CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Monday evening, Charlotte City Council voted to approve a new company to take the reins of managing the city’s bus transit.
National Express Transit is expected was approved for expenditures of $1,578,082 per year, with a three-year contract.
North Carolina law does not allow public municipalities to negotiate with unions, such as RATP DEV, which hires and manages the drivers of CATS buses. So cities must hire contractors to manage and run operations. RATP DEV has run Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) operations for the last several years but did not submit a bid to continue to run the system, which has been mired in a number of problems, including staffing and safety concerns.
The city issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in April "seeking a partner to operate and maintain its Bus Operations and Maintenance Services." The RFP outlined a series of incentives and disincentives based on monthly performance for everything from on-time stops, missed trips, accidents, preventative maintenance, safety, bus cleanliness, recordkeeping, and customer complaints.
National Express Transit was one of two companies that responded to the RFP, and a committee felt it was suited to handle CATS bus operations going forward.
National Express Transit will take over management next February, when RATP DEV's contract expires, and will oversee the day-to-day bus operations and maintenance as well as any negotiations with labor unions.
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.