CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Having a bus system that people can count on is important in a fast-growing city like Charlotte. Because of this, the city has implemented various initiatives to look at the overall reliability of public transportation and improve travel times.
Whether looking at data for rail or bus users, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is seeing more people choose public transportation.
Recently, there’s been a big focus on improving reliability and expanding access when it comes to buses in the Queen City and the new bus operators' management team said this will continue to be a priority.
“For National Express our philosophy is to engage, educate and empower staff,” Seyi Osiyemi with National Express Transit said.
The company hired to oversee CATS bus drivers is jumping right into work. During the Transportation, Planning, and Development committee meeting Monday, Osiyemi talked about the importance of streamlining responsibility to make its transition more smooth.
“We believe that when the organization is effective that is the only way we can better deliver on our responsibilities, in terms of achieving on-time performance, reducing the number of breakdowns of buses and providing better service delivery," Osiyemi said.
Meanwhile, CATS is seeing positive ridership trends according to its latest report to the Metropolitan Transit Commission. The highlights note Express routes were up 14.4%, Regional Express routes increased by 11.8% and Local routes saw an uptick of 4.5%.
While people depend on the bus to get around some routes need work.
“I continue to hear from constituents in terms of the inefficiency of the routes and being able to get to and back from work at a timely fashion,” Charlotte City Councilman Malcolm Graham said.
CATS said it is bringing in a third party to analyze to evaluate certain routes.
“Certainly, there are things we can do to make the routes more effective just from looking at running times,” CATS Interim CEO Brent Cagle said. “But there are things with ‘Better Bus’ and ‘Envision my ride’ that we need to invest in like signal prioritization, dedicated lanes, and all of those things, as we have more efficient routing you also need technology help.”
CATS leadership said increasing ridership comes down to the right investments.
“There’s a popular saying that says if you build it they will come,” Osiyemi said. “You have to provide the infrastructure; you have to provide a level of service that is appealing to customers.”
When it comes to rebuilding the Charlotte Transportation Center in uptown which will include retail and office spaces.
Cagle said the project continues to move forward and should be in the rezoning process in the next few weeks.
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.