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If Mecklenburg voters vote to raise the sales tax in November’s transit and transportation referendum, millions would pour into improving bus service — an initiative called the “Better Bus” program.
If approved, the new transit authority would be required to spend 20% of all new revenue on the bus system and microtransit, an on-demand service similar to Uber. That amounts to about $65 million a year.
The overall plan calls for raising the sales tax in Mecklenburg from 7.25% to 8.25%, which would raise an estimated $20B over 30 years to pay for new rail lines, improved bus service and road-related projects. The higher tax would cost the typical Mecklenburg household an extra $240 a year, the city has said.
For riders who rely on buses daily, the changes could reshape their commute — or their entire day.
For riders who rely on buses regularly, more frequent buses could make their commutes faster. And it could draw riders, too. Plus, the addition of microtransit across the county would enable tens of thousands of people to make short trips to the grocery store or the doctor’s office.
Let’s look a little closer at what that would mean — and how it might affect riders:
More buses, more often
Charlotte Area Transit System’s bus ridership has plummeted over the last decade. In the summer of 2014, CATS buses averaged about 1.9 million trips a month. By 2019, that number had fallen to 1.3 million.
The pandemic drove ridership even lower. While it increased in 2022, 2023 and 2024, it has now leveled off at about 750,000 trips a month — a loss of more than 60% of riders in just over a decade.
It’s unclear how much of the decline stems from reduced service. In 2014 and 2019, CATS buses offered about 69,000 service hours a month. This year, that figure is down to about 56,500.
The Better Bus program would add one or two new routes, but the main focus is on frequency: ensuring that every route has a bus arriving at least every 30 minutes. Fifteen routes would be upgraded to 15-minute service. Currently, only the No. 9 Central Avenue route runs that often.
The push isn’t because buses are overcrowded.
“When your bus doesn’t come, that can devastate somebody’s life,” said one rider, who wished to remain anonymous. “Let’s say you’ve gotta be at your probation officer at a certain time and he’s a hard ass. You don’t walk in that door, you violated, you’re going back to jail.”
Better bus stops
Along with more frequent service, CATS plans to improve roughly 2,000 bus stops across the county with benches and shelters. Many stops today have neither.
Ricky Lee, 53, uses the bus system daily to get to and from work. He said most stops should be covered but noted that a few with shelters are sometimes left in poor condition.
“Nobody wants to sit in there. If it’s raining, you got them people bunched all up in there, they got all their stuff in there, I just don’t think it’s fair,” Lee told Transit Time.
Other riders said the system is often inconvenient. Cassandra Merriman, who takes the bus to the grocery store, said she wishes routes were easier to navigate without passing through the Charlotte Transportation Center in uptown.
“Just for instance, I used to live in Hidden Valley, and the Food Lion on Graham Street was right there,” Merriman said. “But in order to get to that Food Lion, you’d have to come all the way downtown and then catch a bus all the way back.”
There wouldn’t be any new cross-town routes that bypass the main bus station uptown. But microtransit could make shorter trips like the one Merriman describes more convenient.
Safety and cleanliness
CATS buses are among the emptiest in the nation, according to Federal Transit Administration data. In 2023, they carried about 12 riders an hour. Raleigh buses averaged 16.
For some, that’s not a problem.
“I ride the bus because I need to go where I need to go, and I don’t really have any complaints because it gets me there,” said Emory Gray, 23, outside the Charlotte Transportation Center. He added that sometimes the buses are clean and other times they are not, but that doesn’t bother him.
Other riders disagreed. One man told The Ledger he dressed more professionally each day in case he needed to use the restroom while waiting for the bus. Looking put together made it easier to slip into nearby buildings, he said.
Safety was also a recurring concern.
“People just come up and bother you all the time,” Lee said. “I think if you don’t have a bus ticket, you shouldn’t be in here. I mean, I’ve seen people deal drugs and stuff like that.”
Expanding microtransit
The Better Bus plan would also expand microtransit. CATS launched the service in north Mecklenburg earlier this year and hopes to add at least 18 new zones if the tax is approved.
People could also take micro to a bus or train stop and then transfer to that service.
Why it matters
For thousands of residents, buses aren’t optional. They’re a lifeline.
This fall’s tax referendum will help determine whether Charlotte’s bus system continues to struggle with reliability and rider frustrations — or whether it becomes a cleaner, safer and more dependable network that more people want to ride.
