Capital Area Transit (Raleigh)
Capital Area Transit
Headquarters 1430 South Blount St.
Locale
Raleigh, NC
Service type
bus service
Alliance
Raleigh Transit Authority
Routes
38
Stops
1700
Hubs
Crabtree Valley Mall (Served
by 6 Routes)
Stations
1 (Moore Square Transit
Station)
Daily
ridership
13,000
Fuel type
Diesel and Biodiesel
Operator
Veolia Transportation
Chief
executive
Scott McClellan
Web site
Welcome to Transit
Raleigh CAT, or Capital Area Transit oper-
ates 38 public transit routes to serve the city
of Raleigh, North Carolina.
History
Early days
Previous to the CAT system CP&L (Carolina
Power & Light, now known as Progress En-
ergy) 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 rap-
id 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.)
Current system
In the mid- to late-20th century, CP&L ended
its operation of transit services in the city,
and the current publicly-owned CAT system
was created. The city of Raleigh initially con-
tracted with private companies to operate
the system, however in the early 1990s the
city took over its operation.
The Raleigh Trolley
The Raleigh Trolley was