CATA annual report FY 2010/11

CATA annual report FY 2010/11 CATA Mission Statement To deliver safe, reliable, accessible and affordable transportation, provided in a courteous and environmentally, fiscally and socially responsible manner A Message from the Chairman and General Manager Welcome to the fifth edition of the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) Annual Report. This document provides a snapshot of CATA s organizational structure, financial picture, recent accomplishments and plans for the future, and also includes highlights about our CATA family. It shows how busy the CATA team is not only in making sure that there is a driver for every bus, a bus for every trip, and the requisite organizational support behind the scenes but also in implementing service changes, new technologies, and capital projects, and laying the groundwork for activities to be pursued over the coming year. Looking ahead, a major challenge to continued success in the fulfillment of CATA s mission is our funding situation. Continuing softness in state tax revenue, compounded by the failure to toll Interstate 80, have resulted in a reduction of state transit assistance. While the recovery of Pennsylvania s economy should eventually turn things around, and prospects are improving for a replacement for the tolling of I-80, the strong push in Washington to reduce discretionary federal spending is placing a dark cloud over CATA s long-term financial picture. On behalf of CATA s 149 employees, as well as the Board of Directors, we want to thank everyone who has contributed to CATA s success over the past year. What has been accomplished would not have been possible without the support of our elected officials in Washington and Harrisburg, the municipalities that provide the required local matching funds, our institutional customers who underwrite much of our passenger revenue, and the riders themselves. John C. Spychalski, Chairman Hugh A. Mose, General Manager John C. Spychalski Chairman Hugh A. Mose General Manager

CATA At A Glance Service Area The CATA service area includes the Authority s five member municipalities: State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton Townships, as well as Bellefonte Borough and Benner, Halfmoon and Spring Townships which receive service through contracts with the Authority. Service Area: 135 square miles Population: Approximately 111,941 CATA also serves the remainder of Centre County and the surrounding counties through the CATACOMMUTE program. Services CATABUS Fixed-route community bus system connecting all participating municipalities with Downtown State College and the Penn State University Park Campus, complemented by frequent fare-free Downtown/Campus circulator LOOP and cross-campus LINK service. CATARIDE Curb-to-curb transportation primarily for senior citizens (persons age 65 and over) and persons whose disabilities prevent their use of the CATABUS system. CATACOMMUTE Family of transportation services that includes the carpool matching, vanpool and Guaranteed Ride Home programs, as well as other services designed to provide commuters with easy and economical ways to get to and from work. Fleet Information Fixed Route: (CATABUS) - 61 buses 41 New Flyer, low-floor 30-39-passenger, compressed natural gas, ramp-equipped buses 16 Orion, 42-passenger, compressed natural gas, lift-equipped buses 4 ElDorado, 26-passenger, compressed natural gas, ramp-equipped buses Paratransit: (CATARIDE) - 4 minibuses (used by subcontractor Handy Delivery to provide paratransit services) 3 Ford, 5-10-passenger, lift-equipped minibuses 1 Daimler Chrysler, 10-passenger, lift-equipped Sprinter van Vanpools: (CATACOMMUTE) - 25 vans 20 Ford 12-13-passenger vans 4 Chevrolet 15-passenger vans 1 Ford 7-passenger wheelchair-accessible van 2

Ridership Financials Operating Expenses $11,532,021 Wages & Salaries CATABUS Ridership 7,186,623 Average Weekday Ridership During the PSU School Year 33,994 Total Vehicle Miles 1,808,175 Total Revenue Hours 121,361 Benefits Materials & Supplies Services Misc. Expenses CATABUS Annual Ridership 8,000,000 7,000,000 Operating Expenses by Category Number of Trips 6,000,000 5,000,000 Revenues & Subsidies $11,532,021 4,000,000 3,000,000 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 Fiscal Year CATARIDE Ridership 33,621 Senior Ridership 17,673 Persons with Disabilities Ridership (non-senior) 14,911 General Public/Care Attendants 1,037 Operating Revenues by Source Operating expenses per passenger trip $1.58 Operating revenues per passenger trip $.73 RideShare Database Total RideShare participants - 1,460 192 active carpoolers / 285 active vanpoolers Vanpool Program Total Annual Ridership - 37,729 Number of Active Vans/Average Daily Riders - 21/172 Operating Cost Recovery Ratio 46.5% (National Average - 21.6%) 3

