By 4.5 percent through July as compared to the first seven months of 2015 on the light rail line with bus ridership also down. CATS officials blame failing gasoline prices as well and a fare increase. The recent downturn in ridership comes after light rail ridership in 2014 set a record, topping pre-recession marks. It’s also comes despite increased population in and near Uptown. As the Charlotte Observer puts it:
The Charlotte economy is doing well, having mostly rebounded from the 2008 economic downturn. In fact, roughly 100,000 people are working in uptown compared with 75,000 in 2007 when the Lynx Blue Line opened. Thousands of new apartment-dwellers live along the train line and can take light rail instead of their cars.
What the latest UPoR story doesn’t mention is the population surge hasn’t translated into increased demand for light rail. As the UPoR reported back in January:
However, the train’s seven years have shown that it’s been difficult for CATS to get new riders, even as uptown employment has grown significantly and thousands of new apartments have been built along the line in uptown and the South End. Many of the apartments were built because of the proximity to the train.
Former UNC Charlotte transportation consultant David Hartgen, a transportation consultant, said ridership suggests light rail is losing market share in the commuting corridor along South Boulevard, Interstate 77 and Park Road.
“The fundamental assumption is that the Lynx traffic would increase as the region got denser,” he said. “That hasn’t happened.”
