Local

CATS implements changes to routes, services

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte Area Transit System is canceling three routes and changing more than 20 others beginning Monday.

It is the second phase of Envision My Ride, which is a redesign of the bus system.

“The schedule change will improve CATS' bus system by increasing crosstown connections, enhancing bus and light rail connections and providing increased frequency and direct service,” CATS officials said.

[LINK: Envision My Ride]

"So for our community, this is really a big milestone and we're just so happy," Tina Quizon told Channel 9.

For the Oakview Terrace community, the CATS changes are a big deal.

"We were losing families who were having to choose between transportation and having to pay their rent," Quizon said. "When you're having to pay Uber on Sundays $25 each way just to keep your job, and you're doing that four or five times a month, that's a real hardship."

But now, the neighborhood has bus service on Sundays. Quizon has rallied with her neighbors to make it happen.

It's just one of many CATS bus route and stop changes, impacting thousands across the Charlotte area.

Some of the routes with major changes are as follows:

  • Route 2: Will now operate as a crosstown route from Hoskins Road to the LYNX Blue Line Scaleybark Station. This service will no longer serve the Charlotte Transportation Center.
  • Route 18: This new route will provide crosstown service from Callabridge Commons Shopping Center to Rosa Parks Community Transit Center.
  • Route 21: This service from uptown Charlotte will be extended to Davis Lakes/Davis Cox Road.
  • Route 25, Route 45X and Route 590: These routes will be discontinued. Most of their service areas will be replaced by other routes.
  • CATS will also make changes to routes 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 16, 19, 20, 30, 34, 56, 61X, 62X, 97, 99, and 235.

In addition, over 600 bus stops will experience altered or discontinued service.

"Twenty-five, that's affected me, it's totally been disconnected," one rider said.

"It's kind of confusing, but I'm glad I caught it," said another.

"As with any change, there's a little confusion at the beginning," CATS official Larry Kopf said.

Kopf said they've been out on the streets, making sure people know where to go.

"We hope that they give it some time," Kopf said.

Kopf said the changes, overall, benefit most people.

"We've been out talking to our customers. A lot of them have to start out on the outskirts of Charlotte and come into the transit center just to go back out again, so we're trying to develop more direct services and crosstown opportunities,” he said.

CATS conducted two surveys and held over 100 public meetings to determine the most impactful ways to improve the bus system.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: