All CATA buses are being treated with a disinfectant coating, PermaSafe, that kills germs and is designed to be long-lasting.
“We are trying to assure the safety of all our drivers and passengers,” CATA General Manager Tim Geibel said.
The goal, he said, was to coat all 30 of the Venango County buses on Friday.
John Baughman, the CATA division manager who oversees the buses in Venango County, said up to this point CATA has implemented “comprehensive cleaning” practices, which will continue after the new disinfectant treatment is applied.
Dustin Horchen, of Perma-Serv, said coating the buses is a two-step process.
The treatment coats surfaces with microscopic “spikes” that rupture the cell walls of microbes while also electrocuting the microbes and thus killing the germs, Horchen said.
The coating, Horchen said, is nontoxic and guaranteed for seven years, though it lasts indefinitely.