FY 2010/11 Recap CATA and its staff have accomplished much over the past fiscal year. Some of the highlights include: Integrity of the Service As always, the staff has focused most of CATA s organizational energy on the integrity of its services on the street, in the shop and in the office, striving to ensure that the internal business processes of CATA are kept fully in order, and that the Authority consistently provides safe, on-time, customer-friendly, efficient transit service. Service Changes This year CATA s annual service planning process was a more complicated undertaking; for the fall, various elements of the service were restructured to improve efficiency. In January, selective cuts in service were made in response to reductions in federal and state funding. Legislative Advocacy The CATA staff has spent a good deal of time this year actively monitoring the state and federal transit funding crisis in light of the resulting loss in operating funding for the Authority. Senior management has spent time, too, meeting with local, state and federal elected officials and participating in government affairs efforts alongside other transit agencies in Pennsylvania. Natural Gas Vehicles Growing recognition of the importance of Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits to the economy of Pennsylvania, continued national interest in energy independence, and generally low natural gas prices relative to petroleum have rekindled interest in the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. As a result, over the course of the year CATA has hosted numerous visitors, from elected officials to corporate representatives, who are eager to learn about our CNG program. Site Plan Reviews The CATA staff and the Transportation Planner from the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) worked closely with the development community, planning commissions and local elected officials to make sure that new real estate developments are laid out, as much as possible, to facilitate transit access and usability. Capital Projects Transit Signal Priority The Transit Signal Priority (TSP) project, made possible through a partnership with PennDOT, has finally come to fruition. With the emitters mounted on all of the buses, CATA was able to test the system as PennDOT was wrapping up its new North Atherton Street traffic signal installation, and it appears the infrastructure works as intended, giving buses a few seconds of additional green time when appropriate. Facilities Maintenance and Upkeep Over the course of the year Maintenance staff addressed various problems that cropped up with CATA s 20-year-old facility, and ensured that CATA s bus shelters and other on-street facilities were kept in a state of good repair. Also undertaken were several projects to enhance the functionality and appearance of our Cato Park facility, which included the addition of new hardscape elements along the Research Drive side of the building. 4

Technology Implementation Working with CATA s partner, Avail Technologies, the remaining details have been addressed relating to Phase I of CATA s Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) program (GPS installation and the push of real-time bus information to the public). The Automatic Stop Annunciators and Passenger Counters included in Phase II were placed in service this past August. Bus Rehabilitation and Replacement CATA s allocation of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act economic stimulus funding was used this year to refurbish its 1998 New Flyers, and to replace the CNG tanks on all 16 of the 1996 Orion buses. A contract for the purchase of eleven new 40-foot New Flyer buses was awarded in March and delivery of those vehicles is expected in early 2012. Hugh Mose Named APTA 2010 Outstanding Manager of the CATA is pleased to report that Hugh Mose, the Authority s General Manager, was named the recipient of the prestigious American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Outstanding Public Transportation Manager Award for 2010. Hugh began his public transportation career in 1977 as the Transit Manager in Iowa City, Iowa. Since that time, he s held leadership positions in transit systems in Fresno, California and Olympia, Washington, coming to CATA in 1995. Under Hugh s leadership, CATA s fleet has grown to over 60 vehicles, the workforce is now approaching 150 employees, and over 7,000,000 riders are carried annually, making State College the most transit-intensive small urban area in the nation. During his tenure as General Manager, CATA has become a recognized leader for many of his efforts at CATA, including the implementation of the compressed natural gas program, initiating the pre-sale of transit service to institutional customers, and the deployment of GPS technology. CATA is also the first transit system in Pennsylvania to offer carpool matching and vanpools to longdistance commuters. In addition to his work within the Authority, Hugh has also been a long-time leader in transit industry affairs, including serving three years as APTA s Vice Chair for Small Operations. The Outstanding Public Transportation Manager Award, the highest honor currently awarded to a transit manager in North America, is presented annually to the transit executive who is judged to have made the greatest contribution to their local transit system and the industry in general. In 2009 the award went to the manager of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority; the year before it was given to the manager of the transit system in Cleveland. Additionally, in the nearly 30 years that the award has been granted, it s only gone to the manager of a small transit system three times. However, awards of this magnitude are not entirely new to CATA; in 2001 the Authority was selected by APTA as the Outstanding Transit System in North America in CATA s size category. 5

