With gas prices this summer sharply higher than a year ago, many big-city residents around the United States are getting out of their cars and turning to public transportation:
- In Atlanta, ridership on MARTA is up more than 25% between March and June of this year, compared to the same period in 2025.
- Dallas was up 20% in the same period.
- Nashville was also up 20%.
- Ridership in Raleigh grew 6%.
The Los Angeles Times reported in June that transit officials believe that high gas prices are pushing more people to transit in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Charlotte, though, is bucking the national trend: Ridership on the Charlotte Area Transit System dropped 6% in those four months since the conflict with Iran started, compared with a year earlier.
These numbers are falling from an already depressed level of riders, with CATS carrying only 64% of the passengers it did before the pandemic, and 55% of the riders it served at its peak in 2014.
In its monthly reports to the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority, CATS has noted mitigating circumstances for decreased ridership, such as service reductions for the Lynx Blue Line and delays due to construction of a new station in South End.
Trains traveling in different directions have had to share on-track near the Scaleybark Station, resulting in significant delays.
However, there seems to be a larger problem than construction on the Blue Line.
Streetcar ridership is also down significantly and bus ridership has dipped slightly. One bright spot is express bus ridership, which has increased.
So what’s the issue? Safety concerns? A lack of dependability?
One possible reason for the falling ridership on Charlotte’s public transportation is riders' concern about safety, particularly in reaction to the murder of Iryna Zarutska on the Lynx Blue Line in August of 2025.
Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, was fatally stabbed from behind in a random attack after she boarded at the Scaleybark station. She was headed home after finishing her shift at a South End pizzeria, and her murder made national headlines.
In the month after her killing, Lynx Blue Line ridership dipped 10.2% compared with September 2024, with ridership particularly low on nights and weekends, according to information provided to CATS’ governing board. By December of 2025, ridership on the Lynx Blue Line was down 19.1% from December 2024.
Transit rider Ria Patel said the stabbing on the light rail, which occurred at a station close to where she lives in South End, did alarm her. However, she continued to ride the train after the incident. Instead, she took it as a reminder to be aware of her surroundings when riding public transportation.
Patel hesitated to say she felt safe on the light rail, settling instead on the fact that she didn’t feel unsafe while riding. She noted that she never sits while on the train, opting to stand close to the door, and sometimes chatting on the phone with someone.
Patel noted that she saw an increased amount of security after the Zarutska stabbing.
Frequent light rail user and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commissioner Clayton Sealey says he also noticed an uptick in police presence as well as ticket checks after the stabbing last August. Sealey is also a member of the new MPTA board.
This security, he noted, has changed slightly since last summer but has remained present.
“Now, you’re not seeing people in police uniforms, you’re seeing people in special security uniforms,” he said. “The posture, if you will, feels different. It feels like it’s about safety versus just being there.”
Ed McKinney, special assistant to the city manager for mobility, said that safety and security has dramatically increased and is one of CATS’ top priorities. He noted that this effort has focused on having more security on the trains and being sure riders have tickets. The man accused of killing Zarutska had not bought a ticket to ride the train, authorities said at the time.
Interim CATS chief executive Brent Cagle told the Charlotte City Council in April that half of all CATS riders aren’t paying a fare.
Despite multiple attempts, The Ledger was unable to reach Cagle for comment on decreased ridership across Charlotte.
It’s possible that CATS has attracted new riders who don’t want to pay higher gas prices. But those gains are offset by the loss of previous riders who have left the system because they aren’t willing to pay a fare.
Looking forward
With the recent implementation of an additional one-cent sales tax to help pay for transportation improvements, CATS has plans to remedy some problems that plague Charlotte’s public transit options.
An additional $10 million has been budgeted for increased security.
Bus route frequency will be increased so that all routes have a 30-minute frequency. The top 15 routes will have a 15-minute frequency, giving 60% of riders 15-minute service and encouraging increased ridership.
Further, bus system hours will be expanded, and over 2,000 bus stops will be improved, with added shelters and benches. These bus system enhancements can be made in the next five years, according to the city.
“Making sure that people are feeling safe, making sure that people have good access, I mean, that’s going to be what pushes things forward,” Sealey said.
Microtransit, a service which functions like Uber in a designated zone in north Mecklenburg, will also receive a boost. For the upcoming year, CATS will start two new microtransit zones along West Boulevard and Beatties Ford Road/Camp North End, adding 100 square miles of coverage.
CATS then plans to build the Red Line commuter train to Lake Norman. There are plans to build another light-rail line, while expanding the streetcar and Lynx Blue – if there is enough new sales tax money to pay for it.
While these plans for the future have been made public, CATS has made no statement on the current state of ridership or goals to get Charlotteans back on public transportation.
