PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Editor's Note: The above video is from Jan.4, 2018.
On Wednesday, the York County Board of Commissioners publicly announced its intent to approve the creation of a regional municipal transportation authority formed by merging rabbittransit and the Captial Area Transit (CAT).
This merger will create the Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority, which will give Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, and York counties, and the city of Harrisburg, seats on the 10-member voting board.
The collaboration to regionalize local transportation will potentially save money and increase mobility access. This means residents will have better access to employment, healthcare, and education services. Regionalizing transportation will also make the area more attractive for economic development and prospective employers.
“Ultimately, it’s about advancing mobility for the region,” said Richard Farr, Executive Director of rabbittransit, who has also been managing CAT since February 2018. “In many ways, we are functioning as one system now. The two transit agencies have been working cooperatively for nearly three years and we are already seeing benefits.”
The decision to support this merger was an obvious one for the York County Commissioners as rabbittransit and CAT serve thousands of people each day.
“Transportation is something some people take for granted, but for many vulnerable or underserved members of our community, public transportation is their lifeline,” said York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler. “Anything we can do to bolster transit services for York County and our neighboring counties is critical, especially as we work our way out of a pandemic.”
The next step in this process is for rabbittransit and CAT to jointly advertise the actions taken by all of the municipal partners and file the documentation required with Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State.
SOURCE: York County Commissioners