‘That is criminal.’ Incompetence at root of CATS troubles, says transit system’s first CEO

Incompetent management by the most recent executive team lies at the root of Charlotte’s transit system troubles, says the former CEO who led construction of the Blue Line.

“Letting the bridge inspection contract expire and not initiating any procurement to start getting something going until recently, that is criminal,” Ron Tober told The Charlotte Observer in an interview Thursday. “The maintenance of the cars, it’s not competent management. ... That is an indication of problems and paying attention and managing the operation and managing the key assets and facilities.”

Tober was the first CEO of the Charlotte Area Transit System from 1999 to 2007. Interim CEO Brent Cagle has outlined plans to repair and replace CATS’ aging trains and buses following the disclosure of a Blue Line derailment in 2022. Cagle wasn’t informed of the derailment until March, four months after he took on the job.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said at a March Metropolitan Transit Commission meeting news about CATS’ structural and operating mishaps make it a perfect time to begin considering a regional transportation authority.

Tober, who says he still cares deeply for Charlotte’s transit system, said discussing a regional structure in response to those revelations is just the city deflecting blame for its problems.

“It’s not a problem of the structure,” Tober said. “It’s a problem of the competence of the management that was in place.”

A CATS spokesman answered other questions, but didn’t comment on the competency of past management when asked Thursday afternoon.

Tober told City Council member Lewis ‘not doing the job’

The CATS problems coming to light all happened under the leadership of former CEO John Lewis.

Lewis announced his resignation in October and left the transit agency in November when Cagle took over as interim CEO. He now works as a transportation consultant principal at TransPro Consulting, according to the company’s website. He didn’t respond to phone or email requests on Thursday.

CATS COO Allen Smith retired April 1 after being placed on administrative leave with no pay this year. A personnel file provided to the Observer shows he was suspended for three days in 2015, too.

The organization also lacks a permanent CFO, leaving Cagle and interim CFO Chad Howell at the helm. Howell is also Charlotte Water’s CFO.

Tober said he informed a sitting City Council member that he thought Lewis should be replaced in early 2022, prior to the derailment. The council member said Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones told the council he wasn’t in a position to replace him at the time.

Tober says he’s impressed with Cagle’s leadership after having conversations with him and seeing news about how he’s reacted to the faults of previous leadership.

“He’s a quick learner and he understands organizational dynamics and in a complex environment with elected officials and so forth,” Tober said.

The former CEO says he’s not interested in resuming his CEO position at CATS or any other consulting job.

Hard to get vehicle parts?

For Charlotte’s Blue Line trains, derailments are not unheard of in the rail yard with no passengers on board. It was unusual for the May 2022 derailment to occur on a straight track while in service.

A maintenance issue with a faulty axle bearing caused a wheel on a middle train car to jump the track, resulting in a derailment.

But Tober said CATS was already behind on a necessary midlife rehabilitation for all light rail vehicles well before 2022.

“They should’ve started that at least six or seven years ago, to start getting ready, and obviously they didn’t,” Tober told the Observer.

CATS also had issues getting parts, including being forced to borrow brake pads from Minneapolis, Tober said.

“This is a common occurrence within the transit industry and has been a practice within CATS for years,” CATS spokesman Brandon Hunter said in an email. “CATS has partnered with Minneapolis in the past because they have a larger rail fleet resulting in an excess of spare parts. CATS borrows and replaces parts from our stock when received.”

Regional plan still needed for CATS

While he disagrees with the timing, Tober said he agrees with Mayor Lyles that CATS needs a regional planning approach to address sprawl beyond the Mecklenburg County line.

“Long term, what needs to happen in this rapidly growing region with suburbs and tremendous traffic problems on Interstate 85 and so on, there needs to be a regional approach to public transportation that involves the surrounding counties,” he said. “It’s the kind of public transportation system that we should have if we want to continue to grow and thrive.”

With continued transparency, Tober thinks the transit system can mend broken trust with the public and elected officials to get their approval for a transit tax that would fund an extension of the light rail system CATS failed to successfully maintain thus far.

This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 6:00 AM.

Genna Contino

The Charlotte Observer

Genna Contino previously covered local government for the Observer, where she wrote about Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. She attended the University of South Carolina and grew up in Rock Hill.