Is Charlotte Overselling Plan to Expand Transit?

For the last four years, Charlotte and its transit agency have been working on a $13.5 billion rail-focused transportation plan. The plan hinges on the passage of a one-cent transit sales tax, 80 percent of which was originally planned to go toward building three new rail lines (the city currently only has one). But, according to an article from local NPR news outlet WFAE 90.7, recent political maneuverings to gain support of Republican legislators could be eroding the city’s ability to deliver on its ambitious transit promises.

“In a bid to win support from Republican legislators who want more money for roads, Charlotte and the Mecklenburg towns have agreed to a new framework that caps the amount of new money spent on trains at 40%. Roads would get 40% of new sales tax revenue and 20% would be set aside for things like buses,” writes Steve Harrison. As a result, the proposed — and most expensive — 26-mile Silver Line project from uptown to the town of Matthews will be replaced with bus rapid transit. “Matthews leaders are livid,” and the mayor is threatening to tell his residents to vote no on the new tax referendum, which could appear on the ballot in November 2025.

But upsetting Matthews voters could be the least of the transportation plan’s problems, Harrison reports. “It’s hard to see how less than a half-cent sales tax — 40% of a one-cent tax — can pay to build and operate all those lines.” Not to mention, Charlotte’s plan hinges on federal transit funding that is far from guaranteed. “In other words, Charlotte is still overpromising,” Harrison concludes.