Charlotte Area Transit System


The Charlotte Area Transit System is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Charlotte metropolitan area. CATS operates bus and rail transit services in Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas. Established in 1999, CATS' bus and rail operations carry about 320,000 riders on an average week. CATS is governed by the Metropolitan Transit Commission and is operated as a department of the City of Charlotte.

History

Origins

Prior to 1976, public transportation in Charlotte was entirely privatized. Trolleys operated in the city from 1891 until 1938. Privately operated bus routes also ran in Charlotte until 1976.
In 1976, the City of Charlotte began operating bus routes under the Charlotte Transit brand, which operated from 1976 until CATS' founding in 2000. Charlotte Transit operated almost entirely local bus routes, with the exception of two express routes. As the Charlotte metro area's population grew rapidly, the bus service operated by Charlotte Transit proved to be inadequate. In 1998, a Mecklenburg County referendum was approved by citizens that enacted a 0.5% sales tax increase to improve public transportation in the area. The Metropolitan Transit Commission was created as a result of the vote, leading to the consolidation of Charlotte Transit and the MTC in 2000 as the Charlotte Area Transit System, creating CATS as it is today.

2000-2006: Early Years

After the founding of CATS, more express routes were added to the edges of Mecklenburg County and local bus service was expanded, especially to the fast-growing southern areas of Charlotte. Some commuter/express routes were also initiated outside Mecklenburg County. CATS also expanded bus infrastructure throughout the area during this period. In 2005, CATS built three community transit bus centers to supplement the central Charlotte Transportation Center in Uptown Charlotte. The centers were built in SouthPark, Eastland, and at Rosa Parks Place in the Wilson Heights neighborhood north of Uptown. As a result of CATS' expansion during its' early years, transit ridership in the Charlotte metropolitan area increased 55 percent, largely due to the expansion of express bus services.

2006-2015: The Advent of Rail

CATS chief Ron Tober began the planning process for what would become the LYNX Blue Line in the early 2000s. Under Tober's leadership, the MTC adopted the 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan in 2006. The initial plan called for the "Red Line" commuter rail with service to Northern Mecklenburg County, the LYNX Blue Line, the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar, and a busway along the route of what is now planned to be the LYNX Silver Line. In 2007, the initial portion of the Blue Line opened, connecting the Uptown, South End, Scaleybark, Tyvola, and Arrowood neighborhoods. The initial phase of the Blue Line spurred an explosion of development along the rail corridor, particularly in South End. Shortly after the Blue Line opened, CEO Ron Tober, who had led CATS since its inception, retired.
After Tober's departure, CATS hired Carolyn Flowers, who had previously headed the bus system in Los Angeles County. During Flowers' tenure, the transit system pushed ahead with the CityLYNX Gold Line and LYNX Blue Line extension projects in the wake of the Great Recession. In 2014, Flowers resigned to take a Federal Transit Administration position. John M. Lewis Jr. was then hired as the new head of the transit system.
After the success of the LYNX Blue Line, CATS reversed course on its initial plans to expand bus service to Matthews and the airport, instead planning for a second light rail line, the LYNX Silver Line, that would travel southeast to Matthews and west to Charlotte Douglas International Airport and across the Catawba River to Belmont.

2015-Present: Further Expansion

In 2015, the first phase of the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar opened. The initial line connected the Charlotte Transportation Center in Uptown to Hawthorne Lane and 5th Street, through the First Ward and Cherry neighborhoods. The first phase of the Gold Line utilized retro trolley streetcars, while future phases will incorporate Siemens S70 streetcar vehicles. The second phase of the Gold Line, construction of which is expected to wrap up in late 2020 or early 2021, will extend the existing line to Sunnyside Avenue in Plaza-Midwood and French Street by Johnson C. Smith University. In 2018, the Blue Line extension opened, connecting the existing Blue Line to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, connecting the University City, NoDa, Optimist Park, Plaza-Midwood, and Belmont neighborhoods. The Red Line project, an integral piece of the 2030 System Plan, has run into significant headwinds due to disagreements with Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks the Red Line was planned to operate on, and funding concerns.
CATS is currently in the planning and design stages for the LYNX Silver Line, a multibillion-dollar east-west light rail line that will run from Matthews through Uptown Charlotte and west to Charlotte Douglas International Airport and potentially across the Catawba River to Belmont. The line, projected to open in 2030, will connect to the Blue Line at 11th Street and the future intermodal Charlotte Gateway Station.

