Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) History - Ithaca, New York
Gary Cremeens
Sustainable Transportation (TDM) | Electric Vehicles (EV) | Branding | Technologist & Social Media
Currently, TCAT's system is run by a not-for-profit, which is quite different from other transit organizations areas across the country.
TCAT operates as an independent organization; the City of Ithaca in New York, Tompkins County, and Cornell University are at the very root of the history as TCAT was born from the consolidation of:
Ithaca Transit, which was started by the City of Ithaca in 1962 as a municipal bus system.
TOMTRAN, which was started by Tompkins County, NY in 1981 as a rural transit system to maintain access to rural-based labor forces in Tompkins and, via a contract with Tioga Transport, also in Tioga County.
CU Transit was started by Cornell University in 1966 as a campus shuttle bus system.
“Consolidation began in 1989. First, we built the facility on Willow Avenue, Ithaca, NY,” said Dwight Mengel, former Chief Transportation Planner for Tompkins County. “The initiative came from Bill Wendt, then the Director of Transportation and Mail Services at Cornell University in Ithaca," Mengel elaborated.
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In 1998, the City, County, and Cornell adopted a consolidation agreement. TCAT implemented a single route system and fare structure that went into effect in August 1999. TCAT was incorporated and began operations on Jan. 1, 2005, as a private, not‑for‑profit corporation and as a single employer providing public transportation services in Tompkins County and surrounding areas.
There is a great amount of history to learn about this organization, I encourage you to review the following websites and minutes from legislative sessions.
If you are interested in federal policy and legislation, I encourage you to check out the Association for Commuter Transportation and join the Center for Urban Transportation (CUTR) Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Listserve.
In my opinion, several shifts will make a major impact, not just with TCAT but transportation as a whole. The transportation industry is catching up with technology, and I believe there will be paradigm shifts in the "Daily Choice" on how people commute over the next 5-7 years. In my opinion, organizations that don't adapt or have a more agile organization might become a dinosaur, regardless of the political climate.