CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines

[QCxpat]

Today's CBJ -  "Charlotte transit chief resigning with former CLT CEO stepping in" by Erik Spanberg

Excerpts:

"Charlotte Area Transit System CEO John Lewis is resigning effective Nov. 30, the city disclosed Thursday afternoon.  Assistant City Manager Brent Cagle, who ran Charlotte Douglas International Airport for eight years, will replace Lewis on an interim basis."

"City Manager Marcus Jones told reporters that Lewis has accepted a job with another organization — not in the transit sector — but declined to disclose additional details. Lewis was not part of the 30-minute media briefing that included Jones, Cagle, and Liz Babson, an assistant city manager whose responsibilities include transportation."

"Lewis’ departure comes at the same time the transit agency, known as CATS, grapples with scrutiny over chronic absenteeism among bus drivers, plummeting ridership over the past decade, an ongoing city-funded outside audit of transit, and a stalled $13.5 billion proposal to expand light-rail and bus service, among other mobility projects."

"City Council is also in discussions to replace the Charlotte Transportation Center in uptown."

"Cagle previously worked in city government in Phoenix before accepting a job as chief financial officer at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) in 2012. A year later, as local and state government fought for control of the city-owned airport, Cagle became CEO when city aviation chief Jerry Orr resigned. Cagle was interim CEO and eventually became Orr’s full-time replacement, running CLT until October 2020, when he moved to the Government Center."

"Jones made clear Thursday that Cagle will be running CATS on an interim basis. The city manager said an outside firm has been hired to lead a national search for Lewis’ replacement. He added that the transit system’s governing body, the Metropolitan Transit Commission, and various stakeholders will have a voice in the CEO search."

Link:  https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/10/13/charlotte-transit-chief-john-lewis-resigns.html

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by QCxpat

[Matthew.Brendan]

 

[KJHburg]

Honestly one way or another he needed to go before any confidence in rebuilding the transit system in Charlotte much less expanding it through billions of dollars of taxpayers funds. 

[kayman]

Once again, until CATS is separated from the City of Charlotte municipal government, you're going to continue to be disappointed by the things. 

A Tier 1 transit agency (one that has fixed guideway rail per FTA guidance) led by a municipal government is always going to be moving with one leg and arm behind its back. 

Edited October 14, 2022 by kayman

[Norm2]

Good riddance John Lewis. No hard feelings, but I'm glad you're leaving. 

[Durhamite]

13 minutes ago, norm21499 said:

Good riddance John Lewis. No hard feelings, but I'm glad you're leaving. 

Good, but the problem wasn’t him, though a good scape goat.

[15895]

4 minutes ago, Durhamite said:

Good, but the problem wasn’t him, though a good scape goat.

That's what happens when you're the leader of an organization. You're the scapegoat for any incompetency of the organization... Because that's what leaders are supposed to do.

Obviously there is industry-wide problems plaguing the Transit industry that is beyond the control of anyone. That is when you need strong leadership the most though. He lost the confidence of a lot of people. And he was pushed out. Lets see how the next manager turns the Titanic and navigates through these difficult times.

[Charlotte Night]

In July, city manager Marcus Jones hired a consulting firm to evaluate the extensive struggles of CATS buses.

I am thinking the consultants have probably already begun looking into things by now, which makes me curious as to whether any of their findings led Lewis to leave before anything became public. Not saying Lewis did anything unethical (I liked him once upon a time and I'm happy to give him benefit of the doubt) but either way the TIMING is curious here; maybe there is an embarrassing leadership failure, etc.

Speaking of the consultants, didn't Jones miss some Lynx planning/presentation deadlines without explanation earlier this year last year too? I wonder if that will come up again.

EDIT: Accuracy; see strikethrough. Linking article: Charlotte’s mobility plan goes missing as city manager misses deadlines for providing cost estimates (wbtv.com)

Edited October 13, 2022 by Charlotte Night

[Desert Power]

It could be true the problems with CATS are so large that no leader can fix them. It's clear that John Lewis viewed his job that way, Hopefully Brent Cagle has the determination to try and do better. Worst case we're still lagging our peer systems by a laughable amount.

