PA: CATA General Manager Hugh Mose Retires June 30

Long-time Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) General Manager Hugh A. Mose will retire on June 30.

Hugh has been employed in the public transportation industry since 1977. His professional background includes stints in Iowa City, Iowa; Fresno, Calif.; and Olympia, Wash. He has served as CATA’s general manager for the past 19 years.

During his time at CATA, Hugh has led the Authority’s involvement in numerous cutting-edge initiatives, including the following:

• The commitment to the use of natural gas as fuel for CATA’s buses, which led to CATA becoming one of the first transit agencies on the East Coast to operate a 100 percent compressed natural gas bus fleet.
• The creation of a partnership with Penn State that has resulted in several significant programs, including fare-free campus service and deeply discounted transit passes for full-time faculty and staff.
• The development of the nation’s largest Apartment Pass program, through which student housing complexes contract with CATA for pre-paid bus passes for their tenants.
• The creation of CATACommute, a family of services for long-distance commuters, in which CATA became the first transit system in Pennsylvania’s to operate a vanpool program.
• The development, in partnership with local company Avail Technologies, of systems that enable CATA and its customers to utilize emerging technologies to improve both service and information.
• The involvement of CATA in the site plan review process, to the point where transit-supportive accommodations are now included in virtually every new development in the State College area.

During his tenure Hugh has been very involved in the public transportation industry, serving on the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Board of Directors, its Foundation’s Board, and numerous committees. In 2010 Hugh was named APTA’s Outstanding Public Transportation Manager, the highest award given to a practicing transit manager in North America.

A graduate in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University, Hugh also holds an M.S. degree in Transportation and Urban Systems from the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.

CATA’s Board of Directors this past spring appointed Louwana Oliva as Hugh’s successor effective July 1. Louwana has served as Assistant General Manager for the past four years, overseeing CATA’s operations and maintenance functions, as well as its major capital programs.