FY 2011/12 Work Plan The following list highlights many of the key ongoing activities that the CATA staff expects to pursue over the coming year. CATA s Core Bus Service As always, most of CATA s transportation efforts will be devoted in the coming year to ensuring that there is a bus on every run, a driver for every bus, and that all of the supporting elements are in place to keep the service running smoothly. At least ninety percent of CATA s organizational energy is devoted to this core function. Legislative Advocacy Expecting that the coming year will see progress on the reauthorization of SAFTEA-LU at the federal level, and some sort of new transportation funding initiative in Pennsylvania, CATA staff will work with transit representatives and our legislators in Washington and Harrisburg to try to ensure outcomes favorable to CATA. Without adequate funding in place, the current level of transit service enjoyed by the community will no longer be sustainable. Planning and Service Development Service planning will once again be a major undertaking this year because it appears that CATA will need to make additional reductions in service as the result of reduced federal and state transit operating funds. These reductions will most likely affect practically every route in the CATABUS system. Completion of the extension of Old Gatesburg Road between Science Park Road and Blue Course Drive during the coming fall and early winter will enable the expansion of locations served by the K (Cato Park) Route, possibly as early as January 2012. Exterior Bus Advertising As a way to bolster the Authority s revenues in light of recent decreases in federal and state funding, the CATA Board of Directors approved a recommendation from staff to implement of a 12-month pilot exterior bus advertising program. Advertisements will be limited to the tails of the buses (between the taillights) and will be sold in-house. Upon completion of the trial, an assessment will be prepared and a determination made as to whether to continue and expand or discontinue the program. Bus Maintenance With a total of 61 buses, 25 vanpool vans and four paratransit minibuses, CATA s fleet is requiring more and more maintenance, especially since 90 percent of the buses are now over ten years old. During the coming year specific efforts will be made to address the exteriors of the buses, where corrosion and body damage have taken a toll, as well as to update the wheelchair lifts in the high-floor buses. 6 Regional Commuter Bus Service CATA and the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization (CCMPO) assisted the Area Transportation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania (ATA) with the planning of commuter bus service from Clearfield, through the Moshannon Valley, and into State College. If and when implemented, the service will provide two commuter trips per day in each direction Monday through Friday. Those using the service will have the option of registering for CATA s Guaranteed Ride Home (GRH) program. Over the coming year, staff will also work with the CCMPO to secure the necessary local matching funds and long-term funding commitments that will allow CATA to submit a JARC (Job Access-Reverse Commute) grant application in FY 2012/13 for the introduction of regional commuter bus service from Penns Valley.

