CHARLOTTE — Channel 9 has learned Charlotte’s city manager is bringing in an outside team to do an organizational review of the Charlotte Area Transit System.
The move comes after weeks of driver shortages and system-wide delays have plagued the organization. CATS says at least 80 drivers have called out every day since the end of June.
The transit service already said it will cut some routes to alleviate demand but now, Channel 9 has learned the city manager hired an outside firm to make recommendations on stabilizing CATS.
According to a memo obtained by Channel 9, the firm will look at five key areas:
- Organizational structure and leadership
- Contracts
- Employee morale
- The relationship with the third-party company that employs mechanics from CATS
- Reliability of the bus system
CATS officials said the service plans to cut no more than one in five routes to ease delays. They’re still studying which routes have low ridership.
CATS officials hope to have information about which routes will be affected before a meeting with the Metropolitan Transit Commission on Wednesday.
Channel 9 has reached out to CATS several times for comment, but has not yet heard back.
(WATCH BELOW: CATS hosts job fair in effort to reduce delays due to driver shortages)
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