Charlotte leaders rally support for transit plan

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by Steve HarrisonWFAE

The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance on Wednesday formally kicked off its two-and-a-half-month campaign to convince Mecklenburg voters to approve an increase in the sales tax for a multi-billion-dollar transportation plan.

Under the umbrella name of “Yes for Meck,” supporters of the plan held a rally at Bojangles Coliseum.

Gene Woods, CEO of AdvocateHealth (Atrium Health’s parent company), urged residents to vote yes and bump the county sales tax up by 1 percentage point, to 8.25%.

“So forgive the medical analogy: It’s time to unclog the arteries of our region and keep it moving,” he said. “And we do that by saying yes to transportation, yes to better health, saying yes to economic mobility and saying yes to Meck.”

Woods and others spoke before a crowd of elected officials and transportation supporters.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who has worked for years to bring the tax to the ballot, told the audience that the plan can boost low-income residents.

“For some time, the City Council and the County Commission have talked about equity and inclusion and how we can get more things done,” she said. “Well, this is the time to do something really well.”

Yes for Meck’s slogan is “Faster Commutes, Less Congestion.”

If voters say yes, 40% of the money would go to roads, sidewalks and bike lanes; 40% would go to rail transit, and 20% for buses. The city of Charlotte has estimated the tax increase would cost the average household in Charlotte $240 a year.

The Charlotte Area Transit System would be replaced by a new countywide transportation authority.

The Business Alliance has said it will spend between $3 million and $3.5 million to convince voters in the November municipal elections, where turnout is usually about 15%.

The tax and transportation plan has the backing of the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and five Mecklenburg towns. Matthews is the only holdout. Some officials there are upset that the new plan doesn’t bring the Silver Line light rail to the town.

While alliance officials are confident in the tax passing, there has been some softening of support for the plan. Four members of the Charlotte City Council — Renee Johnson, LaWana Mayfield, Tiawana Brown and Victoria Watlington — have said recently they have concerns about the plan. They have said they are either neutral or are unsure if they will vote yes.

The focus at Wednesday’s rally was mostly on roads and buses, as supporters believe those are two ways to get voters on board in November. The bus plan would increase the frequency of buses on some routes from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes, and all routes would have buses arriving at least every half hour. The plan also invests heavily in a new service called “Micro Transit,” which is like Uber.

Some critics of the plan, such as Robert Dawkins of the progressive group Action NC, have said rail transit will lead to gentrification and displace low-income people from their homes.

With that possibly in mind, it appears the “Yes for Meck” group downplayed rail transit. In an hour-long presentation, the Red Line commuter rail line to Lake Norman was mentioned briefly.

Other rail projects — including the Gold Line streetcar, the Silver Line and extending the Blue Line to Pineville — weren’t mentioned at all. The Silver Line’s exclusion was particularly odd since there is a planned stop at Bojangles Coliseum, the site of the kickoff rally.

Steve Harrison is a reporter with WFAE, Charlotte’s NPR news source. Reach him at [email protected].

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