PA: Berks Nature officials hoping new bus service will increase park visitors

Berks Nature officials are hopeful a change in a BARTA bus service will encourage more visitors to the center at Angelica Creek Park.

A series of BARTA route adjustments that became effective Monday included adding Monday through Saturday bus service from Reading to Berks Nature and back to the BARTA Transportation Center, 701 Franklin St.

Officials said the new service makes it easier for people to get to the center and enjoy the mental and physical benefits of the park in the southwest portion of the city.

“The entire community deserves access to nature and this beautiful public park,” Tami Shimp, Berks Nature president, said in a release. “We are proud to partner with BARTA to provide public transportation to The Nature Place, the city of Reading’s park, and all of Berks Nature’s environmental education programs.”

According to the Berks County Community Needs Health Assessment of 2013, Berks County is trending higher in obesity rates than the average for Pennsylvania and the U.S., officials said in a release.

They noted Berks has a higher percentage of physical inactivity (24.9%) than the state.

Officials said children are especially vulnerable to this, and that this new normal is taking a toll on the health of the community.

“Unfortunately, in today’s world, the average American child is spending just 1% of their time participating in unstructured free play outdoors,” officials said. “While a national statistic, we collected local data through surveying 587 youth from the city of Reading only to find similar results: 38% of the children surveyed indicated that they spend less than 1 hour outside on a daily basis and sadly 13% of this group spend zero time outside.

“The trend of screen time and generally not spending time outdoors is alarming and needs attention in this community for the health of our residents and the environment.”

For more information about BARTA’s service to Berks Nature, go to bit.ly/BARTARoute9grill

For more information about Berks Nature, go to berksnature.org.

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