Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority

Berks Area Regional
Transportation Authority

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	107 vehicles
Fuel type	Diesel, hybrid diesel electric, gasoline
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

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 107 vehicles. This includes 53 transit buses and 54 paratransit vehicles. BARTA's fixted route fleet was mostly 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.

BARTA's paratransit fleet consists primarily of Ford E-450 cutaway van chassis with bodies manufactured by Shepard Bros. Inc. and Coach & Equipment Mfg. Corp. as well as Champion Bus Incorporated. The fleet includes gasoline-powered vehicles as well as hybrid electric vehicles equipped with a VTM Ultra Capacitor Hybrid Propulsion System. As of 2014, BARTA has been buying new paratransit vehicles for the Easton Coach Company. This includes Champion Challenger buses with Ford E-450 chassis and a few raised-roof paratransit vans.

Current fleet

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

• FirstEnergy Stadium (Route 19)
• Hamburg (Route 20)
• Leesport (Route 20)
• Shelbourne Square (Exeter Township) (Route 8)
• Womelsdorf (Route 14)

References

External links

• BARTAs official website
• BARTA photo gallery

Mass transit in the Delaware Valley Transit buses SEPTA Philadelphia Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties Pottstown Pottstown Area Rapid Transit Reading Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority New Jersey Transit Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County suburban service Camden, Gloucester, and Salem County local service Atlantic and Cape May County local service Long-distance local routes from Philadelphia Long-distance routes from Atlantic City DART First State Kent County New Castle County Commuter rail SEPTA Regional Rail Airport Line Chestnut Hill East Line Chestnut Hill West Line Cynwyd Line Fox Chase Line Lansdale/Doylestown Line Manayunk/Norristown Line Media/Elwyn Line Paoli/Thorndale Line Trenton Line Warminster Line West Trenton Line Wilmington/Newark Line New Jersey Transit Atlantic City Line Rapid transit and light rail SEPTA Broad Street Line Market–Frankford Line Norristown High Speed Line Subway–Surface trolleys Route 15 Routes 101 and 102 Delaware River Port Authority PATCO Speedline New Jersey Transit River Line Proposed Schuylkill Valley Metro (cancelled) Greenline (cancelled) Glassboro–Camden Line Camden-Philadelphia BRT