INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — While Union County commissioners voted earlier in June to end an express bus service offered by the Charlotte Area Transit System between their county and Uptown Charlotte, the route is expected to remain active after leaders at both the county level and within the town Indian Trail now supporting the service, CATS announced Thursday.
Indian Trail's town council voted 5-0 on June 13 to continue funding for the 74X route to Uptown Charlotte. The unanimous vote means Indian Trail will spend about $18,000 to maintain the stop, according to a letter from the town manager. This means residents who use the bus to commute to Charlotte will be able to continue boarding the bus at The Union Towne Center Park & Ride, which is located at 5850 E. Hwy 74 in Indian Trail.
City leaders in Monroe, meanwhile, have yet to make a decision on funding their own 74X stop. If the city council opts to continue funding Monroe's stop, service remains unchanged. However, should funding from Monroe stop, the 74X will terminate in Indian Trail beginning October 2.
Union County commissioners cited decreasing ridership and the cost of running the service during its April 17 meeting. However, the board of commissioners did consider public feedback from upset riders during a more recent meeting on June 19. One resident's feedback said they relied on the 74X daily, and another said the comment they would like to write "wouldn't be very nice". Another rider said using the 64X route, the adjacent express bus with service terminating in Matthews, would be inconvenient as they live 12 miles from that stop, whereas the 74X stop is just two miles away from them.
County commissioners ended up voting in favor of continuing the 74X service to Indian Trail while requesting funding from local jurisdictions within Union County for the service.
"CATS is pleased to continue its partnership with Union County and Indian Trail to provide express service to the region," a CATS spokesperson said Thursday.
In their most recent decision, officials also cited the forthcoming reopening of exclusive bus lanes on US 74 as a benefit of the service. In Feb. 2022, Charlotte city leaders agreed to pay $750,000 to reopen the lanes, which have not been used since 2017. The lanes provide dedicated space for buses and emergency vehicles for approximately six miles: from Uptown Charlotte to Wallace Lane. The lanes were supposed to reopen by the end of 2022 but still remain closed.