ROUTE 13 (NEVIN ROAD)

Many people are confused about where this route actually goes. We propose that this route be renamed Statesville Rd./Nevin Road so that people are more aware of that this bus serves Statesville Rd. No cost savings with this change, but it would make it easier for people to know where the bus actually goes.

ROUTE 14 (PROVIDENCE ROAD)

This route needs to service the Southpark Mall minihub. The route should travel along Providence to Sharon-Amity, turning right on Sharon-Amity Rd. to Sharon Rd., then left on Sharon Rd., passing beside Southpark Mall, then turning left onto Fairview Rd., then turning right onto Providence Rd., continuing on to the Arboretum where it now terminates. We propose that Route 15 be rerouted to cover the part of Providence Rd. where this would eliminate service, thus providing continuous service to the portion of the route that Route 14 would no longer serve.

In addition, we propose that Route 14 should be extended from the Arboretum Shopping Center along Hwy. 51 (Matthews Township Parkway) to Sam Newell Rd., turning left and continuing on to the Matthews Independence Pointe Park and Ride. This would allow convenient connections between SouthPark Mall and Matthews, without Matthews residents having to travel uptown and then back out to the southern limits, which is now a 2 to 2 1/2 trip one way. Connection from Matthews to the Arboretum would be less than 15 minutes.

ROUTE 15 (RANDOLPH ROAD)

The previous budget cuts of service south of Sharon-Amity Rd. have proven a hardship for many people. We propose that Route 15 continue at least some of the buses (once an hour) all the way to the end of Randolph Rd., turning right onto Sardis Rd., then turning right onto Providence Rd., then turning right on Sharon-Amity Rd., then turning left onto Randolph Rd. and then continuing the current route.

This route would not only provide service to the main portion of Randolph Rd. that lost service, but it would provide a direct connection to/from Billingsley Rd./Social Services with connections to Route 14 and the south end of Charlotte. This proposal would also provide continued service to the area of Providence Rd. that would no longer be served by Route 14 when it swerves to provide service to the SouthPark Mall Transit Center.

ROUTE 17 (COMMONWEALTH AVE.)

ROUTE 18 (SELWYN AVENUE)

This route should no longer serve the Uptown CTC, but should stop at the Carson Street LYNX Station. The LYNX Blue Line would provide convenient service Uptown to the CTC, and a short walk to Morehead would provide access to the Gold Rush Street Trolly for convenient travel along N. Tryon St. and points Uptown. This route could be combined with Route 2 (Ashley Park) providing a one bus service from the Dilworth/East Blvd. area to the Super Walmart on Wilkinson Blvd., with connections to the Sprinter Service to the Airport.

Savings on this route would be at least $350,000 per year, or $3.5 million over 10 years.

ROUTE 19 (PARK ROAD)

This route needs streamlining. The Park Road bus currently follows the LYNX light rail line from East Blvd. to the uptown CTC. There is no need for this bus to travel between East Blvd. and the Uptown CTC. This bus should start and begin at the East/West Blvd station, and travel its current route to SouthPark Mall. However, the bus needs to CIRCLE the mall, turning left on Barclay Downs Dr., right on Morrison Blvd., right on Sharon Rd., then right on Fairview Rd. There is no need for the bus to enter the lower level bus area in Southpark Mall. The bus should continue down Fairview, back to Park Rd., then turn left onto Park Rd. and follow the current route to the Sharon Rd. West station. All buses would follow this route, eliminating the confusion of whether this bus is going to Southpark or bypassing the mall. We also propose that the bus not enter the Sharon Rd. West station, but turn left onto South Blvd. and terminate at the I-485 Lynx station. This bus would switch stations with the Route 12 South Blvd. bus beginning and ending at the Sharon Road West station.


ROUTE 22 (GRAHAM STREET)

For the Uptown area, there is much confusion about this bus not servicing Graham St. between W. Trade and Dalton Ave. We propose that the Double Oaks bus switch uptown routes and that the Double Oaks bus travel down N. Tryon to Dalton and the Graham Street bus be redirected along Trade St. to Graham and travel Graham St. to Dalton Ave. and beyond.

On the outer end of the route, this bus currently goes within 3.5 miles of Concord Mills Mall. People are actually getting off the bus and WALKING to the mall to get to jobs in the area. It is appalling that service is not continued to Concord Mills Mall, especially since a streamling of this route could allow this bus to travel hourly to Concord Mills Mall AT NO ADDITONAL EXPENSE TO CATS. The bus would still have the exact same time points, but this extension could generate an additional $500,000 per year in fare revenue, or $5 million dollars in additional fare revenue over 10 years. But, most importantly, it would provide a vital link to the Concord/Kannapolis Transit System (CK RIDER). This would provide many more job opportunities for residents in Mecklenburg County AND would provide service to the hundreds of thousands of people in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties to travel to Charlotte to work and spend their monies in Charlotte.

We propose that every other bus continue along Mallard Creek Rd., to Odell School Rd.,, then turning right onto Carolina Lily Drive and into the Concord Mills Mall complex. This streamlined bus would not serve the Ennis and University Research Park areas on every other bus. This streamling actually creates a route that is shorter and no additional time needed to run the route. There is so much demand for this service that this route would become one of the most popular routes in the entire CATS system.

