2030 Transit Plan

[monsoon]

Now we have this.

I guess it could be taken as a sign that CATS is not held in high regards these days.

Vespa Purchase Plan

[e2ksj3]

Now we have this.

I guess it could be taken as a sign that CATS is not held in high regards these days.

Vespa Purchase Plan

[orulz]

Our built environment would be a great deal better if more people rode vespas. It's a very flexible mode of transportation, and it needs a much narrower right-of-way, and takes a lot less space to than a car...

That notwithstanding, I'd still rather our cities be built around pedestrians and transit than scooters.

[A2]

Now we have this.

I guess it could be taken as a sign that CATS is not held in high regards these days.

Vespa Purchase Plan

[JerseyBoy]

The people in this county amaze me...

That really got me mad (yet I laughed alot due to the stupidness of it) that people would be so ignorant to think of an idea like this.

[A2]

The numbers don't work for me. They are assuming 63,000 scooters in leiu of the Transit. Call me crazy, but isn't the city population alone nearing 700,000. Now, I know that not all 650K+ residents will ride mass transit, but assuming 63K is a bit ridiculous since many trips will be made by more than just the people along the line. I don't live down South, but would use the line to go from work Uptown, to say Southend to eat, shop, and be merry. Plus something tells me that the cute little Vespa's life cycle is a few million miles less than that of a light rail train. I guess the proponent of such an idea, would just assume buy another Vespa for 63K residents once the old ones gave up the ghost.

A2

(Please excuse my ignorance in using the South Line as the example as I have now read that this is all about the Northern towns. However, the principle still applies)

[Justadude]

Um... isn't it pretty obvious that the website is satire? The point is that the light rail line is so ridiculously expensive that CATS could as easily buy a personal vehicle for everyone in North Meck. Any unrealistic numbers or assumptions are intended to reflect on CATS' inability to plan effectively.

[monsoon]

A story about this website and plan showed up on the front page of the Huntersville paper yesterday.

[A2]

Um... isn't it pretty obvious that the website is satire? The point is that the light rail line is so ridiculously expensive that CATS could as easily buy a personal vehicle for everyone in North Meck. Any unrealistic numbers or assumptions are intended to reflect on CATS' inability to plan effectively.

[monsoon]

I get the impression this is more anti-CATS.

[Miesian Corners]

The real story here is that even those who want LRT to go away don't realize that the half cent tax has built a very good bus system here in Charlotte. That money doesn't just fund LRT, it funds ALL mass transit. Get this, these petition bozos showed up at the Transit Center uptown and were getting those riding TRANSIT to sign it!! People don't realize what they've signed at all. Amazing (and quite sad, really).

[RiverwoodCLT]

In the Charlotte Business Journal on line, 61% vote so far to keep the transit tax.

Hope they will all show up and in November and vote for the tax.

[monsoon]

^I am not sure if the CBJ's readership is representative of the average voter in this county.

On a related note on how this might go, Mayor Knox of Cornelius, one of the biggest supporters of the transit system, said the biggest problem dogging the entire deal to build the North line is the inequity in the funding formula. i.e. the North Line is slated to receive a smaller portion of the CATS tax than the South LRT or any of the other lines for that matter even though the area it serves may very well produce a greater share of the tax than all the rest. (He did not provide a clarification of that) According to the paper Knox suggested that if left to its own devices, that north Mecklenburg could probably fund a nice transit system if it just kept its share of the tax. The paper admits that with the current system this is a political unreality even though it's very logical.

The point of this is that I think the general attitude of the people in the North, that actually support the transit system, is the disappointment in what CATS has proposed for the North as being inadequate because enough money is not being spent on it. This after waiting more than a decade for the transit line in the first place. Let's remember a DMU was first proposed and actually demonstrated for this corridor way back in 1994 with great local support and long before the South LRT was imagined. The result of the North getting involved in a regional system over just working to build the line independently has led to delays, uncertainty, distrust and has eroded support due to Tober and Siefert's performance in spending their tax money to build the South Line. As a result, if this tax repeal makes it onto the ballet, it could go very badly against it since the population in the North is one that usually turns out in high numbers.

[ChiefJoJo]

^I am not sure if the CBJ's readership is representative of the average voter in this county.

On a related note on how this might go, Mayor Knox of Cornelius, one of the biggest supporters of the transit system, said the biggest problem dogging the entire deal to build the North line is the inequity in the funding formula. i.e. the North Line is slated to receive a smaller portion of the CATS tax than the South LRT or any of the other lines for that matter even though the area it serves may very well produce a greater share of the tax than all the rest. (He did not provide a clarification of that) According to the paper Knox suggested that if left to its own devices, that north Mecklenburg could probably fund a nice transit system if it just kept its share of the tax. The paper admits that with the current system this is a political unreality even though it's very logical.

