Penn State is a big school so sometimes it is necessary to find some means of transportation other than using your own two feet and walking. Coming in freshman year I had no idea what CATA was or how to interpret the different bus schedules or routes. In order to not feel overwhelmed, like I of course did, by the multitude of routes that Penn State’s bus system offers, I have compiled a list of the most popular ones and where they take you to.

On Campus

Blue Loop: The blue loop is a popular route with students. It basically just makes a loop around campus, hitting all the major stops, such as East halls, Forum building, the Library, etc. as well as College Ave, making a clockwise loop. If you are trying to get from East to downtown, this is the bus you will take.

White Loop: The white loop is very similar to the blue loop in that it loops around campus, it just goes the opposite way. One other difference between the loops is that rather than stopping on College, the white loop makes stops on Beaver Ave and goes past the football stadium as well as the Bryce Jordan Center. The white loop is very popular among students who want to get from East halls to class, however, to get back from class you would take the blue loop. The white loop makes a counter-clockwise loop around campus.

Red Link: The red link is meant to go back and forth between Innovation Park and campus (for those of you who don’t know, Innovation Park is where Penn State students go when working on research especially in Telecommunications). If you are just catching a red link heading back to campus and want to go say from East halls to the library, then you can certainty catch this bus. Just make sure you get off by the library or else you will be in for a long ride. The red link uses Curtain Road and Park Ave.

Green Link: The green link is similar to the red link in that its main purpose is to go back and forth from Innovation Park, however, the green link travels more so by the football stadium and commuter parking lots.

Off Campus

Vairo Blvd. (V): This is the bus you would take if you wanted to take a trip to Wal-Mart, Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods or Wegmans. The main stop where you can find this bus would be the Allen Street stop downtown. The stop for Wal-Mart is called North Atherton Place. If you want to go to Target, Dick’s Sporting Goods, or Wegmans, you would take this bus all the way to the Colonnade stop.

Nittany Mall (M): Want to take a shopping trip? If the answer is “yes” than this is the bus you will take to the Nittany Mall. While the mall may not be like the ones at home, it does have a Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and Champs that could be useful. You can find this bus as the Patee Transit center westbound (Library) stop or downtown at Schlow Library/CATA office stop.

These are just some of the bus routes that CATA offers. For those off campus routes, there may be a fee of $1.75, so make sure you have that on you! In my opinion, these are the busses that you need to know, however, if there is somewhere else that you need to go, visit CATA’s website to learn more about all the different routes they offer and the exact time schedules.