The Future of Charlotte Rail

The Future of Charlotte Rail

By Reid Banerjee

It is a critical time for the future of public transit in Charlotte. The Charlotte Area Transit System has put forward four plans for the future, and currently must decide between them. The four plans all include a new commuter rail line to the north, dubbed the “Red Line”, a bus improvement system, called “Better Bus”, and an extension to the currently existing Gold Line. However, CATS must now decide how to develop the new rapid transit corridor from east to west, the Silver Line.

The Current State of Charlotte Rail

Charlotte has made significant investments into rail in the past years. The most notable is the Blue Line, the light rail line that stretches from I-485 at South Blvd to UNCC’s main campus. First opened in 2007, the Blue Line has served many riders and was extended in 2018 from ending in uptown to ending at UNCC. The other major presence of rail in Charlotte is seen in the streetcar, the Gold Line. Running from the Hawthorne Lane Bridge to Johnson C. Smith University, the Gold Line is smaller and slower than light rail, and often does not have a dedicated lane. The Gold Line has received mixed opinions, with critics claiming that it is ineffective and costly, especially after an incident in the construction of Hawthorne Lane Bridge, where a contractor ordered the wrong type of girders, costing millions. The Gold Line was planned with three phases: the first opened in 2015, and the second in 2021. The third phase is still planned, but progress has been slow following criticism. 

The Funding Debacle

Any kind of rapid transit is very expensive— it not only requires stations, track, cars, and more, but other infrastructure like bridges often needs to be created to accommodate the trains. In order to fund any new transit lines in Charlotte, a 1 percent sales tax increase has been proposed. This sales tax increase would be put up to vote via a referendum, meaning that it would appear on the ballot for people to vote on. However, in order to hold this referendum, the Republican-dominated NC State legislature must approve it. The plan for many years, adopted by the Metropolitan Transit Commission when the Blue Line was being created, allowed for 90 percent of the funds from this sales tax increase to go to rail. However, the State Republicans have raised concerns over this level of funding for rail. As such, the amount of funding for rail has been reduced to only 40 percent. An additional 40 percent would now go to road improvements, and the remaining 20 percent to expanding the bus system. Even after these changes, the bill’s future is not certain. Though the bill has finally been filed, a step forward for the plan, it still remains to be seen whether it can pass through the legislature. There are additional steps that must be completed before the funding can be secured, so it is unknown if the referendum will appear on the ballot in 2025 or a later year. Though the exact specifications of the funding has yet to be confirmed, there is little doubt that parts of the currently planned routes must be cut. In order to do this, CATS has released four plans that have been fiscally constrained to the new requirements. 

The Red Line

CATS has stated that the Red Line is their first priority. In fact, in the bill allowing for the sales tax referendum, the completion of the Red Line is required by law.  The Red Line is a proposed Commuter Rail line running from the Charlotte Gateway Station in Uptown through Huntersville, Cornelius, and Davidson. This line would run along an existing track, as opposed to building it all from scratch. Some progress has been made with CATS securing a deal to purchase rights to existing track from Norfolk Southern last year. 

The Silver Line: Light Rail vs. Rapid Bus Transit

The main difference between the plans is the amount that light rail and Rapid Bus Transit are utilized to cover the same routes, especially the planned Silver Line. Light rail is what currently exists with the Blue Line. This type of rapid transit involves dedicated tracks, allowing for the train to run easily and quickly between stops. Rapid Bus Transit is a newer alternative, which is currently being implemented in many cities around the United States. In this type of rapid transit, larger buses are used. These buses may have dedicated lanes for all or part of their route, and usually have things such as signal priority to ensure they keep a steady pace. CATS has not determined exactly how they would implement Rapid Bus Transit, but would likely have dedicated lanes for only part of the route. Rapid Bus Transit would likely have enhanced bus stops, which may include ways to purchase tickets before boarding the bus. Overall, however, light rail offers a faster and more comfortable rider experience. So why is Rapid Bus Transit being considered? As mentioned above, the budget for rail has been cut severely, and as such light rail will not be able to initially cover all of the area that is desired. Rapid Bus Transit is not cheap, but would allow much more of the transit corridor to be covered sooner. Light rail would require only part of the route to be built, and hope that further funding in the future would be opened up to extend the line. CATS will not abandon the parts of the corridor not served by light rail however, as they would ensure that buses run the remaining length needed. Essentially the plans either allow the entire corridor to be served by Rapid Bus Transit, or allow for the smoother and faster light rail experience by using a shortened route, with the rest of the route being covered by buses.

The Blue Line Extension

In addition to the Silver Line, one other part of the plan may change depending on which scenario is chosen. In all plans the Blue Line will be further expanded to Pineville. However, in Scenarios 3 and 4, the line would receive a small extension from Pineville to Ballantyne. Scenarios 1 and 2, those with more light rail for the silver line, would require this section to wait for future funding. 

All images used in this Spotlight have been courtesy of CATS 

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