CATS gets $10.5M federal grant under coronavirus relief act

The Charlotte Area Transit System has received a $10.5 million federal grant as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, the Federal Transit Administration said Friday.

CATS will spend the money on operational and administrative expenses that are needed to continue transit service during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FTA said. CATS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The system has seen a devastating reduction in ridership during the pandemic, starting in late March, when CATS curtailed bus and light-rail service and temporarily waived fares.

May ridership on local express bus routes plunged as much as 99% in May, compared to the prior year, CATS reported to the Metropolitan Transit Commission at its June 24 meeting. Blue Line rail ridership for May was down 72%.

Five transit operators had been diagnosed with COVID-19 by late May.

CATS expanded some service and began collecting tolls again on June 8.

“We know many of our nation’s public transportation systems are facing extraordinary challenges and these funds will go a long way to assisting our transit industry partners in battling COVID-19,” the FTA’s acting administrator, Jane Williams, said in a statement.

The federal money will lend operating aid to transit agencies that provide “essential travel,” she said, and to support transit workers who aren’t able to work because of the virus.

The FTA said CARES Act money can be used by transit agencies to cover the costs of procedures the agency recommended in April to promote use of face masks and hand hygiene and implement cleaning and disinfection procedures.

In May, CATS began in-service cleanings of its buses and light-rail cars during five-minute layovers at the transit center and Blue Line terminus rail stations, enhancing disinfection protocols that had begun in March.