Capital Area Transit (Raleigh)
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[edit] Overview
Raleigh CAT, or Capital Area Transit operates 37 bus routes and 1 trolley route to serve the city of Raleigh, North Carolina.
[edit] History
[edit] Early days
Previous to the CAT system CP&L (Carolina Power & Light, now known as Progress Energy) provided public transit to the city, starting in 1886 with mule-drawn vehicles and covering routes in 1 square mile (3 km²) of central Raleigh. In 1891, the mule-drawn service came to an end, and the electric street car service began. The street cars served several routes, covering about 2 square miles (5 km²) of the city. Due to rapid advances in automotive technology at that time, in 1933 all electric street car services ended, replaced by gasoline-powered buses. Ridership remained strong until the 1950s, when the popularity of private vehicles began to reduce transit ridership nationwide.
- 1881-1894 - Raleigh Street Railway
- 1894-1908 - Raleigh Electric Co.
- 1908-1921 - Carolina Power & Light Co.
- 1921-1925 - Carolina Power & Light Co. (Electric Bond & Shares Co.)
- 1925-1946 - Carolina Power & Light Co. (National Power & Light Co.)
- 1930s - streetcars discontinued
- 1946-1950 - Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L).
- 1950-1958 - White Transportation Co.
- After 1958 - Raleigh City Coach Lines (City Coach Lines, Inc.)
[edit] Current system
In the mid- to late-20th century, CP&L stopped ended its operation of transit services in the city, and the current publicly-owned CAT system was created. The city of Raleigh initially contracted with private companies to operate the system, however in the early 1990s the city took over its operation.
[edit] The Raleigh Trolley
The Raleigh Trolley was created to attract people to the restaurants and clubs in downtown Raleigh at night. The trolley line originally linked Moore Square/City Market area to the Glenwood South entertainment district, but the route was altered to link Moore Square with the Progress Energy center for Performing Arts after Progress Energy became a sponsor of the trolley service. In 2005, CAT purchased 2 new hybrid trolleys (first hybrid public transit vehicles ever to be used in North Carolina) to serve the current trolley route.
[edit] Routes and services
[edit] Routes
All CAT routes have a number and a name. A "c" added to the number denotes a connector route, and an "e" denotes an express route.
- 1 Capital
- 2 Falls of Neuse
- 3 Glascock
- 4 Rex Hospital
- 5 Biltmore Hills
- 6 Crabtree
- 7 South Saunders
- 7c Carolina Pines/Rush Street Crosstown Connector
- 8 Northclift
- 8c Sawmill Cat Connector
- 10 Longview
- 11 Avent Ferry
- 12 Method
- 13 Chavis Heights
- 15 WakeMed
- 15c Trawick Cat Connector
- 16 Oberlin Rd.
- 18 Worthdale
- 19 Apollo Heights
- 21 Caraleigh
- 22 State Street
- 23c Millbrook Crosstown Connector
- 24c North Crosstown
- 25c Triangle Town Center
- 26c Early East
- 27 Southeast
- 28 Southwest
- 29c North Night Connector
- 30 Northeast
- 31 New Hope Commons
- 32 Sanderford Road
- 33c Glenwood Creedmoor Connector
- 34 WakeMed - Poole
- 35 Poole Rd.
- 36 Garner Station
- 70e Brier Creek Express
[edit] Hours and levels of operation
CATs current service level is based upon year 2 of the 5 year plan.
CAT currently operates 26 regular fixed routes that serve the downtown transit plaza and operate 5:30am-7:00pm Monday-Saturday, as well as 10 connector routes and 1 express route that do not serve the downtown area. An evening trolley route also operates downtown, Thursday-Saturday, 5:30 - 11:30pm.
During the hours of 4:30am-5:30am Monday-Saturday, 7:00pm-12:00am Monday-Saturday and 8:00am-8:00pm Sunday, the number of routes serving the city is reduced to anywhere from 3 to 17 routes depending on the day and time.
3 additional routes (1 serving downtown and 2 express from Park and Ride Lots) operate from 7:00am-12:00am during all the dates of the NC State Fair.
| 4:30 a.m.-10 a.m. | 10 a.m.-3 p.m. | 3 p.m.-7 p.m. | 7 p.m.-12 a.m. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekdays | 30 minutes+ | 60 minutes++ | 30 minutes+ | 60 minutes |
| 4:30 a.m.-7 p.m. | 7 p.m.-12 a.m. | |||
| Saturday | 60 minutes++ | 60 minutes | ||
| 8 a.m.-8 p.m. | ||||
| Sundays | 60 minutes | |||
| 5:30pm-11:30pm | ||||
| Trolley (TH-SA) | 15 minutes | |||
| 7:00am-12:00am | ||||
| State Fair | 20-30 minutes |
+ Some bus routes operate at a greater or lesser frequency during these times
++ Some bus routes operate at a greater frequency at these times. 70e does not operate during midday hours.
