Collier Area Transit Celebrating 20 Years of Serving Collier County
February 26, 2021
This month, Collier Area Transit (CAT) celebrates 20 years of service in Collier County. On February 26, at 10:00 a.m., a special celebration will be held at CAT’s headquarters at 8300 Radio Road. The theme of CAT’s 20th Anniversary celebration is 20 Years of Movement, which includes a transportation show, displaying various forms of transportation throughout the years, with a chance to win a trophy for the Best of Show. The public is invited to attend.
Collier County’s Deputy County Manager, Dan Rodriguez, will be the Master of Ceremony, with Commissioner Rick LoCastro, District 1, giving opening remarks, an invocation by Pastor Grant Thigpen, and “America the Beautiful” and “The National Anthem” sung by students of Gulf Coast Charter Academy South. Speakers also include Jamie French, Public Services Department Head, Michelle Arnold, Director of Public Transit and Neighborhood Enhancement, and Omar De Leon, Transit Manager.
Collier Area Transit began service in February 2001, with seven trolley-wrapped buses traveling five fixed routes, six days a week. Today, CAT operates18 fixed-routes, one beach route, one express bus route and over 580 bus stops throughout Collier County. CAT has provided over 18.4 million cumulative trips to residents and visitors since 2001. CAT also provides door-to-door service for those with disabilities who are unable to use the fixed-route system through its CAT Connect Paratransit Service.
In 2001, the transit system made daily connections at the Lorenzo Walker Vocational Center as its main transfer station, later moving transfer activities to a parking lot next to the Collier County Museum. Today transfer activities are comfortably conducted at the Intermodal Transfer Station at the Collier County Government Complex with a secondary Transfer Station on Radio Road, which includes a permanent fueling station and a bus wash.
Since its inception, fares have remained low with only two rate increases, in March 2009 and in October 2018, which now includes the cost of the transfer fee. The fare structure includes daily, weekly and monthly passes which allow passengers to ride even more affordably. Route and fare information can be obtained at the transfer stations, on the buses, libraries, employment agencies, government office buildings, hospitals, Naples Chamber of Commerce and various area businesses and shopping centers. Information can also be obtained online at www.rideCAT.com or on the rideCAT app, which is available for contactless fares, by downloading it in the App Store or Google Play Store.
Two or more members of the Collier County Board of County Commissioners and Paratransit Advisory Committee may be present and may participate at the meeting. The subject matter of this meeting may be an item for discussion and action at a future meeting of those boards, councils or agencies.
Collier Area Transit operates in compliance with Federal Transit Administration, (FTA) program requirements and ensures that transit services are made available and equitably distributed, and provides equal access and mobility to any person without regard to race, color, or national origin, disability, genders or age. Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964; FTA Circular 4702.1A, “Title VI and Title VI Dependent Guidelines for Federal Transit Administration Recipients.”
If you are a person with a disability who needs any accommodation to participate in this proceeding, you are entitled, at no cost to you, to the provision of certain assistance. Please contact the Collier County Facilities Management Department located at 3335 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34112, (239) 252-8380 prior to the meeting; assisted listening devices for the hearing impaired are available in the County Commissioners’ Office.
For more information, contact CAT Public Transit Manager, Omar De Leon at (239) 252-5840.
