The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), the largest transit system between Atlanta and Washington, D.C., consists of more than 70 local, express, and regional bus routes, and a successful 9.6-mile (15.5 km) light-rail line. CATS manages daily operations of the region’s transit services within a six-county area while advancing planning for a regional rapid transit system integrated with land use plans. This long-range planning is captured in the 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan, which covers light rail, commuter rail, streetcar, bus rapid transit, and expanded bus service. The plan has attracted national attention for integrating land use and economic development strategies with transit planning.
The following is a look at each of these rail projects, their funding, and the prospects for the future.
LYNX South Corridor Light Rail
Trains on the 9.6-mile leg of the LYNX Light Rail Blue Line, which opened in 2007 at a cost of just over $460 million, service 15 stations and account for an average of 15,500 passenger trips every day, or 4.8 million trips a year. It is the only light-rail system in the United States that runs through a convention center. It also has public art at all stations and along the route.
The I-485/South Boulevard Station is an example of a successful public partnership. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools donated the land for the parking deck to CATS. In return, CATS built a three-story parking structure and created a playing field on top of the parking deck for Sterling Elementary School students.
Just before the line opened, voters by a 70–30 margin rejected a bond referendum that would have repealed the half-cent local sales tax that funds transit, thereby approving continued transit support and investment.
Case Study in Historic South End
| Condo apartments and townhouses at3030 South, a transit-oriented developmentnear Charlotte’s New Bern transit station. |
The portion of the LYNX Light Rail Blue Line that has seen the most success serves Charlotte’s Historic South End. This 1.5-mile (2.4 km) stretch provides an example of how transit and land use policies that incorporate goals for sustainable growth have influenced development patterns.
The city’s South End Transit Station Area Plan has produced remarkable growth in South End, including the addition of 2,960 residents and, since 2007, a 58 percent increase in housing units. It also has helped attract more than 860 new retail and commercial businesses and 328 new design- and creativity-oriented businesses. A $500 million investment in the light-rail infrastructure has contributed to $450 million in development projects since 2007.
Blue Line Extension to UNC–Charlotte
The Northeast Corridor light-rail project will extend the LYNX Blue Line South Corridor and continue implementation of the region’s integrated transit and land use vision. The LYNX Blue Line extension is to begin service later this decade with 19,000 passengers daily. By 2030, ridership is expected to grow to 25,000 daily trips.
The first planned expansion of light rail is an 11-mile (17.7 km), $1.07 billion extension of the Blue Line from the Center City northeast to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus. The plan received a boost from the federal government in February when the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recommended an additional $70 million for the project, and local hopes are high that the FTA will sign a full funding grant agreement later this year, committing $530 million in federal construction dollars to the line, which will account for about half its cost.
The Northeast Corridor is one of the Charlotte area’s fastest-growing areas. “The work we’re doing today will have a major impact not only on the future of transit in Charlotte, but also on shaping the future of the area’s economic development, especially the university and NoDa [the North Davidson arts and entertainment district just north of Uptown Charlotte] areas,” says Danny Rogers, CATS senior project manager for the Northeast Corridor.
| The Charlotte Transportation Center inUptown houses the customer servicecenter for CATS and its transit police office. |
The Northeast Corridor is already realizing economic development benefits related to the project, even before construction of the rail extension begins, particularly in the NoDa area, where construction of mixed-use transit-oriented development (TOD) projects is underway. A recent TOD analysis by CATS projects that by 2030, station areas will include 25,000 new multifamily housing units, 9 million square feet (840,000 sq m) of office space, and 2.3 million square feet (213,000 sq m) of retail space.
The city expects to continue its capital investment program into infrastructure to support development around light-rail stations, as was done in the South Corridor. This program will improve access to the stations for all modes of travel, including bicycling, walking, and driving, and will promote higher-density development and redevelopment.
If the FTA full grant funding agreement is signed and the other half of the funding is secured in equal parts from CATS and the North Carolina Department of Transportation, construction of the Blue Line extension could start before the end of 2013, with an opening set for 2017, says CATS chief executive Carolyn Flowers.
Commuter Rail: The North Corridor
The funding sources and entities involved in the planning and execution of the proposed North Corridor Commuter Rail Project, or Red Line, are slightly different from those involved in the Blue Line Light Rail transit corridors. This proposed 25-mile (40.2 km), $452 million commuter-rail system is projected to operate over existing tracks owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation between Uptown Charlotte and Mooresville, in Iredell County, and include the small towns along the line. Because this transit line does not qualify for the same federal funding as the Blue Line, the approach to funding must be more creative.
Also, because it is commuter rail rather than light rail, other requirements differ. Major improvements are needed for the line, including replacement of ties and rail, new signal systems, and protection of at-grade crossings. Plans call for construction of up to 12 stations and a vehicle maintenance facility. Planners expect that by 2030, the line will be used by 5,000 commuters daily, the vast majority of whom now travel by single-occupancy vehicle along I-77 and parallel state highways.
| Paths accessible to bicycles and pedestrians run along theLYNX light-rail line. |
The project calls for creation of a joint governing authority along the rail corridor and implementation of a special tax district and various other economic development incentives.
In February, the Iredell County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously against participation in the North Corridor project. The commission chairman says the board is willing to reconsider only if several provisions are met, including a limit on construction costs.
Nine government and transit bodies would have to come on board for the proposed project to proceed. In an effort to reach consensus, supporters are gathering information from the various partner agencies and municipalities and plan to submit a new proposal by this summer. If they are successful, the Red Line would open in 2017 or 2018.
A Plan for the Future
Most growing urban regions experience common problems—increasing travel demand caused by a rising population, a roadway system rapidly becoming insufficient to meet needs, the threat of automobile dependence and air pollution, and the need to integrate land use and transportation to meet projected growth. Once completed according to Charlotte’s 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan, CATS will consist of 25 miles (40 km) of commuter rail, 21 miles (34 km) of light rail, 16 miles (25.7 km) of streetcar lines, 14 miles (22.5 km) of bus rapid transit lines, and an expanded network of buses and other transit services. The 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan addresses those common problems with a focus on land use and economic development to create a city well-positioned for the future.