Because some bus routes are designed to serve areas unserved by the regular 26 CAT bus routes, during extended hours (before 5:30am and after 7:00pm M-SA and all day SU), there is not any time during the day where all 37 bus routes operate. Some bus routes may only operate during Early Mornings ONLY (4:30am-5:30am), Evenings ONLY(7:00pm-12:00am), and/or Sundays ONLY. Note that a small portion of the regular 26 CAT bus routes DO operate during extended hours.
[edit] Five-year plan
In 2002, CAT spent $200,000 to hire consultants to come up with a 5 year plan to improve public transit in the city of Raleigh. At that time, most bus schedules were 10 years out of date. It wasn't until FY 2006 that the City Council gave CAT the additional funding needed to begin implementing year 1 of the 5 year plan. At the start of FY 2007 the City Council gave CAT the additional funding need for year 2 of the 5 year plan (which took effect on bus routes in January, 2007). The City Council gave CAT additional funding for year 3 of the 5 year plan for the FY 2008 (July 2007-June 2008). Year 3 changes include an increase in frequencies on routes with high ridership (Routes: #1, #2, #5), as well as extended bus service on Glenwood Avenue, and an additional bus line to service South-East Raleigh. It has not been made public when year 3 changes will take effect.
Currently, CAT is stressed with a shortage of busses and an overcrowded garage. CAT currently operates out of a garage originally designed for a maximum of 56 busses, which has currently been modified to hold CAT’s 90 busses. In May 2008, the North Carolina Board of Transportation awarded CAT with $3.5 million for 13 buses and $2.8 million to to buy land and design a new administration building and garage.
In addition to planned changes in the 5 year plan, CAT is expected to begin operations of a Wake Forest to downtown Raleigh rush-hour express line, a Wake Forest to Triangle Town Center route (both in partnership with Triangle Transit, and the town of Wake Forest), a downtown Raleigh Circulator, and a Wake Tech South Campus express line (likely in partnership with Wake Tech community college), all expected to begin Late July-Early September, 2008.
[edit] Funding
CAT is funded by the City of Raleigh. CAT's current budget is $13 million for FY 2007, up from $10 million in FY 2006. All but $5 million of the funding comes from the city. The increase in funding comes 100% from the city.
The city collects all the fare earned from the busses. It is estimated that each ride taken on the CAT bus costs the city $2.50, while bus fare is just $1.00.
[edit] Ridership
According to Raleigh's News 14 Carolina, CAT ridership for April 2008 was 317,000. This is up 11% from April 2007. CAT ridership, however, remains low in comparison to neighboring bus systems, Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA), which counted 418,000 riders, and Chapel Hill Transit, which counted 621,000 passengers over the same period of time (April 2008).
According to the city budget FY 2006, the ridership levels on business days averages over 13,000 daily, up from 11,000 daily in September 2005 (when gas prices began to climb after Hurricane Katrina), and 8,000 daily in the year 2002.
[edit] Response to the threat of terrorism
There have been no serious terrorist threats or attacks on Raleigh public transit in the city's history, however on May 4, 2007 a bomb threat was received at a regional transit call center at about 9am. Buses in the Triangle, including an estimated 55 CAT buses, which were pulled over, evacuated, and searched. The caller indicated there was a bomb on an unspecified bus, a Raleigh transit official said the caller mentioned identifying numbers that did not match any Capital Area Transit buses or routes. The bomb threat was cleared but left buses anywhere from 5-90 minutes behind schedule.
Transit Watch is a new public awareness program launched by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in collaboration with the DHS Transit Security Administration (TSA) that encourages people to watch for and report safety (e.g. strange smells, smoke, or other potential hazards) and/or security threats (such as abandoned bags or suspicious behavior) on public transit. In early 2006 CAT entered into the campaign.
[edit] Other transit services operating in Raleigh
[edit] ART
ART, or Accessible Raleigh Transit, a subsidized taxicab program, serves residents living within 3/4 of a mile of a fixed bus route in the city that are unable to use the regular fixed-route service due to a disability.
[edit] C-TRAN
Public transit in Cary is provided by C-Tran. There are three fixed routes: North-South, East-West and the Maynard Loop. There is also a door-to-door service for the elderly (55+) and riders with disabilities.
[edit] Durham Area Transit Authority
The Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA) operates one route that extends to the Brier Creek area of northwest Raleigh, in addition to its many routes serving the city of Durham.
[edit] Triangle Transit
Triangle Transit (formerly the Triangle Transit Authority), is a regional transit service that connects Raleigh with neighboring cities, suburbs, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and Research Triangle Park. Triangle Transit also organizes a vanpool program serving the Research Triangle metropolitan region.
[edit] Wolfline
The Wolfline operates nearly a dozen routes that serve the NCSU (North Carolina State University) community and surrounding areas in west Raleigh. In addition to serving NCSU students, faculty and staff, the Wolfline system is available for use by the general public.
[edit] Sources
[edit] Websites
[edit] Documents
- CAT 5 year plan
- City Budget FY 2007
[edit] Other
- Raleigh City Museum - History of Transportation in Raleigh
