Commuters slam changes at CATS uptown transit center

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Charlotte Area Transit System’s initiative to close businesses at the bus depot on East Trade Street in the interest of safety has drawn criticism by commuters who contend it won’t improve safety or efficiency.

Charlotte Area Transit System’s uptown bus depot has been the site of two fatalities this year. 

The transit center draws thousands of people daily. However, CATS officials believe the problem is that many of them are not commuters but instead congregate in the area for criminal activity. CATS announced it would close all the businesses at the transit center as part of an initiative to renovate and increase security at the location. Among the measures are better lighting, reducing “blind spots” where people can hide from security or surveillance cameras, and making the transit center into a “fare zone.” But riders say the problem is not so cut and dry. 

Virgil Norris, 65, rides the bus every day using a physical 10-ride senior citizen pass. The fare boxes inside of the bus often don’t work, he said. 

“They malfunction a whole lot,” he added. 

Bus drivers, in those instances, will just wave riders on, Norris said. However, this means he can’t get a physical transfer pass, which means and commuters and CATS are losing money. 

Norris says he’s called council members Marjorie Molina, Dimple Ajmera, and Tiawana Brown to voice his concerns, to no avail. Norris is also concerned that requiring a fare zone approach would land people like him into unnecessary trouble with the law simply for not having a transfer pass due to faulty fare boxes. 

Judy Chisholm and friends Tammy Simmons and Will Jackson have been using the transit center as a “regular hangout spot for 30 years.” 

“As long as I could get a connection to where I want to go, it’s like the mall,” Jackson said. Now, they may have to find another place to spend time together, as the city has not yet decided whether they’ll renew leases once they’re done renovating the Transit Center. Jackson agreed that getting a physical transfer ticket really “depends on the driver.” 

Simmons said that she wants to know why she must pay while others ride for free. She described instances where people who don’t have tickets or can’t pay the fare get into arguments with drivers, who allow them to ride to avoid confrontation.

None of them believe crime concerns would be solved by closing businesses at the transit center, which riders and employees alike rely on to get a cheap meal. CATS leaders said they are working on figuring which vendors might be able to provide meals to CATS employees. 

“The food places have nothing to do with it,” Simmons said. “It’s the people coming in here with dope and guns.”

Chisholm and her friends say they don’t feel unsafe in the area. 

“You don’t know who’s who,” she said. “There are new faces here every day.” 

Norris said the security detail that CATS contracts should have more supervision. He recalled one incident where a man was dragged out of the Burger King at the Transit Center and beaten in the street. On another occasion, a group of minors were involved in a fight near the light rail stop upstairs and it took about three minutes for security to reach the scene. 

Simmons and Chisholm agree that “security is nasty,” adding they’ve seen service officers beat people. 

Mo, who didn’t want to give his last name, is a manager at the Total Wireless inside the Transit Center’s air-conditioned portion, which also includes restrooms and a U.S. Fried Chicken. Although the businesses have all been given a 90-day notice to vacate, nothing has been set in stone. 

“There is nothing official, maybe they close around September,” he said. When asked if he ever felt unsafe at the transit center, his answer was “of course.” 

“There are so much angry people, people who are sick or with problems, no patience,” he said. “Especially at night.” 

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