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CATS Long Term Transit Plan - Silver, Red Lines


monsoon

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I'd be cool with that as long as they don't build in the traditional UNCC/CPCC style ugh, hate it.

Haha I agree, although I'm one of the few who mostly likes how the University conforms throughout the main campus, I'm glad that the Uptown Building was modern and funky.  I'd bet if they added more uptown buildings it would be in this theme.  I'm just worried about how it is gonna age.

 

They should buy all Levine's parking lots for a second campus :)

 

Sorry about derailing this thread haha.

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The power play will be interesting, no longer will Foxx be championing for CLT (if impartial), but will instead control the purse strings on projects throughout the nation.  Our governor can ask for funds for pet projects, but will Foxx be amenable, and would McCrory even ask for such funds to begin with?

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In a nice surprise the Observer has a well-thought aticle on what Charlotte and NC transportation infrastructure Secretary Foxx may be able to influence from his new posistion.

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/29/4011823/at-dot-anthony-foxx-could-influence.html

I find it funny that the article states that if the State House approved the airport authority bill, that the FAA and the DOT Secretary....who will be Foxx, must approve the authority. I wonder what Foxx would decide going from being the under dog to the big dog in charge. Either he will say no to the authority, or he will demand changes to an authority that benefits Charlotte. This drama is becoming more and more interesting to watch by the day!

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I find it funny that the article states that if the State House approved the airport authority bill, that the FAA and the DOT Secretary....who will be Foxx, must approve the authority. I wonder what Foxx would decide going from being the under dog to the big dog in charge. Either he will say no to the authority, or he will demand changes to an authority that benefits Charlotte. This drama is becoming more and more interesting to watch by the day!

I been laughing all day to myself imagining McPope & The rest of the good ole boys that work for the GubMint in Raleigh looking bewildered to the theme of the Dukes of Hazard :D this is interesting indeed. Pretty interesting. Funny, if you will. We -might- get our streetcar and have a heavy say in our airport.

All of the major news articles speak strongly about Foxx wanting to focus on primarily rail transportation and investing in the Metro areas to spur TOD.

Barnes says he's open to putting money aside for streetcar of they could get a federal match. :)

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/06/4025745/group-suggests-new-transit-tax.html

 

New suggestions and insights from a transit funding task force on building and financing the rest of the 2035 transit plan:

 

  • Utilize loans from the state and feds, along with an additional half-cent tax. With a loan from the feds, the city could finance 33% of the streetcar project and 30% of rapid transit on Independence Blvd
  • Partnerships with private developers. Denver was able to build their 36-mile long commuter line with the help of private investors
  • Ramp up on advertising and sponsorships on buses and Lynx
  • The task force seems to favor light rail for the Independence Blvd corridor; the price for such a project would be about $1.5 Billion
  • The task force also favored the original streetcar plan to the airport. They suggested that the line stop just short of reaching the airport, and that the airport itself could help finance extending the rest of the line. They also think the streetcar plan is eligible for $75 million in grants, and that Fox being chosen as the Secretary of Transportation could really help sway things in Charlotte's favor.

The final report will be submitted to the MTC in the coming weeks...

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Haha, CO comments are nuts on that article. People lose it over streetcar. Maybe Charlotte should just come up with a new name for it. Like "Conservative non-tire, coal fired, road bus". Road. Bus. Coal. They'll support it in a heartbeat.

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Haha, CO comments are nuts on that article. People lose it over streetcar. Maybe Charlotte should just come up with a new name for it. Like "Conservative non-tire, coal fired, road bus". Road. Bus. Coal. They'll support it in a heartbeat.

Because it doesnt suggest setting up bails of hay on a trailor attached to a go ole ford tractor to run people in from the airport.

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Haha, CO comments are nuts on that article. People lose it over streetcar. Maybe Charlotte should just come up with a new name for it. Like "Conservative non-tire, coal fired, road bus". Road. Bus. Coal. They'll support it in a heartbeat.

I say screw it, just build it, these idiots don't go to that part of town, they'll never notice...

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Interesting piece from the article about the task force mentioning they focal figured light rail down independence.

Wouldn't Light Rail & Monroe streetcar canabilize each others ridership? I know they mentioned intertwining some routes and suggest the Airport streetcar go on airport property to use airport money for streetcar (.......).