Bus

CATS bus service primarily serves Mecklenburg County, with service in Charlotte, Davidson, Huntersville, Cornelius, Matthews, Pineville, and Mint Hill. Limited local and express service operated by CATS also extends to Iredell County, Gaston County, Union County, and York County, South Carolina.
CATS operates local routes within the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, with the majority of those multiple-stop routes serving the Charlotte Transportation Center in Uptown. Other routes that do not serve Uptown mainly connect directly between LYNX rail stations and outlying neighborhoods. Three community transit centers in different parts of the city were built in the mid-2000s: the Eastland Community Transit Center in East Charlotte located near the now-closed Eastland Mall, the SouthPark Community Transit Center in South Charlotte located inside the parking garage of SouthPark Mall, and the Rosa Parks Place Community Transit Center in North Charlotte located near Johnson C. Smith University.
Express buses in the CATS system serve Union County, far northern Mecklenburg County, the Lake Norman area, Gastonia, and Rock Hill, South Carolina.
CATS also operates the Special Transportation Service which provides transportation to people with disabilities certified as eligible based on the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. STS provides service during the same times and in the same locations as the fixed route bus service.
During a typical week, CATS buses carry about 190,000 riders.

Active fleet

CATS operates with a fleet of 323 buses on 73 bus routes.
ImageBuilder and
model name		Fleet Series LengthEngine sourceNotes
MCI
D4000		501-510 Diesel
  • Express Route Only Coach
MCID4500CT1501-1502
1503-1511 		Diesel
  • Express Route Only Coach
GilligBRT 961–968
400-410
1001-1020
1021-1043
1044-1071
1072-1073
1074-1083
1087-1094 		Diesel
Gillig
BRT HEV 		2501–2502 Diesel-Electric Hybrid
  • First hybrid buses added to fleet.
GilligBRT HEV 2901-2905
2111-2116
2117-2120
1084-1086
2121-2128 		Diesel-Electric Hybrid
  • The 2901-2905 buses were assigned to airport "Sprinter" service.
GilligBRT Plus1088-1096
2129-2144 		Diesel
Gillig
BRT 29' 		630-636
637-655
656-658
659-665
667-669 		Diesel
  • These buses operate on community shuttles and low-ridership routes.
GilligBRT HEV 29' 670-675
2670-2680
676-680 		Diesel-Electric Hybrid
  • These buses operate on community shuttles and low-ridership routes.

Rail

LYNX Blue Line

On February 22, 2006, the Charlotte Area Transit System announced that its rapid rail lines will be developed under the "LYNX" system umbrella. The name fits in with the city's cat theme ; also, "Lynx" is a homophone of "links", and was mainly chosen because the light rail is about "connectivity."
The rapid rail cars are :File:LYNX Car 104 at TremontStation.jpg|black, silver and blue. Gold will appear around the "Lynx" logo to tie in the history of the Charlotte region being home to the first major U.S. Gold Rush.
The original light rail system used 16 Siemens S70 train cars acquired for $50 million. In 2012, after 4 years of operation, the trains had to be repaired at the Siemens facility in California for an estimated cost of $400,000 each. The system is the only light rail system in the two Carolinas.
On November 24, 2007 the LYNX Blue Line opened. It runs 9.6 miles between Uptown Charlotte and stops short of Pineville, using a railroad right-of-way largely paralleling South Boulevard. The line has 15 stations. The line runs from its northern terminus in Uptown before traversing South End and traveling along South Boulevard to its southern terminus just north of Interstate 485 at the Pineville city limits. It became the first major rapid rail service of any kind in North Carolina, and began operating seventy years after a previous Charlotte streetcar system was disbanded in 1938, in favor of motorized bus transit.
A extension of the present segment, originally referred to as the "Northeast Corridor", added 11 stations between Uptown and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Originally, completion of the extension was estimated to cost $1.12 billion, including an additional of track and two stations north of UNC Charlotte, ending at I-485 just south of Cabarrus County. However, due to the effects of the late 2000s – early 2010s recession, CATS voted to shorten the line and reduce the cost to $977 million.
The extension was originally intended to carry an estimated 24,500 weekday boardings by 2035 and serves four park and ride stations. City transportation and planning officials have predicted the new line could lead to the construction of 10,000 new housing units, as well as the development of nearly 4 million square feet of offices and 1.3 million square feet of retail space. On July 18, 2013, the official groundbreaking took place near the 9th Street Station, with the mayor of Charlotte Patsy Kinsey, N.C. Governor Pat McCrory and other officials in attendance. The extension opened on March 16, 2018.
The Blue Line carries around 26,000-28,000 riders on an average weekday.

CityLYNX Gold Line

The CityLYNX Gold Line is a 9.9-mile modern streetcar route currently in development that, when completed, will run from Rosa Parks Place Community Transit Center through Uptown Charlotte and down Central Avenue, terminating at Eastland Community Transit Center. A Federal Urban Circulator Grant was awarded in July 2010, allowing construction of phase 1.
A streetcar line, the first segment of the CityLYNX Gold Line, commenced service on July 14, 2015. This section runs from the Charlotte Transportation Center / Arena station to Hawthorne Lane & 5th Street. The initial phase utilizes retro Birney trolley cars.
Phase 2 is scheduled to open in late 2020 and will extend service to French Street in Biddleville and Sunnyside Avenue. Once phase 2 is completed, the trolley cars will be replaced with Siemens S70 streetcar vehicles. Phase 3, which would extend service to Rose Parks Place Community Transit Center and Eastland Community Transit Center, is still in the planning stages.

