More than 50 people gathered for Sustain Charlotte’s second Impact 704 Academy session Thursday night to learn about transportation challenges — and plans — in Mecklenburg County. Attendees heard from experts at the Charlotte Area Transit System and the Charlotte Department of Transportation and listened to a panel discussion featuring local transportation advocates.

The Charlotte Transportation Center is getting a major makeover in the coming years. The uptown transit hub serves as a central bus station and has connections to the LYNX Blue Line light rail and CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar. Charlotte Area Transit System wants to overhaul the station to make it more modern. As of the latest plans, that means either putting the entire station underground or going with a two-story option.

Editor’s note: This is a guest blog post by the city of Charlotte, a sustaining sponsor of Sustain Charlotte’s Biketoberfest in 2022.

The city of Charlotte provides services to more than 870,000 residents and is implementing strategic projects to promote safety, health, and quality of life.

Longtime plans to connect uptown Charlotte to the Lake Norman area by commuter rail picked up speed again this week.

Bus service needs to be fast, frequent, reliable, and walkable to fully meet the mobility needs of riders.

Unfortunately, Charlotte Area Transit System bus service has recently been anything but frequent and reliable for riders. As the Charlotte City Council’s Transportation and Planning Committee members learned this week, CATS has been short an average of 23 bus operators per day since May 1, with a daily deficit regularly approaching 40-50 operators.

Throughout the years Sustain Charlotte has voiced our support for the expansion of public transit. The implementation of a new light rail line connecting Mecklenburg County westward and eastward would be a crucial step towards a more equitable, sustainable, inclusive, and environmentally-friendly transportation system.