CamTran, originally called the Cambria County Transit Authority operates
mass transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
bus service within
Johnstown, Pennsylvania,
Cambria County, and
Windber, Pennsylvania,
Somerset County, Pennsylvania. CamTran also operates the
Johnstown Inclined Plane, which they took over in 1983 from
Westmont, Pennsylvania borough. The transit system began operation in 1976, from the remnants of the
Johnstown Traction Company. While the Cambria County Transit Authority (CCTA) began operation on July 20, 1976, service did not begin until December 1, 1976. In June 1999, CCTA became CamTran. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
Bus Services
CamTran is the urban division, while CamTran+ is the rural division.
CamTran Urban Service
CamTran operates 19 routes of its urban division. Most routes begin and end at the Transit Center on East Main Street in Downtown Johnstown. The transit center was constructed in 1983
and features a snack shop where passes can be purchased as well as public restrooms and a parking garage. Sunday bus service began in 2000 and bicycle racks were added to the urban division buses in 2006. In 2008, the Transit Center was renovated, including improvements to the air-handling system as well as electronic messaging boards. In 2011, seven new Gillig buses were added to CamTran's fleet.
CamTran+ Rural Service
CamTran+ started in 1978 and was originally called Cambria County Rural Transportation (CART) serves the northern half of Cambria County. In 2000, CART introduced
''Reserve-A-Ride'', a service in which,
passengers call in and literally reserve the bus for wherever they need to go. ''Reserve-A-Ride'' will pick up riders at their door, unlike conventional fixed-route services. This service is subsidized 85% by the
Pennsylvania Lottery
The Pennsylvania Lottery is operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Lottery was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director. The Pennsylv ...
for persons 65 years or older. In 2002, CART became CamTran+. A new transit center was built in 2003 in Ebensburg to better serve CamTran+, and in 2003, the Ebensburg-Altoona Commuter route was added and the other CamTran+ routes were revised. CamTran+ began participating in the PennDOT Persons With Disabilities project in 2008, where on-demand service is provided to riders with disabilities. The rider pays 15% of the Reserve-A-Ride fare.
CamTran+ operates their rural blue and yellow smaller buses out their office in
Ebensburg, PA
Ebensburg is a borough and the county seat of Cambria County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located west of Altoona and surrounded by Cambria Township. It is situated in the Allegheny Mountains at about above sea level. Ebensburg is ...
and are located in the same building with the Cambria County Area Agency on Aging. Most transfers on CamTran+ routes are completed at the CamTran+ Transit Center.
Fleet
CamTran operates a fleet of 51 buses on a rural and an urban fixed route system.
*17
Ford
*13
Gillig
*8
Champion Bus Incorporated
Champion Bus is a bus manufacturer owned by Forest River of Elkhart, Indiana, United States. It was formerly owned by Thor Industries of Imlay City, Michigan, United States. ASV purchased it from Thor in August 2013.
Champion acquired the Feder ...
*5
Flxible
*4
Chance RT-52
The Chance RT-52 was a front-engined small-sized transit bus built by Chance Coach, Inc. measuring in length. It was primarily used as a shuttle bus, and normally carried 19 passengers. The maximum passenger capacity was 23 passeng ...
*4
Freightliner
Service Routes
Urban routes
*6-Conemaugh/Franklin (discontinued July 2011 merged into *30 Ebensburg/Johnstown)
*7-Coopersdale
*8-Daisytown (discontinued July 2011)
*9-Richland Town Centre
*10-Dale/Solomon/Oakland
*11-Galleria/Scalp Ave
*12-Hystone/Westwood
*13-Arbutus/Belmont
*14-Moxham/Horner Street
*15-Oakhurst
*16-Prospect
*17-Scalp Avenue/Galleria
*18-Downtown Shuttle
*19-Southmont/Westwood/Laurelwood
*20-Westmont/Brownstown
*21-Windber
Rural routes
*30-Ebensburg to Johnstown
*31-Patton to Ebensburg
*32-Northern Cambria Loop
*33-Ebensburg/Cresson/Portage
*34-Mainline Shopper
*35-Patton/Ebensburg Saturday Shopper
*36-Ebensburg to Altoona
Passes/GFI Machines
CamTran operates
bus fare machines
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instan ...
manufactured by GFI. According to CamTran in a Summer 2006 Newsletter called camrecorder, these GFI machines were introduced to CamTran in March 1992. They take bus tokens, dollar bills, change, and bus passes. These machines cannot give cash change back, they only give back "change cards" in which customers receive a card that can only be used on CamTran and CamTran+ buses. Customers never get cash back from a CamTran bus.
CamTran+ does not use the GFI machines. Customers have to show their passes to the driver and enter the exact change into the fare box, because even on a change card, it is not possible to get change. CamTran passes can be used on CamTran+ buses, but customers must pay the difference, since the rural fares are more than the urban fares.
CamTran+ passes can be used on CamTran (urban) buses, since the rural passes pay more fare than the urban passes.
References
External links
CamTran Transit– official site
{{Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Bus transportation in Pennsylvania
Transit agencies in Pennsylvania
Municipal authorities in Pennsylvania
Transportation in Cambria County, Pennsylvania
Transportation in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
Transportation in Johnstown, Pennsylvania