NCDOT tells Charlotte transit to put more employees on duty or stop light rail service
Charlotte’s transportation system must fully staff its light rail operations or suspend service, according to a letter from the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
An unannounced inspection by the state’s transportation department revealed the Charlotte Area Transit System’s Rail Operating Control Center, known internally as the ROCC, has sometimes operated with only one controller.
It’s standard for at least two controllers to work at the same time to run both Charlotte’s Gold Line and Blue Line trains efficiently, the NCDOT inspection found. It’s preferable for a rail controller chief to also be working with them, interim CATS CEO Brent Cagle said.
“If the ROCC cannot be staffed with at least two (2) fully qualified ROCC employees, on any work shift, then CATS shall cease revenue service on the line affected by not having a dedicated ROCC employee assigned,” an April 1 letter from the NCDOT to Cagle says.
The letter says this is effective immediately.
Cagle said he has implemented a mandatory overtime schedule to ensure two controllers can be on the clock at all times. Staffing is expected to get back to normal in three to six months, when Cagle said he expects to hire additional light rail controllers.
Derailment aftermath
The state’s “unannounced inspection” of CATS light rail operations was on March 31, three days after The Charlotte Observer reported former light rail controller Terry Creech was fired for the Blue Line derailment in May 2022.
Creech says he was the only person fired for the derailment that was unknown to the public for 10 months. He said he was the only controller on his shift at the time and he relieved another employee who finished a 14-hour shift.
CATS rail general manager Deltrin Harris discussed specific staffing concerns related to the rail operations control center after the departure of former COO Allen Smith.
Smith retired April 1 after being placed on administrative leave with no pay this year. Former CEO John Lewis resigned in November 2022 after a year of staffing shortages, declining ridership, a shooting into a bus and reduced ride frequency. The organization also lacks a permanent CFO.
This story was originally published April 3, 2023 at 6:37 PM.
