Charlotte Transit and Weather Data

[cltheel.sdl]

Hey guys, I'm doing my city planning final paper on the link between public transit ridership and weather to see if there are drastic changes between ridership and weather extremities. I was wondering if you guys would know where I would find daily (or monthly) ridership data for Charlotte (light rail and/or bus system) as well as weather data so I can plot ridership vs. temp/precip/humidity? I looked on the NOAA site for weather, but I couldn't find the historical data, and I don't know what site to use for Charlotte transit data. I would really appreciate all your help.

Thanks.

[origin.clt]

Not sure about the ridership numbers. You can find archived weather data on the weather underground.

[uptownliving]

Most of the old MTC agendas have Transit Ridership on a Monthly basis.

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/CATS/MTC/MTC+Meetings.htm

[Spartan]

You need to call CATS, and they will provide you with raw ridership information. It's all publicly available, so it will not be an issue to get it in a spreadsheet. Start by calling 311, and that should get you in touch with the right person. If that doesn't get you anywhere you can look up some contact info on their website. Specify what you want though.... is it overall ridership or by route (which would break out the LRT). IMO it would be interesting to compare routes based on sectors of town and choice riders versus the transit dependent population. Ask if they have any system ridership survey data. You may also want to factor in gas prices into your model, because that was a significant influence on ridership last year and I bet a simple regression model would prove that right.

Edit: I see that you're location is Chapel Hill, so calling 311 probably won't work for you. Try using this pageto get in touch with someone at CATS.

NOAA is the same way. Its a government service, so it's publicly available information. Start by looking here, at the Greenville-Spartanburg website (which covers Charlotte and Asheville too) and if you can't find what you're looking for there, then I suggest contacting someone at NOAA. They will provide you with what you need.

[cltheel.sdl]

Thanks so much guys...I really appreciate it! I emailed CATS earlier today, but I'll probably call them tomorrow. I think I'm going to use wunderground for my weather data, as all their info is readily available and straightforward. If I have more questions, I'll post them here. I'll fill you guys in on my findings once my paper is complete. Thanks again.