In an attempt to reduce midday crowding on Town and Campus Loop buses, the Centre Area Transportation Authority today begins an experimental fare-free zone for five Centre Line routes.

People taking the H, M, P, SP or U buses can now ride for free within an area around Penn State's campus, roughly corresponding to the roads traveled by the two Loop services.

The fare-free zone, which will be in effect weekdays until 4 p.m., extends from the corner of South Burrowes Street and West Beaver Avenue to the bus stop at Porter Road and Park Avenue.

Bus drivers will keep blue signs visible on their dashboards to help riders identify the routes and their directions, said Jacqueline Malone, CATA marketing coordinator.

The H, SP and U routes will have signs labeled "Shortlidge," and the M and P buses will display "Burrowes."

The signage is intended to make riding the fare-free Centre Line buses as straightforward as taking the Loops, said Eric Bernier, CATA service director.

"If people have to go through the schedule, they're less likely to use it," Bernier said. "That's really critical here."

The idea to broaden free bus service around campus surfaced as early as Fall Semester 1999 when CATA dropped fares on the Town and Campus Loops and started encountering more packed aisles.

The fare-free zone reflects some of the concepts outlined in the three-year agreement between CATA and Penn State, Bernier said.

He said the transportation authority is aiming to integrate the Centre Line routes with the Loop and Link services to serve members of the university community better.

Students and others riding the free Centre Line routes around campus will use the honor system, Malone said. People going beyond the designated areas will be expected to pay the appropriate fare.

CATA decided not to complicate service during the experimental period with ways of differentiating campus riders from those interested in traveling farther from State College, Bernier said.

He added that creating a new fare structure might detract from CATA's goal to find out if the free Centre Line services will assist riders who would otherwise catch a Loop bus.

"We didn't want that to cloud the evaluation," he said.

The trial period will run until the end of Spring Semester, a stretch that Bernier said typically sees the lightest flow of bus riders.

CATA also announced in a release last week that 10 new natural-gas buses will be added to its fleet today.

The arrival of the new vehicles represents the end of a decade-long effort by CATA to phase out its full-size diesel buses in favor of those powered by "clean natural gas."