CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An investigation into the number of people who ride the LYNX system in Charlotte has uncovered a significant discrepancy.
CATS is required to report pages of data to the Federal Transit Administration. When compared to what the transit group reports to the local group that oversees the LYNX, there was a major gap in the numbers.
The numbers reported to the FTC determine how much federal money comes to Charlotte.
Now, a federal agency wants to know why.
CATS officials and city leaders have called the LYNX Blue Line a success, saying thousands of people use it every day.
In fiscal year 2008, CATS told the FTA it had 2.2 million riders, but they told the Metropolitan Transit Commission and the public they have 2.8 million riders.
In 2009, there was a larger gap. The federal report cited 3.5 million riders, but told the MTC there were 5 million.
In 2010, CATS reported that there were 3.2 million riders to the FTC and 4.8 million to the MTC.
This all means since its inception, CATS has told the public the light rail is a bigger success than it told the federal government.
CATS spokesman Olaf Kinard said the public has been getting the most accurate count possible through devices called automatic people counters that track every person who enters a train.
However, in federal reporting, the transit group is required to use sampling data from just a few hundred trips each year, which may not include big events like Speed Street or the CIAA.
The difference was so great the FTA contacted CATS in 2010, questioning its methods. At the same time, CATS was not reporting those lower numbers to the public or the MTC.
“At the time, we did not feel like that was necessary because one was for federal funding and one was for ridership experienced by the everyday customer,” Kinard said. “We actually have more accurate numbers.”
County Commissioner Jennifer Roberts chaired the MTC during the light rail’s first years. She defended CATS’ publicly reported numbers, calling the federal formula a one-size-fits-all approach.
Robert said CATS could be losing out on more federal funding if the government bases its funding on ridership.
“I think we could actually qualify for more,” she said.
In 2011, the FTA allowed CATS to submit its own rider data, which calls into question how flawed the federal formula is considering it is used by thousands of other transit systems across the country.
FTA officials said the formula used is not outdated or flawed and said that a sample size of several hundred train trips collected properly can accurately predict ridership for an entire system.