The Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) is the public transit operator serving the Lansing, Michigan area, including service on the campus of Michigan State University. In , the system had a ridership of .

History CATA began service in 1972. Its predecessor, Lansing Metro Lines, was privately owned and operated under a franchise from the city of Lansing. Poor ridership and increasing costs prompted a city buyout of Metro Lines in 1970, creating uncertainty about the future of bus service in the Lansing area. CATA was organized as a regional authority in 1971. By the end of its first year of service in 1972, the newly formed CATA had provided over 700,000 rides.

CATA was the first transit system in the United States to operate electric buses, with the assistance of a grant from the Model Cities Program. Six electric buses entered service in May 1973, operating a loop through Downtown Lansing and the State Capitol at no charge. The electric buses were built by the Battronic Truck Company of Boyertown, Pennsylvania. The $136,000 () purchase price of the buses was largely funded by the federal government. CATA's electric buses were plagued by mechanical problems, and ridership declined after CATA began charging fares on the formerly free service. The electric buses were withdrawn in September 1974, and were sold to an industrial parts supplier in Flint at a substantial discount.

In 1999, Michigan State University discontinued its bus services, and CATA took over operations of bus service on campus. Fares were initially charged for these routes, before a 2019 pilot program led to a permanent removal of fares.

CATA is a two-time winner of the APTA Outstanding Public Transportation System Award, in 1991 and 2007. This award recognizes CATA's excellence in customer service, safety, and management.

In 2006, CATA became the first transit agency in Michigan to operate diesel-electric hybrid buses. The system continued to exclusively buy hybrid buses through 2016, before returning to conventional diesel in 2019 as the first Michigan operator of the Nova Bus LFS.

In August 2014, CATA introduced the CATAnow system to provide real-time bus departure information. Further developments in CATA's real-time bus tracking systems include a partnership with Transit App beginning in 2017.

Michigan/Grand River Avenue Transportation Study CATA partnered with metropolitan municipalities beginning in the summer of 2009 to study and evaluate transit improvements to Route 1, which runs from downtown Lansing to the Meridian Mall. Improvements being evaluated include enhancing the existing bus system, adding bike lanes, improving intersections, or upgrading the existing route from a bus line to a bus rapid transit line, light rail, or a modern streetcar line. The CATA Board of Directors formally adopted bus rapid transit as the locally preferred alternative for the corridor on February 16, 2011. This authorized the transit to submit an application to be part of the Federal Transit Administration Small Starts program, which would provide substantial funding for the capital costs of construction this line. The proposal was moved to the FTA's project development phase in April 2013, which includes getting funding for an environmental review and design and engineering activities. Citing a potential lack of federal funding for the project from the Trump administration, the authority's board voted in April 2017 to suspend the project until federal funding could be committed to the project.

Operations CATA operates scheduled fixed-route bus and paratransit services across a area throughout Ingham County and portions of Eaton and Clinton counties.

CATA has approximately 340 employees, of whom nearly 224 are bus operators represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1039. In 2016, 46% of CATA's operating revenue came from local sources, another 30% from state sources, and 24% came from fares and additional sources. In fiscal 2019, CATA logged 11,049,317 rides – an increase of 6.4 percent over the previous fiscal year.

CATA also operates the Capital Area Multimodal Gateway in East Lansing, the Lansing area's sole Amtrak station.

Fixed-route bus service CATA operates scheduled fixed-route bus services on 32 routes in Lansing, East Lansing, and neighboring communities. The system's main hub is the CATA Transportation Center (CTC) in downtown Lansing, with a satellite hub, the MSU-CATA Transportation Center (MSU-CTC), at Michigan State University.

These services are operated using a fleet of roughly 100 transit buses, including rigid and articulated buses of the New Flyer Low Floor, New Flyer Xcelsior, and Nova Bus LFS models.

List of current routes :

Route 1 is the network's main crosstown corridor, connecting Downtown Lansing, East Lansing, and Okemos Routes 2–5 and 7–16 begin in Downtown Lansing, and primarily serve Lansing neighborhoods in a hub-and-spoke pattern Routes 20–26 primarily serve East Lansing and the eastern suburbs of Okemos and Haslett Routes 30–39 are fare-free "Spartan Service" routes operating on the campus of Michigan State University, which only run during MSU's fall and spring semesters, excluding breaks Routes 46 and 48 are limited-stop commuter routes between Lansing and outer Ingham County, which make one trip daily in each direction during peak hours on weekdays