[monsoon]

How is the funding formula not equitable? The entire system was intended to be built based on a certain funding share from the feds, state and local (50/25/25). The FTA dictates that ridership projections be done in accordance with their methodology. CATS has done this and still the north line does not meet it's criteria for federal funding (whether it should or not is another matter altogether). Despite this effort, based on the (arguably inequitable) balance of power on the MTC, they voted to proceed with the North line next with a large share of local money to help supplement the line in lieu of federal money. What is inequitable about that?

[Miesian Corners]

The stop the train morons are at UNCC today. Stop by and give them an earful (like I did). They are currently in front of Fretwell screaming to passers by to "lower the sales tax". The guy I spoke with even admitted that he rides the bus. I told him that I hope he has the money to buy a car, because if this passes, his life will become increasingly difficult using CATS. His reply? "Just because you sign the petition doesn't mean you have to vote yes in November". Idiots. He's screwing himself for a lousy $75 dollars a day.

[e2ksj3]

My feeling on this right now is if the repeal makes it onto the ballot, is that it will be voted down.

[jednc]

I mean really, if someone said sign this to lower the sales tax without explaining what it is wouldn't you?

[monsoon]

WCNC, which at least seems to try to provide a better quality newscast, did do a story this morning about the people being duped by the transit repeal people. What was different about this one was the fact they reported that if you were misled by this group then you could call the BOE and get your name removed from the petition. Hopefully people will realize this and get their name taken off.

[nowensone]

The stop the train morons are at UNCC today. Stop by and give them an earful (like I did). They are currently in front of Fretwell screaming to passers by to "lower the sales tax". The guy I spoke with even admitted that he rides the bus. I told him that I hope he has the money to buy a car, because if this passes, his life will become increasingly difficult using CATS. His reply? "Just because you sign the petition doesn't mean you have to vote yes in November". Idiots. He's screwing himself for a lousy $75 dollars a day.

[ChiefJoJo]

I'm really worried about our species sometimes, we really may not be destined for long term survival..

[New Name]

I flip between all the nightly newscasts, and read the "O" every day and I am pretty confident that the local media is doing a good job in outting this petition for what it is. There really is nothing more that can be done, and all we can hope is that enough people will gain enough education before November to have a clear idea of what this is all about.

Having said that, the next hurdle for clarification is the sale of Spirit Square. The concensus being that we are selling arts for sports. Let's hope the media can do the same with this issue as with the petition issue.

[A2]

I honestly can't figure out who I'm more upset with...the people trying to be sneaky and get people to sign the petition, or the idiots who sign things without questioning anything.

[JRNYP2C]

I have waited quite a while to toss my 2 cents in about the light rail, but think it is a vaild opinion.

When I lived up north, I rode a light rail every day into work. I used mass transit for 2 solid reasons - 1, to get my rear end out of a car that would sit in traffic and 2, the cost.

Now, granted in the wintertime there would be the occasional snafu with ice and snow, but for the most part, it ran efficiently and without trouble.

The pollution problem up north was not nearly as imminently bad as it has the potential here in Charlotte. For those who are duping people into signing this ridiculous petition, I really hope you can sleep at night. It is a shame that a small group of narrow minded people are getting so much attention.

I have seen a LOT of opinions about Charlotte striving to be this "world class" city on UP and in the Observer over the past several years. I'm not claiming to have extensive knowledge of other light rail lines in other cities (Dallas, Denver and LA come to mind), but I would be safe in saying taxpayers knew that the LR was NOT going to be an inexpensive endeavor. But in the long run, this WILL help Charlotte. The density that will occur around the line from the south will help get people out of their cars for work to uptown or shopping/dining in the southend. Thankfully, the half cent tax was passed and enough people were able to make a concerted decision about the future of transit in Charlotte.

I think the biggest and most important aspect of the LR is more cars off the road. This will help the air quality and, as many have mentioned, more transit dollars coming our way. Cleaner air has a bigger impact to me though.

If I still lived over by Park Road Shopping Center, I would be yelling the benefits of LR from the highest tree! I am a proponent of it already, but would be even more so if I had the opportunity to use it every day.

I'm not sold on the commuter rail line and bus and LR being all jumbled together. It seems very disjointed in its efficiency and application to me - but I'm not an urban planner or engineer. Maybe one of those in the know on UP can help us newbies understand the mindset between having too many forms of mass transit.

I really have learned a lot already from reading this site over the past year and hope to learn a lot more. It definitely keeps me attached to the important things that help make this part of the country a great place to live!

[ChiefJoJo]

How much does everyone feel that the Observer's coverage has shaped the transit debate?

Now that Dr Traffic has left the paper, I wonder if his replacement will be as anti-transit as he seemed to be. Then again, maybe it's way above the staff reporter level. I always thought Diane Whitacre was very fair-minded in her reporting, although she only covered the infancy of rapid transit at the end of her ~20-year reign.