The Transportation and Planning Committee held its first meeting of 2019 on January 14th, where staff shared updates on the Vision Zero 2030 Action Plan, the Transit-Oriented Development Ordinances, and the Comprehensive Plan.

Sustain Charlotte serves on the Charlotte Department of Transportation's (CDOT) task force for the creation of the new citywide Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. This past Monday, Charlotte City Council's Transportation and Planning committee received an introduction to the plan from staff.

What will it take to transform Charlotte's streets to become safe for everyone over the next 12 years?  Today we're sharing what we think is needed to keep the plan's implementation on track.

Community and equity considerations are integral to every phase of the Vision Zero Action Plan. (image: visionzeronetwork.org)

You may have heard that Minneapolis recently approved a new Comprehensive Plan, which for the first time attempted to address racial segregation in the City’s housing patterns. To do this, the plan removed single-family zoning and allowed duplexes and triplexes in formerly single-family-only neighborhoods. While this move was controversial within the city, it was ultimately approved, and is being heralded across the country as a concrete step to address the challenges of racial equity and affordable housing.

U.S. cities vary tremendously in terms of how bus stop locations are chosen, how amenities like shelters and benches are prioritized among stops, and how the stops are maintained. We're recapping what works and what doesn't. 

In our previous blog post, we covered the factors that make a bus stop work well for riders. We hope you'll check out TransitCenter's Sorry to Superb: Everything You Need to Know About Great Bus Stops report that both of these posts are based on.

Young volunteers during our Walk2Transit project identified features of good bus stops, like this one on Clanton Rd.

We can't imagine a better way to close out 2018 than by formally presenting City and County leaders with the requests of over 2,100 area residents for more transportation choices!

On Monday, December 17, Kate Cavazza and Eric Zaverl presented Charlotte City Council with Sustain Charlotte's Get There CLT statement of support for investment in walking, bicycling, transit, and greenway infrastructure. 

Kate and Eric presented more than 2,100 Get There CLT signatures to Charlotte City Council!

Charlotte City Council’s Transportation and Planning Committee held its rescheduled snow day meeting on Monday, December 17th.  Staff gave committee members updates on the Transit Oriented Development districts, tractor-trailer parking policy, and new scooter recommendations.  View the full staff presentation from the meeting here.  Here’s what you need to know.

On December 17th, the Charlotte City Council voted unanimously in favor of the Strategic Energy Action Plan (SEAP). This historic vote places Charlotte on the path to source 100% of its energy used in its own buildings and fleet from zero-carbon sources by 2030 and dramatically reduce city-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

With this move, Charlotte has taken a major step in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and significantly increase the quality of life for residents by investing in our air quality and growing our economy with green jobs.

This year has been jam-packed with events, advocacy, and wins for our community, and Sustain Charlotte has been right in the thick of it. For our December Grow Smart CLT event, we wanted to share everything our staff, volunteers, and supporters have made happen to advance smart growth during 2018. To start, we went back through each of the topics we covered during the Grow Smart CLT event series (you can find links to all the recaps at the bottom of this page) and updated attendees on how their actions have moved those issues forward in the time since we hosted the event.

Sustain Charlotte, in partnership with the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT), hosted the last Shifting Gears of 2018 at Resident Culture Brewing.  More than fifty people attended the public action workshop to give their input on how to better Charlotte’s cycling and pedestrian infrastructure.

Participants give their feedback directly to City staff.

It's no secret that plastics have made life easier for humans, but at the cost of choking our waterways, littering our city streets, and posing hazards to endangered wildlife around the globe. If you're looking for a way to reduce your single-use plastics, one way to do it is by using a Leaf Burrito.