CATS Better Bus

Over the last few years, CATS has been implementing major initiatives in the Charlotte, North Carolina, region under the Envision My Ride umbrella to create a system designed for the community. As part of this program, CATS initiated the Better Bus effort to create a post-pandemic service implementation plan that builds upon these efforts with relevant operational, travel flow, and socio-economic data to understand how the needs of the region have changed. The intent of this plan is to improve travel time and access for disadvantaged areas throughout Mecklenburg County and to refocus bus service around underserved, untapped, and even successful markets, as well as changing travel trends.

To do this, the Foursquare ITP team created a specialized market assessment and comprehensive operational opportunities analysis that focuses on how transit could be transformed throughout the Charlotte region. The market assessment identified opportunities for transit market growth and enhancement throughout the region. The focused operational opportunities analysis identified not only which routes were performing well, but where there could be improvements based on performance metrics, equity, and access measures.

The service design effort will be focused on creating a network that will be implementable in the near future, but also designed in a way that allows for strategic improvements to minimize new realignments and support additional service. This effort will be supported by multiple phases of outreach. The final network is to be implemented in 2025, with a base network that can be built upon with frequency and rail improvements occurring over the next 30-years.