CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) leadership updated the Transportation Planning and Development Committee on several areas of its operations and staffing challenges and shared details of some more surprise inspections by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
CATS has been doing these progress reports for the last few months with the Transportation, Planning and Development committee and this is a way the agency is being transparent, especially after the fallout from the May 2022 derailment.
Agency leadership also updated the group on how they are handling repairs of its fleet.
“We have now successfully executed an agreement with Siemens to conduct all of the work done necessary and future work necessary on the vehicle trucks,” CATS Interim CEO Brent Cagle said.
Cagle is working to correct issues that could lead to any future derailments like the one in May of 2022 caused by a faulty wheel bearing.
During the meeting, Cagle also noted the investigation of the derailment that happened on May 10, 2023, has been completed. He said it was not due to a mechanical issue or a bearing failure but several smaller contributing factors that caused the wheel to override.
“The track greaser was clogged, the wheel grooved and we also found that the crown of the track or the top of the track had minor wear on it right where this occurred,” Cagle said. “Again, it was not outside of normal operating specifications.”
The agency is now looking into a new derailment -- this one on July 28, 2023.
Officials said the train was not in service and it happened in the maintenance yard. The incident is being investigated, but Cagle said all signs point to human error.
“The operator was bringing the train out of the service bay and was switching tracks; as they were switching tracks, the switchgear was not fully engaged,” he said.
During the meeting, Cagle said NCDOT’s State Safety Oversight team also conducted two unannounced inspections, since June. The team reported that some junction boxes were not properly secured or locked. The lens of several crossing flashing light units needed to be cleaned or replaced to increase visibility.
“The flashing lights that go on and off … the lenses had some dust on them and they needed to be clean, so we cleaned them,” Cagle said. “Of course, all things to keep in mind as we conduct routine regular maintenance but minor items.”
NCDOT also put system-wide speed restrictions of 35 miles per hour on the rail line back in February. During an inspection the agency found the agency to be in compliance.
Cagle also made some management announcements. Gary Lee, who has been serving as the interim rail operations general manager, is now moving into the position permanently.
In a video shared by the city of Charlotte, City Councilman Ed Driggs said the agency is on the right track and the transportation system is safe.
“We have dealt with a lot of the stuff that came to light... some of the stuff will take longer to resolve fully like maintenance issues but we have contracts in place that go out a couple of years to get all of CATS trains serviced but they are working and everything is functioning,” Driggs said.
Another area of focus for the agency is the staffing shortage.
“We have made some aggressive changes to its pay structure across the board,” Cagle said.
The agency has made significant pay increases across the board and is seeing progress.
“We are seeing some very positive signs both in our attrition rate, how well we are able to retain existing employees, and our new hire and recruitment rate,” Cagle said.
Meanwhile, the city is interviewing companies to manage the bus operators. The role is currently contracted to RAPT Dev, but that contract expires in February.
“We put an RFP out earlier this year and proposals have been received," Cagle said. "We received two proposals and neither of which were from RATP Dev but they are from two qualified companies."
Meanwhile, Cagle continues to serve as interim CEO as the agency works to turn things around.
Driggs said with the new management, he expects to continue to see progress across CATS and hopes to rebuild trust with the public.
“I feel really good about CATS right now,” Driggs said. "All of the senior people have been replaced and I think it is fair to say that what happened … happened under the control of those people and the new people are very good and highly qualified."
There were no updates on the search for a new CEO.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.