Transportation Coordination Study A consultant study of the paratransit programs operated by CATA and the Centre County Office of Transportation (CCOT) resulted in a set of recommendations on how the two transportation programs could be more effectively integrated, beginning with the establishment of a Coordination Committee. Over the coming year, the CATA staff will continue working with the CCOT to further coordinate operations. Capital Projects Revenue Vehicles Last year, using funding from a variety of sources, CATA worked to procure eleven 40-foot CNG powered transit coaches, to replace a like number of 14- and 15-year-old buses. It is expected that, through a contract awarded to New Flyer of America, these new buses will be delivered and placed into service in early 2012. Earlier this year, federal funds distributed by PennDOT were committed to CATA for the replacement of the two oldest of its four CATARIDE paratransit vehicles. It s expected that the vans will be delivered in early 2012 as well. In FY 2009/2010, CATA was awarded federal funding for the purchase of six vanpool vans. The recent increase in gasoline prices has heightened interest in vanpooling, so this acquisition will be completed in late 2011. CNG Tank Replacement Each of CATA s buses has between five and eight CNG tanks mounted on the roof which, regardless of the condition of the vehicle, must be replaced after 15 years. Installation of new tanks on CATA s 2011 New Flyer buses began in June, with a targeted completion in late summer. The used but still useful tanks were transferred to eleven 1997 New Flyers. Building Upgrades/Maintenance Facility Expansion CATA s Cato Park facility is twenty years old and in need of replacements or upgrades to equipment and building systems. Plans are in place to replace components of the HVAC system, upgrade the security and CNG detection systems, and repair all three hydraulic bus lifts. Additionally, the maintenance facility itself is inadequate for CATA s fleet size and therefore, Architectural and Engineering work will begin for a future expansion. However, funding for a new maintenance facility has not yet been secured. On-street Facilities CATA plans to again program funds to install concrete pads, shelters, benches and other amenities at bus stops throughout the community as the budget permits. Advanced Public Transportation Systems (APTS) Over the next two years, the Federal Communications Commission (FTC) will be undertaking a process called narrowbanding, which will require CATA to replace its two-way radio system which is nearly twenty years old. This year the architecture and base station equipment for on-board video cameras will be acquired and installed. In addition, efforts are under way to continue the enhancement of CATA s real-time schedule information as work progresses toward the implementation of an automatic trip planning tool via Google Transit. 7

The Face of CATA: Its Employees CATA Board of Directors John C. Spychalski, Chairman, Ferguson Township Joseph Davidson, Vice Chairman, College Township Richard Kipp, Treasurer, Harris Township Gary Powers/Tom Kurtz, Patton Township Kathryn Bittner, State College Borough CATA 2011 Superstar: John Bruno Employees Bus Drivers: 101 Maintenance: 19 Management/Supervisory: 12 Administrative Support: 17 Employee Anniversaries Twenty-five Years: Kent Wilson, Driver Ron Witmer, Driver Terry Waltz, Maintenance Twenty Years: Annette Filoromo-Beck, Accounting Fifteen Years: Ken Maney, Driver Ten Years: Larry Bartges, Driver Jacqueline Sheader, Marketing Igor Gerasenko, Driver Jessica Decker, Driver Cheryl Hensal, Driver 2081 W. Whitehall Road State College, PA 16801 (814) 238-CATA(2282) (814) 238-7643 (Fax) cata@catabus.com www.catabus.com realtime.catabus.com When it comes to the design of bus exteriors, no one in the Maintenance Department at CATA is more of an expert than John Bruno. John was especially instrumental in contributing to the success of CATA s rebranding project, and is CATA s Superstar of Public Transportation for 2011. John has devoted the past seven years to CATA, and in addition to being known for his professional mechanical skills, he is recognized as the go-to guy for painting, bodywork and decaling. A career mechanic, John acquired several years experience in the field before CATA was fortunate enough to bring him on board in 2004. Over the past two years John has been heavily involved with CATA s rebranding initiative, including the actual design of the paint scheme for the buses. Despite problems which were bound to occur along the way with such a complex project, John did not complain or waiver, but focused on the job, using his expertise to provide input and working hard to make sure the job was done right. There is no doubt that John s positive attitude and professionalism throughout the course of the project contributed to a great final product - 15 buses, 20 vanpool vans, 16 sedans and CATA s parade vehicle, Tripper, all of which now sport the new CATA logo. 8