#Route NameTerminiFrequency (min)Notes Mon-FriSatSun1 Downtown Lansing – Meridian Mall CTC Meridian Mall 15-2010-2015-20 additional Fri-Sat night service during MSU breaks2 South Washington – Pleasant Grove CTC Sheffield Blvd & Bayview Dr 3030303 Willow – Lansing Mall CTC Lansing Mall 20-3030305 South Cedar – Edgewood CTC Edgewood Villas 20-3030306 Cedar – Jolly Connection Jolly Cedar Plaza CATA Headquarters 20-30--7 Aurelius – Miller CTC Dunckel Rd & Beau Jardin Dr 4580-8 Pennsylvania – Holt CTC Aurelius Rd & Davlind Dr (Holt) 30-4530309 South MLK – Miller CTC Meijer, S Pennsylvania Ave. 30303010 North Lansing – Turner CTC Thomas & Hall 25-50454511 Waverly – Colonial Village CTC Deerfield & Holmes 60--12 West Michigan – Waverly – LCC West CTC LCC West Campus 304545 truncated to St. Joseph + Waverly on weekends & during LCC breaks13 Groesbeck Area CTC Meijer, Lake Lansing Rd. 60--14 North Grand River – Old Town – Airport CTC Capital Region Int'l Airport 25-45454515 Kalamazoo – Frandor CTC Meijer, Lake Lansing Rd. 60--16 Old Town – W. Lake Lansing – Eastwood CTC Meijer, Lake Lansing Rd. 30303018 Capital City Crosstown Mt. Hope Rd & Boston Blvd Multimodal Gateway 45-60--20 South Harrison – Jolly-Dunckel Shaw Ln & Farm Ln, MSU Beau Jardin & Dunckel 35606022 MSU – Haslett – Meridian Mall (to Meridian Mall) Okemos – MSU (from Meridian Mall) Shaw Ln & Farm Ln, MSU Meridian Mall 3560-23 MSU – Okemos – Meridian Mall (to Meridian Mall) Haslett – MSU (from Meridian Mall) Shaw Ln & Farm Ln, MSU Meridian Mall 3560-24 East Lansing – Lake Lansing Road MSU-CTC Meijer, Lake Lansing Rd. 30606025 North Harrison MSU-CTC Meijer, Lake Lansing Rd. 60606026 Abbot – Chandler MSU-CTC Chandler Crossings 454040 runs later and more frequently during MSU fall and winter semesters30 South & East Neighborhoods Holden & Wilson Halls, MSU East Campus Boarding Center, MSU-- operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters31 Brody Complex & East Neighborhoods Brody Neighborhood, MSU East Campus Boarding Center, MSU-- operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters32 Commuter Lot 89 – Snyder Hall – Clinical Center MSU-CTC Commuter Lot 89, MSU--33 MSU Union – North & South Neighborhoods Holden & Wilson Halls, MSU MSU Union-- operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters34 Brody – University Village MSU-CTC Brody Neighborhood, MSU - operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters35 South Neighborhood – Spartan Village MSU-CTC Spartan Village, MSU - operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters36 East Neighborhood MSU-CTC East Campus Boarding Center, MSU - operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters39 University Village Shaw Ln & Farm Ln, MSU Spartan Village, MSU-- operates only during MSU fall and winter semesters46 Mason Limited CTC Cedar St & Kerns Rd (Mason) 2 trips daily-- weekday peak direction only48 Williamston–Webberville Limited CTC M-52 & I-96 (Webberville) 2 trips daily-- weekday peak direction only In addition to the main fixed-route network, CATA operates two "Connector" deviated fixed routes, which connect the main CATA service area to Mason, Williamston, and Webberville.

Fares Fixed-route bus fares :

Regular: $1.25 Discounted (for seniors, Medicare cardholders, disabled riders, and local students): 60¢ Children under 42" tall & U.S. military veterans: free

Single-ride fares include a transfer ticket upon request, valid for up to two additional rides within two hours, in the same direction or on a different route. Transfer tickets are not valid for return trips on the same route.

Fares can be paid onboard with cash, credit or debit cards, or using the Transit or CATA Mobile Pay mobile apps. Change cards (branded as CATACash) are issued through the farebox as change during cash transactions. Single-ride and 10-ride prepaid tickets, and 31-day unlimited ride passes, are sold at CATA's administrative offices, the CTC, and select retail stores. Demand-response services CATA offers multiple distinct demand-responsive transit services:

Spec-Tran, a complementary paratransit service available in communities which have CATA fixed-route bus service Redi-Ride, an advance-reservation curb-to-curb service available in Mason, Delhi Township, and Meridian Township Rural Service, an advance-reservation service available in most outer areas of Ingham County MSU Night Owl, an on-demand service available at Michigan State University after fixed-route operating hours MSU Lot Link, an on-demand service serving outer parking lots of Michigan State University on weekends CATA Rydz, an app-based microtransit service operated by Via Transportation, serving portions of Lansing and Delta Township, Michigan State University, and Capital Region International Airport

These services are operated using a fleet of minibuses, vans, and minivans. Some of these services are operated by Transdev under contract.

Governance

CATA is governed by a board of directors: Four members representing the City of Lansing: Nathan Triplett (chair) Derek Melot Dusty Fancher (Vice Chair) Jennie Gies Two members representing the City of East Lansing: Shanna Draheim Jack Schmitt Two members representing Meridian Township: Phil Deschaine Phyllis Vaughn One member representing Lansing Township: Maggie Sanders One member representing Delhi Township: Douglas Lecato One member representing Ingham County: Mark Grebner One member representing Michigan State University: John Prush Ex-Officio: Terrance Augustine, Eaton County

References

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