Students could see shorter lines and more buses at the Allen Street and Pattee Library stops if an idea raised at a Monday CATA meeting comes to pass.
At an annual public hearing, Centre Area Transportation Authority General Manager Hugh Mose said some riders wait in long lines to get on buses, particularly at the eastbound Curtin Road stop by the Pattee Library and the Allen Street and College Avenue stop in front of Old Main.
"We're starting to think that maybe there are some routes that could be reconfigured, so that instead of having so much activity on the south side of Curtin Road and so little on the north side, we could even things out," Mose said.
Students who catch the bus at Pattee Library said they have noticed the problem, too.
"[The Pattee stop] and Allen Street stop are probably the worst ones to catch a bus," Tony Madonna (senior-journalism) said.
But he is more concerned by changes CATA has made in off-campus routes. The new N and V routes have made it more difficult for him to go off campus, and he thinks it only caused more congestion at on-campus stops.
CATA is also considering expanding the N and V routes to accommodate the overflow of outbound riders in the evening, Mose said.
Some seniors see that as too little, too late.
Other riders complained of especially long lines in the early morning and around student housing areas. Mose acknowledged these problems at the public hearing and said he is considering expanding routes to allow riders to get to work or class by 7:30 a.m. instead of the current 8 a.m.
There were very few complaints about overall CATA service at the public hearing. Only Jolly Harris, of Bellefonte, offered suggestions for improving CATA, but even he said the transit authority offers an "excellent level of service."
Mose said CATA always welcomes suggestions for service improvement, but said he takes the low number of complaints at the hearing as a sign CATA is doing a good job of serving the community.
