Ridership on Charlotte Area Transit System buses and trains remains lower after the August killing of Iryna Zarutska on the Lynx Blue Line.
Lynx ridership fell 10% in September compared with the same month a year earlier. In October, light rail ridership was down 8%, according to Federal Transit Administration statistics released Friday.
Fewer people also rode CATS buses.
Some may be worried about safety. But some people might be staying away after CATS began cracking down on people riding without paying. The transit system has estimated that as many as half of all riders haven’t paid for a ticket, according to a recent article in the Charlotte Business Journal.
In October, CATS recorded 1.43 million passenger trips across all of its services, including the Lynx, buses, streetcar and microtransit. A year earlier, the transit system carried 1.56 million.
In the same month in 2014, CATS carried nearly 2.6 million passenger trips.
Zarutska’s murder received worldwide attention after security video footage from inside the train was released. It prompted the General Assembly to pass new legislation this fall aimed at keeping repeat offenders incarcerated.
The man accused of killing Zarutska had been arrested more than a dozen times.
Next year, CATS will transition to the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority, which is being created after Mecklenburg County voters approved a sales tax increase next month.
The tax is expected to generate nearly $20 billion over the next 30 years, with 60% of the revenue going to transit. The authority plans to expand the bus system starting in 2026 or 2027, with more frequent service and new microtransit.
