CLT cuts $1 million funding for airport bus, and CATS plans to end route
Charlotte Douglas Airport has pulled $1 million for an express bus route from Northlake Mall to the airport, saying there wasn't enough riders to justify the cost.
The shuttle was started about four years ago to bring airport passengers and employees from north Mecklenburg to the airport. But aviation director Brent Cagle said ridership never materialized.
After losing the funding, the Charlotte Area Transit System said Wednesday it plans to discontinue the route. It will first hold a public hearing before making a final decision.
"For the first year or two ridership went up," said aviation director Brent Cagle. "But then it plateaued, and went down. Ridership never got healthy."
Larry Kopf, the chief operations planning officer for CATS, said the Northlake-airport route - the Airport Connector - was in the bottom third of ridership of all bus routes.
CATS still operates two other airport bus lines. The Sprinter service runs from uptown along Wilkinson Boulevard, and route 60 runs from the Tyvola light-rail station to the passenger terminal.
Cagle said the airport will talk with CATS about possibly subsidizing a vanpool service for airport employees. With a vanpool, a group of people decide to carpool and then rent a CATS van.
The Northlake-airport shuttle is part of a larger trend impacting CATS, and transit systems nationwide: Falling ridership.
In the first eight months of this fiscal year, overall CATS ridership is down 11 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
CATS plans to build a rail line from uptown to the airport next decade as part of a $5 to $7 billion rail expansion.
Steve Harrison: 704-358-5160, @Sharrison_Obs
This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 4:45 PM with the headline "CLT cuts $1 million funding for airport bus, and CATS plans to end route."