CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Metropolitan Transit Commission agreed Wednesday that trains should serve Mooresville and University City but left undecided whether light rail or busways would be built to the airport and Matthews, the Charlotte Observer reported.
It won’t make that decision until 2005, when preliminary engineering is completed on the airport and Matthews lines. The commission voted 8-0 that engineers will study both rail and busway on those two routes.
The decision to continue studying light rail came after intense lobbying by eastside residents who want to see trains running along Independence Boulevard from uptown to Matthews. Westside leaders also support trains.
Construction won’t be delayed, and the decision shouldn’t jeopardize Charlotte Area Transit Commission’s chances to receive federal money, transit chief Ron Tober said. The only direct cost will be an extra $600,000 to begin engineering work on rail and busways instead of only busways.
After the meeting, Tober said CATS cannot afford trains on Independence and Wilkinson boulevards. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory wanted to follow Tober’s recommendation to build busways on Independence and Wilkinson, and adamantly opposed the counter proposal by Matthews Mayor Lee Myers to continuing studying busways and rail.
“I regret we can’t tell taxpayers what this will cost,” McCrory said. He said he expected the transit commission will approve busways on both those routes in two or three years.
The initial vote was 7-1, with McCrory opposed. But even though he had not changed his mind, the Charlotte mayor asked for a revote so the commission could be unanimous.
Dozens of eastside and westside residents clapped their approval. Even though they didn’t get a decision to build light rail, they supported the dual study, hoping trains eventually will be approved.
Myers said technology is changing rapidly, such as a new diesel train that is cheaper than the electrical-powered light rail.
The five-route system will center on uptown, and consultants estimate it would serve 205,000 to 215,000 daily riders by 2025. The fifth route, a light-rail line to south Charlotte, was approved in 2000.
It’s unclear now what the system will cost. Tober estimated his original proposal for two busways and three rail lines would cost $2.9 billion. But building rail on all five routes would raise that cost to $3.9 billion.
Most retail sales in Charlotte-Mecklenburg carry an extra half-cent tax to help pay the cost to build and operate the system. Tober is hoping the U.S. and state governments will pay three-quarters of the construction cost. But Tober says the federal government will not pay to build a Wilkinson train line to the airport because the area is lightly populated and only 3,000 additional transit riders are projected.
When the high cost of rail is compared to that modest increase in ridership, the Federal Transit Administration will decide the project is too expensive and won’t contribute, Tober has said.
On the other hand, projected ridership on the Matthews/Independence line would increase by 9,000 new riders. That falls within the federal guidelines for possible funding, Tober has said.
All five lines will stop at the Mecklenburg County line if surrounding counties don’t pay to extend it. Mooresville and Iredell County have already contributed money to study bringing the line to Mooresville. So have York County and Rock Hill.
Cabarrus and Concord say they want to pay for a study on bringing rapid transit into Cabarrus.
But Union County, the fastest growing county in the state, and Gaston County have not approached CATS about service into those counties.