ROUTE 23 (SHAMROCK DRIVE)

This bus currently travels within 5 minutes of the Eastland Transit Center. We propose that Route 23 (Shamrock Drive) extend the route from Hickory Grove Rd., turning left onto Sharon-Amity Rd, then left on Central Avenue to the Eastland Transit Center. This would provide convenient connections to bus routes on the east side of town and passenger revenue in both directions.

Simple time revisions would allow for this change, with no additional expenditure needed. However, additional fare revenue of as much as $250,000 could be generated, or $2.5 million dollars over 10 years.

ROUTE 27 (MONROE ROAD)

The route along Monroe Rd. would remain the same between Uptown and Idlewild Rd.

We propose that this bus connect to the Independence Blvd. bus for easy connections since the bus comes within one block of Independence Blvd. in the Idlewild Rd. area. When the bus reaches Idlewild from Uptown, it should turn left on Idlewild Rd., then right on Independence Blvd., then right onto Conference Dr. and then left back onto Monroe Rd. to continue it's current route. Service along Monroe Rd. is already provided by Route 221 and riders could ride to connect to Route 27 or simply walk one block to Idlewild/Independence/Conference Dr. to catch the bus in either direction. The bus would travel this route in reverse when heading to Uptown.

This bus would continue the same route through Matthews to the point where it currently turns on Independence Pointe Dr. next to Target. We propose that the bus no longer turn onto Independence Pointe Dr., but continue along Matthews Township Parkway across Independence Blvd. to Northeast Parkway, turning left and continuing along Northeast Parkway to Sam Newell Rd., turning left, crossing Independence Blvd. to the Independence Pointe Park and Ride, where the Outbound Route would terminate. The bus would then return to Uptown by leaving the Park and Ride, turning left onto Windsor Square Drive, crossing Independence Blvd. to Northeast Parkway, turning right and then turning LEFT onto Matthews Township Parkway, then turning right on old HWY 51 (Matthews-Mint Hill Rd.) crossing Independence Blvd. and then continuing the current route back toward Uptown Charlotte. This routing would give the students at Bulter High School access to the bus and would avoid having the hundreds of students using the bus system having to walk 1 1/2 miles to catch the bus.

There would be no substantial cost to CATS as this can be accomplished with simple changes in time points but this rerouting would generate up to $250,000 in additional fare revenue each year, or $2.5 million over the next 10 years. Most importantly, it would give Independence Blvd. bus riders the ability to connect into other parts of Matthews, including the center of the Matthews business district, by providing connections to the Independence Blvd. bus in the Windsor Square area.

ROUTE 29 (UNCC/SOUTHPARK)

This route needs a streamlining. The portion of this route that goes between IBM in University Research Park and UNCC should become a part of the new proposed Route 31.

For UNCC to Southpark, this route needs to travel along Old Concord Rd. between UNCC and Harris Blvd. There so much multi-family housing on this route that the bus could pick up quite a bit of revenue by serving this area instead of traveling on Harris Blvd., where there are no bus stops.

When the bus gets to the end of Barringer Dr., it should turn LEFT on Milton and right onto Sharon-Amity Rd., avoiding Tipperary Rd. Tipperary and the portion of Milton Rd. that Route 29 currently serves is also fully served by Route 23 (Shamrock Dr.).

This bus comes within 2 blocks of the Eastland Transit Center, yet does not serve the Center. Route 29 should turn left on Central Ave., right on Reddman Rd., right on Albemarle Rd. and then left on Sharon Amity. For the portion of Sharon-Amity that would no longer be served, we propose that route 222 be rerouted to service the Sharon-Amity portion of this route.


ROUTE 31 (NEW NORTHERN CROSSTOWN TO UNCC)

While this would be a new route, it would be formed by shortening the routes for two other buses - Route 7 (Northlake) and Route 29 (UNCC).

If Route 7 ends at the Rosa Park Center, there are a number of buses each hour that travel between the Rosa Parks Center and Northlake. Also, the buses that travel between IBM and UNCC on Route 29 could be combined into this route, providing enough of a savings to operate a new bus at least every 45 minutes each way. This route would provide for the Third Link to our crosstown system and would allow someone to travel around the city of Charlotte without ever having to travel Uptown.

This route would be heavily used as those who travel from the North Mecklenburg area to UNCC and University Research Park would utilize this route. We feel that this leg of the loop around Charlotte would be the most successful since it is already a very successful route for over half of the route currently in existence (Routes 7 and 29). Also, large numbers of communters in the North End of the county would utilize this route, providing much better bus service for those in Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville.

While this route would not cost CATS any additional expenditure by rerouting the other routes, it WOULD create a huge revenue source of upwards of $1 million dollars a year, or $10 million dollars over 10 years.  

ROUTE 34 (FREEDOM DRIVE)

This route currently duplicates Route 8 (Tuckaseegee Rd.) for a good portion of the route. We recommend that this route no longer follow Route 8, but instead turn left on Walton Ave. after leaving Uptown, going to the intersection of Morehead and Freedom, then continuing all the way down Freedom Dr. along its current route.