I'd like to see streetcar to southpark instead of Monroe... Though I guess we'll have to wait until 2035 for those talks to start up. I also think extending Lynx to Pineville & Ballanetyne & N. 485. Another shame we have to wait an eternity just to discuss...

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Haha, CO comments are nuts on that article. People lose it over streetcar. Maybe Charlotte should just come up with a new name for it. Like "Conservative non-tire, coal fired, road bus". Road. Bus. Coal. They'll support it in a heartbeat.

 

It's always amazing to me how if you use the word "tax" and/or "transit" in any article on the CO, it just creates a firestorm of whining and complaining without thinking about potential benefits to servicing the metro area's residents. Then again, these are the same people that feel uptown is dangerous but haven't been there since 1989.

Edited by wend28
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CO comments are often quite gutter-dwelling.  It is particularly ironic that conservatives are the ones who rarely or never set foot on a bus because of class snobbery, but WOULD/DO use rail transit.  If society rode buses at the same level as rail, this would not be a pursuit of the technocrats, who see the numbers and know the areas that need capacity expansions, and have the ridership models.

 

It is quite frustrating that we are now pursuing a doubled revenue source just to get to the same dusty plan envisioned during the McCrory-Tober era.   I would think that time has taught us a few things, mainly that this city far prefers light rail over streetcar.

 

Perhaps we will get lucky and we can pass this tax AND the US Congress will pass ecommerce sales tax collection and allow the city some leeway to think a little bigger than a few streetcars that half the city will hate all through the planning.

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I'm actually thrilled that the task force is proposing a number of options, several of which could get things moving quickly on projects.

 

I too question the light rail down Independence as I thought it was a foregone conclusion that it was decided it was not going to work versus a streetcar down Monroe.

 

It does seem though that the task force wants to go more on the offensive of getting funding and building versus the defensive of constantly dealing with all the anti-mass transit types which makes me most happy.

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Just find a way to do the streetcar routes on exclusive lanes and you can call it light rail.  Wilkinson Boulevard out to the airport is certainly wide enough to carve out some exclusive right-of-way.  As many pedestrian crossings of Elizabeth Avenue there are around CPCC, it may as well be a transit-ped mall.  And just imagine a car-free square at Trade and Tryon.

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With this talk from the GOP about slashing income taxes and broadening the base of sales taxes to include services in addition to goods, there may be a silver lining for transit depending on implementation. While one can debate the merits and demerits all day, if one reads between the lines, if the 1/2c option sales tax in Mecklenburg, Durham, and Orange county is also applied to these services, that's a significant "backdoor" increase in transit money.

 

Although I'm not saying this GOP proposal is worth it because of that, it is food for thought.

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2 things.  1st, here's a link to an article in the NYT about Charlotte and the trend of young people moving to transit and out of cars.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/us/report-finds-americans-are-driving-less-led-by-youth.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

2nd, Ron Carlee will be on Charlotte Talks (9am) on NPR tomorrow morning to talk about the transit plan and his proposal for streetcar funding.  Looking forward to hearing what he has to say publicly.

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^As someone who doesn't drive I can tell you the shocked reactions I get from people in Charlotte when I say I don't have a car.   Growing up in New York City I'm just culturally unused to having a car and never desired for one.  It's been strange living here where my mobility is limited to certain areas.

 

I ride my bike to work each way and I can walk to most stores/restaurants that I need. All that said I would love for the BLE to get to UCity already as the 11 bus is one of the worse in my opinion for reliability.

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^As someone who doesn't drive I can tell you the shocked reactions I get from people in Charlotte when I say I don't have a car.   Growing up in New York City I'm just culturally unused to having a car and never desired for one.  It's been strange living here where my mobility is limited to certain areas.

 

I ride my bike to work each way and I can walk to most stores/restaurants that I need. All that said I would love for the BLE to get to UCity already as the 11 bus is one of the worse in my opinion for reliability.

That bus is STILL unreliable? it was unreliable when I lived on campus at UNCC back in 2004!

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^Yes.  11 is rarely on schedule and it is not uncommon for one to just be so behind that it is full and can't pick up any more riders only half way into the journey.

 

Once I had to wait about 70 minutes for the 11.  According to their schedule their should have been three of them in that time frame.  I complained to CATS and about a month later received a letter saying that they were aware that there was a single bus with a 10 minute delay on the day/time in question and though they were sorry for my inconvenience I should note it was one of their busiest routes.  :shok:

 

It's no doubt that the BLE is needed!

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