Does the two-state Charlotte region need an advocacy group to push for transportation options beyond just more highways? Dozens of area nonprofit leaders, planners, developers and activists gathered recently to consider whether the region needs such a group to be launched. 

The consensus: Yes, with an exclamation mark. (Of course, those uninterested in such a group weren’t likely to have opted to attend an organizational luncheon, which was organized by the nonprofit group Sustain Charlotte.) 

Unlike many other cities, Charlotte has no coalition of residents and interested groups pushing for a variety of transportation choices such as walking, bicycling and public transit, in addition to streets and highways. This despite the city’s continuing problems with ozone pollution and other auto-emission-related air toxins.