CATA Introduces New Partnership to Encourage Shared Rides for Commuters in State College
State College, PA (November 29, 2022) – As businesses in the State College area continue to grow, employees return to the workplace, and commute costs continue to increase, CATA is making improvements to its longstanding vanpool program through a partnership with Commute with Enterprise. This partnership supports and continues CATA’s commitment to a family of services that provide innovative and sustainable shared mobility options to residents and employees who travel to the Centre Region in Centre County from several surrounding counties.
The CATACOMMUTE program, established many years ago, is a coordinated vanpool program available to people who live inside or outside of State College and wish to access jobs in the area. The program coordinates participants who indicate their interest through various channels such as at their workplace or via an online portal. The program then matches riders who have similar work shifts in similar areas and who are interested in riding together. Once four or more people are matched, a Commute with Enterprise representative will contact the group to begin working out the details. Commute with Enterprise then provides a 7-15 passenger vehicle, insurance, maintenance and ongoing support. Each vanpool is customized to the specific needs of its four or more vanpoolers. Participants can choose a qualifying vanpool vehicle from Enterprise’s selection of makes and models that includes crossovers, SUVs, minivans, and large passenger vans. Vanpoolers may choose to upgrade their vehicles with optional high-end features such as satellite radio and in-vehicle Wi-Fi service.
“Our new partnership with Commute with Enterprise allows CATA to continue to support vanpooling as a mobility option, while tapping into better technology, as well as more convenient options for the participants while assisting with the cost for qualifying participants,” says Louwana Oliva, Executive Director/CEO of CATA.
The vanpool program will be partially subsidized by CATA using state and federal grant funds. The remaining cost is split among the employer and/or participants, with each vanpool rider paying a set fee per month. Enterprise will provide coordination services and technology, vehicles, liability insurance, scheduled vehicle maintenance, and 24-hour roadside assistance, as well as best practices for cleaning and Complete Clean Starter Kits for new Commuters. CATA previously provided the local vanpool program independently but with increased costs to provide it, constraints on vehicle availability, and the possibility for improved program metrics, CATA decided to partner with Commute with Enterprise to build the program back to pre-pandemic levels and beyond.
People who commute to or from State College and are interested in joining the program can visit https://catabus.com/ and scroll down to click on CATACOMMUTE.
For more information, contact CATA at [email protected] or Bill Whiteside with Commute with Enterprise at [email protected].