Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority

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Berks Area Regional
Transportation Authority
BARTA logo.png
Reading BARTA bus.jpg
BARTA bus in downtown Reading.
Slogan More than a ride!
Founded 1973[1]
Headquarters Reading, Pennsylvania
Service area Berks County, Pennsylvania
Service type public transit
Hubs BARTA Transportation Center
Reading, Pennsylvania
Fleet 53 buses
Fuel type Diesel, diesel electric
Website www.bartabus.com

Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA), previously Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority, is a public transportation system serving the city of Reading and its surrounding area of Berks County, Pennsylvania. Dennis D. Louwerse, the long-time executive director/CEO at BARTA, died on Thursday, September 5, 2013 at the age of 68. He became the executive director at BARTA in 1983, and he was the executive director for 30 years until his death in 2013. David W. Kilmer is currently the executive director at BARTA and Red Rose Transit Authority.[2]

History

BARTA was created with the cooperation of the Berks County and the City of Reading in 1973 to purchase the failing Reading Bus Company. In 2010, BARTA became a county authority, overseen by the County of Berks, reflecting its focus on regionalism instead of centralism on the city of Reading.[3]

BARTA Transportation Center

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The BARTA Transportation Center opened in 2002, and is located at 7th and Cherry Streets, in Downtown Reading. The transit center is where most routes (except route 6) connect. The former Reading Railroad Franklin Street Station was refurbished and reopened to bus service on September 9, 2013.[3]

BARTA's fleet

BARTA's fleet consists of 53 buses with a fleet age as old as 2004. BARTA was mostly a fleet of buses powered by Detroit Diesel engines until the production of the Detroit Diesel Series 50 was cut in late 2004. Then BARTA ordered their 05, 07 and 08 Gillig BRTs with Cummins ISL. The first 2 digits of the bus numbers indicate the year the bus was ordered. Even in the 2000s and 2010s. The fleet consists of both 35 foot buses and 40 foot buses. All of BARTA's buses from 2010 and earlier are equipped with Allison Transmissions, and all of them have Bendix air brakes. As of 2009, BARTA has received 40 foot Gillig BRT hybrid electric buses, which use the Cummins ISB engine. In 2009 and 2010, BARTA received 9 Gillig BRT hybrids with the Allison EP-40 hybrid drive system. In 2015, BARTA received 3 E-Drive Hybrid buses, which are series hybrids equipped with BAE Systems HybriDrive Series-E.

Current fleet

  • 2004: 5 35-foot Optima Opus's powered by Cummins ISB (0406-0410) and 2 40-foot Gillig Low Floors powered by Detroit Diesel Series 50 (0431-0432)
  • 2005: 17 35-foot Gillig BRTs powered by Cummins ISL (0533-0549)
  • 2007: 7 35-foot Gillig BRTs powered by Cummins ISL (0750-0756)
  • 2008: 6 35-foot Gillig BRTs (0857-0862) and 2 40-foot Gillig BRTs (0881-0882) Powered by Cummins ISL
  • 2009: 2 40-foot Gillig BRTs powered by Cummins ISL (0983-0984) and 5 40-foot Gillig BRT hybrids powered by Cummins ISB (0991-0995)
  • 2010: 4 40-foot Gillig BRT hybrids powered by Cummins ISB (1096-1099)
  • 2015: 3 40 foot Gillig BRT E-Drive Hybrids powered by Cummins ISB (1542-1544)
  • 2016: BARTA is scheduled to receive 4 additional 40 foot E-Drive Hybrid buses from the Gillig Corporation.

Paratransit fleet

BARTA's paratransit fleet consists of 51 vehicles with a fleet age as old as 2011. The fleet consists primarily of Ford E-450 cutaway van chassis while most of the vehicles have bodies manufactured by Shepard Bros. Inc. and Coach & Equipment Mfg. Corp. In 2012, BARTA received 5 hybrid electric vehicles equipped with a VTM Ultra Capacitor Hybrid Propulsion System. In 2013, BARTA received 2 electric vehicles, which are Ford E-450 cutaways that were originally powered by Ford 6.8L V10 gasoline engines. Then, Amp Electric Vehicles converted them to all-electric vehicles with wireless charging systems from the Momentum Dynamics Corporation. In 2014, BARTA received 7 additional hybrids equipped with a VTM Ultra Capacitor Hybrid Propulsion System. As of 2014, BARTA has been buying paratransit vehicles for the Easton Coach Company. This includes Ford E-450 cutaways with bodies manufactured by Champion Bus Incorporated and a few raised-roof paratransit vans.

Current fleet

  • 2011: 25 Ford E-450 cutaways powered by Ford 6.8L V10, gas (1101-1119, 1131-1136)
  • 2012: 5 Ford E-450 hybrids equipped with VTM Ultra Capacitor Hybrid Propulsion System (1237-1241)
  • 2013: 2 Ford E-450/Amp electric vehicle conversions with wireless charging (1301-1302)
  • 2014: 7 Ford E-450 hybrids equipped with VTM Ultra Capacitor Hybrid Propulsion System (1410-1416); 3 Ford E-350 Raised Roof Paratransit Vans (1401-1403) and 6 Ford E-450/Champion Challengers (1404-1409) Operated by Easton Coach
  • 2015: 3 Ford E-450/Champion Challengers (1517-1519) Operated by Easton Coach
  • 2016: BARTA is scheduled to receive 6 new paratransit vehicles from Rohrer Bus Sales.

Current Routes

BARTA operates most of its present route network on a hub and spoke type system, in which most passengers transfer between routes at a central location, the BARTA Transportation Center.

  • 1- Temple via Fifth Street
  • 2- Fairgrounds Square Market
  • 3- Temple via Kutztown Road
  • 4- 10th-11th Streets
  • 5- Albright College via 12th-13th Streets
  • 6- Spring Street/Berkshire Heights
  • 7- Pennside
  • 8- Reiffton/Shelbourne Square/Birdsboro
  • 9- Grill via Kenhorst
  • 10- Brookline
  • 11- Mohnton via Shillington
  • 12- Lincoln Park via Reading Hospital
  • 14- Wernersville via Sinking Spring
  • 15- Berkshire Mall
  • 16- Broadcasting Square
  • 17- Glenside/Airport/Berks Heim
  • 18- Schuylkill Avenue
  • 19- Riverside/FirstEnergy Stadium/Cotton Street
  • 20- Route 61/Hamburg
  • 21- Morgantown Express
  • 22- Lyon Station/East Penn-Deka

Cooperation with other agencies

As of September 9, 2013, BARTA has expanded its service on a trial basis to Lebanon with connecting service on Lebanon Transit to Harrisburg. This service replaced previously abandoned coach service operated by Bieber Tourways, on July 1, 2013.[4]

BARTA discontinued its service to Lebanon on January 31, 2014 due to low ridership.

Park and Ride Locations

References

  1. About Barta. BARTA. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  2. David W. Kilmer Faces in the News
  3. 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. BARTA Express Reading Lebanon Harrisburg

External links