Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority

Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority

BARTA bus 0534 in downtown Reading on the Route 16 line
Founded	1973
Headquarters	1700 North 11th Street Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Service area	Berks County, Pennsylvania
Service type	Public Transit
Routes	20
Hubs	BARTA Transportation Center Reading, Pennsylvania
Fleet	50 buses
Daily ridership	14,800 (weekdays, Q3 2024)
Annual ridership	2,276,000 (2023)
Fuel type	Diesel, hybrid diesel electric
Website	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. The South Central Transit Authority owns BARTA and the Red Rose Transit Authority (RRTA). In 2023, the system had a ridership of 2,276,000, or about 14,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.

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. On October 8, 1973, BARTA began bus operations. The BARTA Special Services paratransit service was formed in 1978 when 33 social service agencies in Berks County consolidated their transportation systems. In 1992, BARTA became the first small public transit agency in the United States to use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses. A grant from the Federal Transit Administration in 1993 allowed BARTA to eliminate the pedestrian mall along Penn Street in downtown Reading and reopen the road to traffic. As part of this, Penn Street between 4th and 6th streets was restored and bus shelters and berths were built. The BARTA Transportation Center at 7th and Cherry streets opened in 2002 to serve as a hub for BARTA buses. In 2005, the BARTA Park-N-Transit garage with 350 parking spaces opened at 7th and Franklin streets. The same year, a new logo for BARTA and paint scheme for buses was introduced. The agency also started investing in electric-diesel hybrid buses. 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. The former Reading Railroad Franklin Street Station was refurbished and reopened to bus service on September 9, 2013.

In September 2013, BARTA 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. However, BARTA discontinued its service to Lebanon on January 31, 2014, due to low ridership.

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. David W. Kilmer is currently the executive director. On December 1, 2014, the South Central Transit Authority was formed to oversee BARTA and the Red Rose Transit Authority (RRTA) in Lancaster County.

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.

Route	Line Name	Terminals		Places Served	Notes
1	Temple via Fifth Street	BARTA Transportation Center	Walmart at North Reading Plaza	5th Street, 5th Street Highway, Fairgrounds Square Mall, Penn Plaza, Plaza 222, Muhlenberg Shopping Center, Target, Temple	operates Monday-Sunday
2	Fairgrounds Square Market	BARTA Transportation Center	Fairgrounds Square Market	9th Street/10th Street, Exeter Street, 11th Street, Rockland Street, Kutztown Road, Madison Avenue, 5th Street Highway, Fairgrounds Square Mall	operates Friday-Saturday
3	Temple via Kutztown Road	BARTA Transportation Center	Walmart at North Reading Plaza	8th Street/9th Street, Kutztown Road, Temple	operates Monday-Saturday
4	10th-11th Streets	BARTA Transportation Center	10th and Exeter streets	Penn Street, 11th Street, Rockland Plaza, 10th Street	operates Monday-Sunday
5	Albright College via 12th-13th Streets	BARTA Transportation Center	Reservoir Road and Hampden Boulevard	12th Street/13th Street, Reading Senior High School, Weis Market, Albright College, Hampden Boulevard	operates Monday-Saturday
7	Pennside	BARTA Transportation Center	Stony Creek Towne Houses	Penn Street, Perkiomen Avenue, 23rd Street, Carsonia Avenue, Hollywood Court Apartments, Pennside, Butter Lane	operates Monday-Saturday
8	Reiffton/Shelbourne Square/Birdsboro	BARTA Transportation Center	Walmart at Exeter Square or Birdsboro	Penn Street, Perkiomen Avenue, Reiffton, Boscov's at Reading Mall, Exeter Commons, U.S. Route 422, Redner's at Shelbourne Square Park and Ride, Walmart at Exeter Square, Lincoln Road	operates Monday-Sunday, limited weekday service to Birdsboro
9	Grill via Kenhorst	BARTA Transportation Center	Redner's at Kenhorst Plaza	4th Street, South Reading, KVP Factory, Alvernia University, Sencit Towne House Apartments, Kenhorst, Grill	operates Monday-Saturday
10	Brookline	BARTA Transportation Center	East Wyomissing Boulevard and Margaret Street	4th Street/6th Street, South Reading, Lancaster Avenue, Brookline Plaza, Hancock Boulevard	operates Monday-Sunday
11	Mohnton via Shillington	BARTA Transportation Center	Main and Church streets in Mohnton	4th Street, South Reading, Lancaster Avenue, Shillington Shopping Center, Shillington, Ollie's Bargain Outlet/Fulton Bank, Wyomissing Avenue	operates Monday-Saturday
12	Lincoln Park via Reading Hospital	BARTA Transportation Center	Berkshire Hills	Penn Street, Penn Avenue, West Reading, Reading Hospital, Reading Boulevard, The Highlands at Wyomissing, Lincoln Plaza Shopping Center, Spring Towne Center	operates Monday-Saturday
14	Wernersville via Sinking Spring	BARTA Transportation Center	Wernersville State Hospital or McDonald's Park and Ride in Womelsdorf	Penn Street, Penn Avenue, West Reading, Sinking Spring, Redner's at Sinking Spring Plaza, U.S. Route 422, Phoebe Berks Village, Wernersville	operates Monday-Saturday, limited service to Womelsdorf
15	Berkshire Mall	BARTA Transportation Center	Walmart at Berkshire Square or Giant on State Hill Road	Penn Street, Penn Avenue, West Reading, State Hill Road, Berkshire Mall, Walmart at Berkshire Square	operates Monday-Sunday, most Sunday service terminates at Walmart at Berkshire Square
16	Broadcasting Square	BARTA Transportation Center	Target at Broadcasting Square	Penn Street, Penn Avenue, West Reading, Park Road, Penn State Berks	operates Monday-Sunday
17	Glenside/Airport/Berks Heim	BARTA Transportation Center	Penn State Health St. Joseph or Berks Heim	Schuylkill Avenue, Bernville Road, Reading Regional Airport, MacArthur Road	operates Monday-Saturday, limited service to Berks Heim
18	Schuylkill Avenue	BARTA Transportation Center	Windsor Street and Schuylkill Avenue or Penn State Health St. Joseph	Downtown Reading, Penn Street, Front Street, Windsor Street, Schuylkill Avenue	operates Monday-Sunday, limited evening service to Penn State Health St. Joseph
19	Riverside/FirstEnergy Stadium/Cotton Street	19th and Cotton streets	FirstEnergy Stadium Park and Ride	Cotton Street/Perkiomen Avenue, Downtown Reading, BARTA Transportation Center, 6th Street/8th Street, PriceRite, Spring Street, Riverside School, Centre Avenue	operates Monday-Sunday, no Sunday service between BARTA Transportation Center and FirstEnergy Stadium
20	Route 61/Hamburg	BARTA Transportation Center	Cabela's	Centre Avenue, Pennsylvania Route 61, Redner's Leesport Park and Ride, Leesport, Shoemakersville, Redner's Hamburg Park and Ride, Hamburg	operates Monday-Saturday
22	Lyon Station/East Penn-Deka	BARTA Transportation Center	East Penn Manufacturing Company-Deka in Lyons	8th Street/9th Street, Kutztown Road, U.S. Route 222 Business, Park Road, Blandon, Fleetwood, Fleetwood-Lyons Road	operates Monday-Friday

