CSU Spotlight

The Future of Charlotte Rail

By Reid Banerjee

Public Transportation is incredibly important to Charlotte. Over the years we have seen it grow: First with the creation and its following expansion of the Blue line in 2007 and 2018, and also with the more criticized Gold Line which opened in 2015, and was expanded in 2021. Public transit helps a growing Charlotte deal with its ever-increasing population, and needs to grow with it. In order to continue to expand our transit system, a 1 percent sales tax increase has been proposed. However, to get this increase passed by the State Legislature, cuts have been made to the amount of funding that can go to rail. In order to account for this decrease in funding while still serving the areas that they have promised rail projects to for many years, the Charlotte Area Transit System has proposed 4 scenarios. These scenarios fully fund the Red Line, a planned commuter rail line; an expansion to the gold line, finishing the initial plans for the project; and the bus system enhancement project called Better Bus. However, the Silver Line, a planned light rail project stretching from the Airport to Matthews, must be constrained to fit within the new funding rules. CATS must now determine whether to focus on serving the entire transit corridor using Rapid Bus Transit, or favor a faster and more comfortable experience with a shortened Light Rail. In order to gather feedback on this issue, CATS has published a survey to determine the public’s priorities. 

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