Future service

Future expansion includes plans for light rail, streetcars and bus rapid transit along the corridors in the 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan adopted in 2006 by Metropolitan Transit Commission.
On May 6, 2013, a 30-member transit funding task force released a draft report in which they estimated it would cost $3.3 billion to build the remaining transit corridors, and $1.7 billion to operate and maintain the lines through 2024. To fund the build-out by sales taxes alone would require a 0.78 cent increase in the sales tax, which would need to be approved by the state General Assembly. The committee recommended any sales tax increase be limited to 0.5 cent and other methods used to raise funds; some suggested methods included:
Although build-out of the entire system has been estimated for completion by 2030, by July 2015, the Charlotte Area Transit System reported it lacked the funds to support any future transit projects apart from the already budgeted 2.5-mile long Phase 2 segment of the CityLYNX Gold Line.

Under construction

CityLYNX Gold Line Extension

Two further segments of the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar line, totaling, have been planned. Phase 2 will incorporate the use of 6 new Siemens S70 hybrid streetcars for $40 million and will replace the green and yellow Gomaco replica vehicles used during Phase 1. The CityLYNX Gold Line Phase 2 project began construction in January 2017 with revenue service beginning in January 2021.
When complete, the line will connect the University Park area of west Charlotte with Eastway Park area in east Charlotte by way of Uptown Charlotte, in a primarily east-west direction. Proposals call for its completion by 2023. CATS estimates that the completed route will have an average daily ridership of between 14,200 and 16,700 passengers by 2030. Groundbreaking for the initial 1.5-mile segment took place on December 12, 2012 in front of Presbyterian Hospital, with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Mayor Foxx and other officials in attendance. The initial 1.5 mile segment between Time Warner Cable Arena and Presbyterian Hospital opened on July 14, 2015. A further 2.5 mile segment from the Charlotte Transportation Center/TWC Arena to French Street, and from Presbyterian Hospital to Hawthorne Lane has received funding. Construction of this segment is scheduled to begin by 2016, and to be open by late 2019. The third and final phase between Hawthorne Lane and Eastland CTC, and from French Street to Rosa Parks CTC, is scheduled for completion by 2023 at a cost of $231 million.

Proposed

Silver Line

The Silver Line is a proposed rapid transit corridor to be operated as bus rapid transit between the CPCC Levine Campus in Matthews and the proposed Gateway Station in Uptown Charlotte. Proposals call for it to be complete through Idlewild Road by 2022, Sardis Road North by 2024 and finally to CPCC Levine by 2026. As aligned, the completed line will have 16 stations and be completed at an estimated cost of $582 million. By October 2012, the MTC had decided in favor of a busway on interior lanes of the highway. In May 2013, however, a 30-member funding task force suggested a light rail line for the proposed route, at an estimated cost of $1.7 billion. So far, no definite plans to begin construction have been made.

West Corridor

The West Corridor is a proposed streetcar line, connecting Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in west Charlotte with Uptown Charlotte. Proposals call for completion by 2034. With a completion date over two decades away, in 2008 CATS announced enhanced bus service along this corridor to serve as a placeholder until the line can be constructed. Called Sprinter, the service began in September 2009 and features fewer stops and timing similar to that of the future streetcar route.

Postponed

Red Line

The Red Line was a proposed commuter rail line. To be constructed along existing Norfolk Southern tracks, the line was intended to provide service to the towns of Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson in northern Mecklenburg County. The line was to be serviced by diesel multiple unit trains, and the southern terminus was the proposed Gateway Station in Uptown Charlotte. On October 17, 2012, the N.C. DOT, the Red Line Task Force, and CATS requested Norfolk Southern to conduct a study of the Red Line concept. As the Red Line would have utilized the NS O-Line between Charlotte and Mooresville, the study intended to determine if and how both freight and passenger services could use the same line while allowing normal freight services to continue. At a meeting of the task force on October 24, it was estimated the study could be initiated by late January 2013 and completed by early 2014, after which further feasibility studies and projections could be made. On June 25, 2014, following the completion and release of the feasibility study, CATS officials said the Red Line would be too costly and complicated to build. Several reasons were provided, including:
Despite the negative assessments of the feasibility study, the Metropolitan Transit Commission, including the Red Line task force, has not taken any official steps to disband the project.
In July 2018, CATS suggested alternatives if the project was still not feasible. This was a series of meetings and surveys to get the opinion of the public about the line. In January 2019, CATS said that either a light rail or a commuter rail would be too expensive.
CATS, alternatively would run buses along the I-77 Express Lanes.

Former service

Charlotte Trolley

91 Charlotte Trolley operated within Uptown Charlotte from August 30, 1996 to June 28, 2010. The heritage trolley used vintage replica trolleys, serving 11 stations from Atherton Mill to 9th Street. Its operation was shared between the City of Charlotte and Charlotte Trolley Inc., a non-profit organization. The successes of the trolley led to the LYNX Blue Line light rail along the same right-of-way.

Ridership data

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