[kermit]

The Blue Line ran a little smoother and smelled a little better this morning.

 

 

[Reverie39]

Rhule gone, Lewis gone... good week of leadership leaving in Charlotte!

[RANYC]

On 10/13/2022 at 3:39 PM, kermit said:

The sound you hear is me jumping up and down with joy:

 

 

John Lewis posted a confused emoji to your joy lol

[Desert Power]

22 hours ago, Reverie39 said:

Rhule gone, Lewis gone... good week of leadership leaving in Charlotte!

Good point. Hopefully we can point to this week as the point both of those felines started turning it around.

[navigator319]

They should not have let him resign. Should have fired him for cause. Nothing changes here until the next two rungs down the chain are shown the door.

[kermit]

On 10/15/2022 at 2:04 PM, navigator319 said:

They should not have let him resign. Should have fired him for cause. Nothing changes here until the next two rungs down the chain are shown the door.

Hopefully Cagle can use the interim role to clean house as necessary (I do know quite a few good folks at CATS).  I can’t imagine Cagle would want the job permanently so now is the time to rebuild.

Edited October 17, 2022 by kermit

[kermit]

Boarded the Blue Line at UNCC Main where I saw a confused gentlemen who had just arrived and realized he needed to go back. I asked where he was headed:

“I am meeting my daughter at Stonewall Station. I got on the train at Sharon rd, I don’t know how I could have missed it.” [he pointed at the out-of-date strip map which still said “Stonewall”]

Much hilarity (not really) about Brooklyn Village resulted.

CATS’ incompetence has ruined another day.

[bonus observation: the AC was broken]

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by kermit

[tozmervo]

I don't think there's a dedicated CTC Redevelopment thread, but in any case: 

CATS Announces Public Meetings for Charlotte Transportation Center Update (charlottenc.gov)

 

[Reverie39]

18 hours ago, tozmervo said:

I don't think there's a dedicated CTC Redevelopment thread, but in any case: 

CATS Announces Public Meetings for Charlotte Transportation Center Update (charlottenc.gov)

 

For future reference:

 

[Guest]

Based on tonight’s MTC they seem to seriously be considering interlining the silver line with the gold line from Charlottetowne Avenue to Gateway Station. I assume they would have to shut down trade street for this to even be feasible. 

[kermit]

8 minutes ago, MothBeast said:

Based on tonight’s MTC they seem to seriously be considering interlining the silver line with the gold line from Charlottetowne Avenue to Gateway Station. I assume they would have to shut down trade street for this to even be feasible. 

IMO this is a great idea. Would make for very good uptown calculator service and better connect the Blue Line to Gateway Station, and make Trade much more pedestrian friendly.

[JRCLT]

IMO this is a great idea. Would make for very good uptown calculator service and better connect the Blue Line to Gateway Station, and make Trade much more pedestrian friendly.

If interlining reduced cost this would be the best option over the blue line.

[kermit]

55 minutes ago, JeanClt said:

If interlining reduced cost this would be the best option over the blue line.

It would dramatically reduce the number of elevated structures (along the 11th and the NS tracks) and the need for a whole new Blue/Silver connecting station.

Having said that, the Gold-Blue connection is pretty crappy as is, so some substantial work would need to be done there.

Edited October 27, 2022 by kermit

[jjwilli]

I agree with the interlining on the Gold Line on Trade as the best option. But is that sharp turn at Gateway even feasible? A few screenshots from the meeting:

[southslider]

20 minutes ago, jjwilli said:

This shot shows the potential to head west at Carson over to Wilkinson.  So why is that not an option for a continuous Silver Line, as part of the Shared Blue Line Alternative?

[lit]

If they interline the Silver Line with the Gold Line, wouldn't the Silver Line vehicles also have to be hybrid vehicles in order to cross Tryon?

 

And Carson used to be Independence Blvd. A lot of the bridges over near 77/Wilkinison are still 4-lanes wide so maybe they could use those if they designed a route that followed the old Independence route more closely. They could increase frequency on the Gold Line and people could use that as a connector between the Blue/Silver Lines and the Gateway Station