CATA provides mobility for all! Our services help eliminate Rural isolation, improve quality of life and help thousands of people stay connected to the everyday world!

 CATA maintains a strong commitment to our Core Principals of Integrity and Respect. 

The Crawford Area Transportation Authority has been a prominent fixture in northwest Pennsylvania since 1979. Incorporated as a municipal transit authority, CATA offers a variety of services to ALL of Crawford, Clarion, Forest and Venango Counties. Our services include fixed route bus service in the city of Meadville, Titusville, Saegertown, Franklin, Oil City and Seneca and door to door transportation throughout the two counties. So whether you live in Meadville and use CATA to get to work or you live in Polk and use CATA to attend activities at the senior center in Cranberry, CATA is for EVERYONE!

CATA benefits stretch throughout all of our 4-County territory; a territory that is larger than the state of Deleware! Even if you do not use our services, chances are a family member, a neighbor or someone you know does. Whether that person is one of the hundreds who rely on CATA for transportation to work, an elderly family member or neighbor who needs transportation to a doctor’s appointment, somebody riding CATA to shop at a local downtown business or a student from Allegheny College riding the bus to catch a movie, CATA is a positive influence in the community. In partnership with the County Human Service Departments throughout the region, CATA offers non-emergency medical transportation through the Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP) to qualified county residents for medical appointments to many destinations outside of our 4-County boundaries including services to Pittsburgh, Butler, Mercer, Erie and more! 

CATA is comprised by a fleet of over 110 vehicles. CATA uses 4 primary vehicle types in our operation. Our fleet is comprised of Heavy Duty Low Floor Mass Transit buses, Ford Transit vans, accessible mini-vans and body on chassis paratransit vehicles operating on Propane Autogas and unleaded gasoline. All vehicles are fully ADA compliant.

CATA supports local area businesses . CATA is committed to working locally with our neighbors. Each year CATA spends in excess of $1,800,000 purchasing products and services from over 50 Pennsylvania businesses.

CATA maintains a commitment to Strategic Planning. Highlights of our accomplishments within our Strategic Plan include:

Formation of the Northwest Pennsylvania Mobility Alliance, Inc

As a registered 501c3 non-profit, the NPMA was formed as a means to further advance small-scale mobility projects throughout the region.  The concept is simple, find ways to access local funding through businesses, banks, health care institutions, community foundations and fundraising to support programing within the ecosystem of "mobility". 

Proceeds from the NPMA have provided thousands of free rides on fixed route service to many community partner agency participants, funded the 1st ever Rural Bike share program in Pennsylvania, partnered with local YMCA's to support food delivery programs, donated funds to support Kid's bike Roadeo educational events and more! The NPMA facilities the Annual Transit Retreat, a national event that brings together thought leaders in Mobility with National partners for 2-days of educations sessions and networking. 

Regional Cooperation for service delivery: In 2024, CATA expanded our footprint to become the public transportation provider and administrator of the MATP program for Clarion County.  In 2026, CATA expanded our footprint to become the public transportation provider and administrator of the MATP program for Forest County and the administrator of the MATP program in Venango County. 

Meadville Garage and Operations expansion:  In 2026, CATA cut the ribbons on a $4,000,000 capital project that expanded our maintenance, operations and administration capabilities in Meadville.  As we continue to expand outside the boarders of Crawford County, Meadville continues to be the "hub" of our operations and administration.  This expansion project added safer, more modern maintenance facilities, expanded our regional dispatch center and added 8 new offices for our team.  This project was funding through grants from the PA Department of Transportation with local funding from the Crawford County Commissioners.

Propane Infrastructure: CATA has invested in alternative fuel infrastructure to support our shared ride and lifeline fixed route operations through 2 Propane autogas fueling stations in Meadville and Oil City with Sharp Energy.   A total of 27 Propane buses utilizing ROUSCH CLEANTECH technologies are now on the road reducing our fuel expenses by over 35%

Public BikeShare: CATA operates the only Rural public bikeshare program in Pennsylvania funding through the NPMA.  In partnership with Accesa and with the support of local businesses, CATA maintains over 50 bikes for public rental throughout the Meadville area, Conneaut Lake, Maurice K. Goddard State Park, Titusville Buhl Park in Mercer County and the Rail 66 Trailhead in Shippenville, Clarion county.  This is truly a step in the direction of mobility coordination and active transportation!  Look for more bikes in more communities as we advance this vision.

Commuter Vanpool service: In 2025, thanks in part to a Carbon Reduction Grant from the Northwest Commission, CATA awarded a contract to Commute with Enterprise to subsidize a third party vanpool program.  To date, 2 vanpools are now operating for the benefit of Crawford County employers as CATA takes steps to redefine our services to better meet workforce retention and development needs.

Climate Action Plan: CATA has adopted a Climate Action Plan to guide our decision making now and into the future as we do our part to ensure a sustainable planet.  From Compressed Natural Gas mass transit vehicles to propane paratransit vehicles to public BikeShare, we are focused on our commitment to sustainability.

In Rural Pennsylvania EVERY trip matters and at CATA, we are Partners in Transit serving our communities together.

Thank you for your support and interest in CATA!

Tim Geibel, Executive Director

CATA is proud to provide public transportation services for the communities within Crawford, Clarion, Forest and Venango counties. CATA operates fixed route and door-to-door shared ride services with a fleet of over 110 ADA accessible vehicles providing over 1,100 passenger trips every day. Our dedicated team is committed to public service and operate under the Core Principals of Integrity and Respect.