CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- What started as a question from a viewer like you helped us to get some more information from CATS on citations and ridership, specifically in the last five years. CATS said in fiscal year 2024, there were 14,759,377 passenger trips.

Eight days before Iryna Zarutska was stabbed on the light rail – we were already asking questions about CATS fares and enforcement. Now, we have the numbers.

Citations according to CATS: • 2020: 83 citations • 2021: 93 citations • 2022: 87 citations • 2023: 4,757 citations • 2024: 2,038 citations • 2025: (Through Sept. 11) 1,500 citations

Officials noted that CATS was fare-free from March 25, 2020, until June 8, 2020, systemwide. Ridership across the system began to increase closer to normal levels in 2023 wh

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