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5 Things to Know: CATS Unveils Plans for Bus Service Improvements (Queen City Nerve)

While area elected officials and transportation leaders did discuss implications for the city’s light rail program as part of the 30-year transit plan during Wednesday’s Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) meeting, CATS also gave a look at its new Better Bus plan, which aims to vastly improve the city’s bus service by making bus trips quicker while expanding coverage, among other things.

Though implementation of the Better Bus plan has begun in its preliminary stages, new improvements will be reliant on funding from a one-cent sales tax increase that city leaders hope to put on the ballot for Mecklenburg County voters in the fall.

Projected to increase CATS bus service by 50% in its first five years with a scheduled completion date inside of Fiscal Year 2031, the Better Bus Plan was built using recommendations from the ongoing Envision My Ride: Bus Priority Study.

“The Better Bus program shared at this week’s meeting is the most exciting proposal we’ve seen for dramatically improving the bus system,” wrote Lauren Sawyers, spokesperson for Sustain Charlotte, in a statement following the meeting. “It’s not only exciting but also realistic because the plan is fiscally constrained (under the scenario of the new sales tax being adopted).

“While rail service often gets the bulk of the public’s attention, buses are the true backbone of every public transit system — including CATS,” she continued. “Buses carry more passengers and can go places that rail can’t reach. This investment would be a powerful tool for economic mobility. Compared to other community investments, public transit is unparalleled in improving people’s access to jobs, education, health care, shopping, and other daily destinations.”

Read the QC Nerve article.