The complementary paratransit service plan recently approved by the Centre Area Transportation Authority includes a two-step fare increase and an extension of service area.

The plan was designed to improve the paratransit system throughout the region in accordance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

The changes were worked out in association with organized disabled groups in the region and are required for all transportation systems under the act, said CATA General Manager Kevin Abbey.

The paratransit system must now be seen as complementary and comparable to the fixed route system, Abbey said. The core area of the bus route will include three-fourths of a mile on either side of the borough.

Abbey also said a two-step fare increase states that twice as much may be charged to ride on the paratransit system as on the fixed route system.

The cost will go from $1.30 to $1.50, then eventually to $1.70. The fares for trips to Bellefonte are currently double, with the cost at $2.60 and will move up to $3 and then to $3.40.

Senior citizens will still pay 75 cents for trips in the Centre Region and $1.50 for trips to Bellefonte, regardless of their eligibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Joan Lee, co-president of the Citizens for Barrier-Free Living, said the increased fare does not begin to pay for the paratransit services. She said taxpayers will have to pick up the costs eventually to continue the services.

In addition, reservations to use Centre Ride -- the paratransit system provided by CATA -- can still be made between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. the day before expected travel. Also, the service times will remain from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., except on Sundays when it begins at 9 a.m.

Abbey said a temporary change will address capacity constraints by prohibiting transportation from State College to Bellefonte for wheelchair users between 2 and 3:45 p.m. because Skills of Central Pennsylvania, Inc., a sheltered workshop, requires the use of the lift-equipped vans to return its clients home.

Capacity constraints will be dealt with permanently by buying a lift-equipped van within two years, said Judy Minor, CATA paratransit coordinator.

The paratransit plan does not represent a major change in CATA's disabled transportation policy, Minor added.

"The plan strongly emphasizes the paratransit system as complementary to the fixed route system," Minor said. "But other than that I don't see much difference."