Fares

The base cash fare to ride on BARTA buses is $1.70. Certain routes have an additional zone fare of $0.25 for travel outside the base zone. Transfers from one route to another are available for $0.25 and must be used within two hours of being issued. Students in grades 1-12 may ride for $1.20 with a Student ID card. Medicare Card holders and disabled people with proper ID may ride BARTA for $0.85. Senior citizens may ride BARTA for free with proper ID. Up to three children age 5 and under may ride for free with a fare-paying adult.

BARTA offers various discount fares and passes for riders. Ten Trip Tickets provide ten bus trips and cost $17.30 for Adult Anywhere and $11.00 for Student Anywhere. The One Day Pass provides unlimited rides in a single day and costs $3.00 if purchased in advance and $4.00 if purchased on board the bus. The 31 Day Pass provides unlimited rides in a 31-day period and costs $47.00 for Adult Anywhere and $29.00 for Student Anywhere. The 31 Day Park-N-Ride Pass is valid for rides in a 31-day period to and from park and ride lots only and costs $31.00.

Transit facilities

BARTA Transportation Center

The BARTA Transportation Center is located at 7th and Cherry streets in Downtown Reading and is where all BARTA bus routes connect. The transportation center has an enclosed waiting area, restrooms, customer service office, a break area for bus drivers, a community police station, and a 101-space parking garage. The BARTA Transportation Center has ten berths that the buses stop at and announces arriving and departing buses over the PA system and through information displays in the waiting and loading areas.

Franklin Street Station

Main article: Reading Franklin Street Terminal

The Reading Franklin Street train terminal was converted to a bus terminal in 2013. Buses enter from Cherry Street.

The former Reading Railroad Franklin Street Station was refurbished and also has bus service. The station has a waiting area for passengers, customer service area, transportation museum, and space for passenger amenities. The station is intended to be used for future express and long-distance bus services.

Park and ride locations

BARTA operates five park and ride lots across Berks County:

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

BARTA's fleet

BARTA's fleet consists of 50 buses, consisting primarily of hybrid electric buses, which include Gillig BRT hybrids and Gillig Low Floor Plus hybrids. BARTA's fixed 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, 08 and 09 Gillig BRTs with Cummins ISL. The first 2 digits of the bus numbers indicate the year the bus was ordered. All of BARTA's buses from 2010 and earlier, which have been retired, were equipped with Allison. All the buses have Bendix air brakes. As of 2009, BARTA has received Gillig BRT hybrids with Cummins ISB, Cummins ISB6.7 and Cummins B6.7 engines. In 2009 and 2010, BARTA received 9 Gillig BRT hybrids with the Allison EP-40 hybrid drive system. As of 2015, BARTA has received additional Gillig BRT hybrids, which are series hybrids equipped with BAE Systems HybriDrive Series-E. Fewer passengers have been riding the bus due to COVID-19 so there are fewer active buses in the fleet.

Current fleet

Fleet Number(s)	Year	Manufacturer	Model	Engine	Transmission	Notes
1542-1544	2015	Gillig	BRT HEV 40'	Cummins ISB6.7	BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
1605–1608	2016				BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
1801–1805	2018		BRT HEV 35'	Cummins B6.7	BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
1806–1807	2018		BRT HEV 40'		BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
1808–1812	2018		BRT HEV 35'		BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
1901–1905	2019				BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
1912–1918	2019				BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
2001–2002	2020		BRT HEV 40'		BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
2003–2006	2020		BRT HEV 35'		BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
2104-2107	2021		Low Floor Plus HEV 35'		BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
2201-2205	2022		Low Floor Plus HEV 40'		BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system
2301-2304	2023				BAE HybriDrive Series-E hybrid system

Paratransit

The BARTA Special Services Division provides Shared Ride bus service offering consolidated trips between customers’ origins and destinations that are not well served by fixed route bus service. Often referred to as “Paratransit,” Shared Ride operates during limited hours and specific travel areas.

External links

• BARTAs official website
• BARTA photo gallery