UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Transportation Services has received University approval to resume on-campus operations beginning Monday, July 6.
Full details regarding service levels and COVID-19 safety protocols are outlined below.
Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations to reopen with adjusted hours
The Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations will each reopen on Monday, July 6, with new operating hours:
- Transportation Services Office
- 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
- Fleet Operations
- 6 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday
Fleet vehicle return will remain available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers with vehicle pickup needs outside of the new hours should email fleet@psu.edu to discuss pickup options.
The reduced hours will provide additional time for cleaning of high-contact surfaces in both customer and employee areas.
Normal campus parking regulations to resume; ParkMobile permit access update
Normal campus parking regulations will resume for all campus parking areas and users (faculty, staff, students, visitors) beginning Monday, July 6.
With the return of normal regulations, faculty/staff and student permit holders parking on campus during weekday daytime hours (7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday) will only be permitted to park in their assigned parking areas. Students and employees performing mission-critical work that requires closer parking access should email parking@psu.edu to discuss available permit upgrade options.
Anyone who purchased a temporary ParkMobile Commuter parking permit while the Transportation Services Office has been closed will be required during weekday daytime hours to park only at the Commuter lots (Jordan East, Stadium West, Porter North) beginning Monday, July 6. Access to additional faculty/staff parking areas will only be available on weekdays after 4 p.m. and throughout the day on Saturdays and Sundays. When each ParkMobile permit expires, customers will need to visit the Transportation Services Office to purchase a regular hangtag parking permit. Those with an immediate need for parking access other than what is provided by their ParkMobile permit should email parking@psu.edu to discuss available options.
Faculty/staff parking permit returns and exchanges
Beginning Monday, July 6, faculty and staff will again be permitted to return their parking permit to their department’s parking chairperson if they no longer wish to use it or exchange it for a different permit type, as available through their department’s permit allocation. If a parking chairperson remains unavailable to process permit returns, employees may return their permit to the Transportation Services Office during regular business hours (8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday) via a permit return drop-box that will be in the office’s vestibule area. Once the permit has been received, payroll deduction for permit fees beyond any that are already scheduled will be stopped.
With reduced capacity and demand expected for transit service, maximizing the use of available central campus parking will be critical to meeting the parking and transportation needs of the campus community. As such, Transportation Services will be asking departments to assign all available central campus parking permits from their respective permit allocations. Unused central campus permits will be permanently reallocated to departments with current demand for those permits. Any employee, regardless of position, who returns their permit will not be guaranteed access to the same parking area if parking is needed again in the future.
Campus and community transit service
CATA is currently operating its HM (Nittany Mall/Toftrees), K (Cato Park), N (Martin St./Aaron Dr.), P (Tussey Mountain), R (Waupelani Drive), V (Vairo Blvd.), W (Valley Vista), XB (Bellefonte), and XG (Pleasant Gap) Community Routes, and the Blue Loop and Red Link, with service beginning at 6 a.m. daily and extended to include Saturdays. Beginning Monday, June 22, additional Red Link buses were added to accommodate return of employees and students to campus. The White Loop and Green Link do not operate during the summer. Updated schedules may be found at the CATA website. UPDATE: Beginning Monday, July 6, Blue Loop and Red Link service will begin at 4:45 a.m. weekdays.
Beginning Monday, July 6, the Campus Shuttle will resume regular summer service, with the via College Avenue route serving stops every 15 minutes from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. There is no Campus Shuttle via Beaver Avenue service during the summer.
The Hershey Shuttle will not operate until further notice.
Please note that buses and shuttles will be operating with significantly reduced capacity and will be unable to meet normal ridership demand. Until further notice, it is strongly encouraged that transit services be used for essential trips only, including trips by those with mobility disabilities. Students, faculty and staff who are able are urged to walk or bike.
COVID-19 safety protocols for Transportation Services staff and customers
To provide the safest experience possible for staff and customers, Transportation Services will be taking the following actions in response to COVID-19:
- Transportation Services staff (office and kiosk staff, drivers, parking enforcement) will be required to wear masks in accordance with University guidelines, to include all interactions with customers.
- Floor markings will be placed at customer entrance points at the Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations to provide guidance for social distancing standards.
- A limited number of customers will be permitted at one time inside the Transportation Services Office, Fleet Operations, and all Campus Shuttle vehicles. Seating charts will be displayed on each shuttle to indicate which seats are available for use and total permitted occupancy.
- The Transportation Services Office will be accepting credit card and LionCash+ payments only.
- High-contact points will be regularly sanitized at the Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations, as well as on all customer-facing parking equipment (entry and exit machines, pay stations).
- High-contact points on Campus Shuttle vehicles will be sanitized multiple times throughout the day (when no riders are on board) and will be thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day.
- Fleet vehicles will be thoroughly cleaned upon return.
- Partitions will be placed at the Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations front counter areas to provide protective shields between customers and staff. Customer items (such as driver’s licenses, Penn State IDs and other documents) will be passed under the shield. Bus and shuttle drivers will also remain behind partitions, except when cleaning.
- Permits purchased at the Transportation Services Office will be cleaned by staff before being issued to customers. Disinfectant wipes also will be available to customers if they would like to clean permits at the time of purchase.
- Customers will swipe their own credit card when making purchases at the Transportation Services Office.
- Hand sanitizer will be available for customers at the Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations.
Customers will be required to wear masks to enter the Transportation Services Office and Fleet Operations and to utilize all CATA services and the Campus Shuttle. In addition, Fleet customers fueling at Fleet Operations must wear a mask and remain in the vehicle when arriving at the fueling station. Windows should be lowered only far enough to allow for fuel card exchange and odometer reading.
Questions may be directed by email as outlined below:
- parking@psu.edu (parking)
- fleet@psu.edu (Fleet Operations)
- biking@psu.edu (biking)
- shuttles@psu.edu (Campus Shuttle)
- cata@catabus.com (CATA)