973. The first year of CATA operation (1974/75), ridership was 201,000.

The later years of the1970’s were building years for CATA. The newly formed organization selected a Board of Directors for leadership, hired employees to drive and maintain the equipment, and built a garage to house maintenance and office facilities. In 1976, CATA purchased its first new buses - eight 35-foot GMC new-look coaches. Their arrival introduced the orange and while paint scheme to the CATA fleet. By 1979, five years into CATA’s existence, ridership had grown to almost 600,000.

Operating with thirteen buses on six routes, CATA was transporting 1.3 million riders annually in the early years of the 1980s, but internally the organization was struggling. The management of the Authority stabilized with the hiring of Paul Oversier as General Manager in January 1981, followed by Kevin Abbey in 1984. Under their leadership, significant actions were taken to move CATA forward.

In 1989, CATA implemented the Town LOOP to complement the existing Campus LOOP operated by the Pennsylvania State University. Also added was a Park-and-Ride program, developed through a partnership between the Borough of State College, the Downtown Business Association (now the State College Downtown Improvement District) and Penn State. By 1990, ridership had grown to over 2 million for the first time in the Authority’s history.

In September of 1991, CATA opened the doors to a new facility on Whitehall Road in Ferguson Township, home to CATA’s transportation, maintenance and administration functions. However, CATA continued to maintain a pass sales and information office in downtown State College.
After making a commitment to alternative fuels in 1994, CATA made plans to purchase sixteen compressed natural gas (CNG) buses and construct a fueling facility. However, before either of these could be accomplished, there was a leadership transition in the organization. After ten years at the helm General Manager Kevin Abbey resigned and was succeeded by Hugh Mose.

CATA’s first CNG buses, from Orion Bus Industries, arrived in 1996, just in time for the completion of the fueling station. With its next purchase CATA standardized on low-floor buses; the Authority bought eight manufactured by New Flyer in 1997, another ten in 1998 and ten more in 2000, bringing the total of CNG powered buses to 44. In 1998 and 1999 CATA added six minibuses to the fixed route fleet. Including six used diesel buses and four paratransit vans, at the end of the decade CATA’s fleet totaled sixty revenue vehicles.

CATA headed into the new millennium on the heels of the largest service enhancement in its history. In the fall of 1999, the Authority assumed operation of all transit service on the Penn State campus, converting the Town and Campus LOOPs to fare-free service. Thanks to new state transit assistance, CATA was able to expand service throughout the community. As a result, ridership exceeded 6 million riders in 2003 - the highest ever.

In 1999 CATA implemented RideShare, a carpool matching program, which was funded through a partnership with Penn State. That same year CATA expanded the bus storage area in its maintenance facility to accommodate the growing fleet. The following year bike racks were installed on the front of all CATA buses - CATA was the first transit authority in the state to have such a program. In 2001/2002 CATA nearly doubled the size of its operations and administrative office area to serve the need of its 120-person workforce.

Today, CATA’s entire fleet is fueled solely by CNG. CATA is now the first transit system on the East Coast to have converted its entire fleet to alternative fuel. CATA’s six million plus annual riders now enjoy the clean, quiet, and smooth ride of these new buses, all of which are wheelchair lift-equipped. With these new programs, partnerships, facilities and equipment, CATA is well prepared for the future.