Summer in North Carolina is in full swing: long sunny days, temperatures in the ‘80s, and humidity even higher… oh, and for those of us at Sustain Charlotte, the chance to go back to summer camp! On Thursday, July 19th, we hosted a Sustainable Transportation Fair in partnership with the Progressive Baptist Church’s summer camp, YouthQuake!. We invited governmental departments and nonprofits from all over the city to Arbor Glen Outreach Center, to teach the campers about how transportation choices affect their health, safety, and community.

Last Wednesday, government leaders, entrepreneurs, activists, and students all converged on the Hurt Hub in Davidson, NC, to hear four relatively disparate voices sing the praises of intentional planning and design. The theme of this month’s LaunchLKN Infinite Possibilities mixer was “Are our smart cities smarter?”, and representatives from the NCDOT, Autonomous Fusion, and Rocus Networks joined our own Meg Fencil in a forum-style event to discuss the intersection of innovation and quality of life.

Today we're launching a new 8-part series of weekly blog posts called "The Good, the Bad, the Possibilities". For this series, we are asking local experts three questions to give you a quick overview of recent local trends and solutions, with respect to a range of important issues that affect our community's sustainability. Our first topic is transportation, and our two featured experts are Ron Tober and Dan Gallagher.

The Charlotte City Council’s Transportation and Planning Committee Meeting on Monday, June 25th focused on staff updates to current objectives listed in the Transportation Action Plan (TAP) and the Charlotte WALKS Plan. Both plans steer the City’s transportation policy choices. They were adopted by City Council last spring.

Photo credit: CDOT

It’s time for an Uptown protected bike lane update!  In 2015, Sustain Charlotte started the #ibikeclt petition, a campaign to ask City Council to commit to supporting completion of  Charlotte’s first protected bicycle lane connecting the Little Sugar Creek and Irwin Creek Greenways through the heart of Uptown.  Because of your continued support and involvement, the project is moving forward.

But, where are we?  What happens next? Keep reading to see what you can do as this project moves toward construction!

Charlotte Department of Transportation’s renderings showing what the Uptown protected bike lane could like.

On Monday, June 11th, City Council adopted their FY 2019 budget and FY 2019 - 2023 Community Investment Plan!

City Council adopts FY Budget on June 11th, 2018

The FY 2019 budget includes:

• $4 million for the bicycle program to begin implementing the elements of a bicycle-friendly city as outlined in the Charlotte BIKES plan.  This is the first stand-alone funding for the City’s bicycle program since 2012, and the largest single-year allocation to the city’s bicycle program ever.   
• Doubling the funding for the pedestrian program from $15 million to $30 million for projects including sidewalks, street crossings, intersection improvements, and more.
• $2 million to create a new Vision Zero program to work towards the elimination of traffic fatalities and serious injuries. 

SouthEnd Vision Plan

Monica Holmes from the city’s Planning Department gave an overview of changes incorporated into the SouthEnd Vision Plan since the previous Transportation and Planning meeting. Check out the full presentation here. During the April Transportation and Planning meeting, members voiced their concern about the absence of affordable housing language in the plan. 

Photo courtesy of: Charlotte Agenda

More than 375 Charlotte area residents enjoyed exploring the FreeMoreWest business district, surrounding neighborhoods, and greenway as they participated in the third annual #WalkCLT powered by OrthoCarolina!

This fun, family-friendly event invited residents and visitors to walk, rather than drive to destinations in their area by taking a map-guided twilight stroll. Following check-in at Recover Brands, participants were invited to explore special activities and deals at nearby destinations including Enderly Coffee, Town Brewing, Rhino Market & Deli, Charlotte Fencing Academy, American Burger Company, Pinky's Westside Grill, Crossfit QC, Wallace Pruitt Recreation Center, Can Do! Signs, KeenDog Training, and an after party at Blue Blaze Brewing! 

#WalkCLT neighborhood explorers enjoyed a healthy walk and lots of fun stops!

Right now the draft state budget includes a provision that would make it impossible for any light rail projects to move forward in NC, by requiring that federal funding for a project be in place before a project can apply for state funds. One of the key requirements in applying and being approved for federal funding is that local and state funds have already been committed to a project, which makes this provision a deal-breaker for light rail projects statewide.

As an organization that supports public transit expansion, Sustain Charlotte asks you to contact your Charlotte-area legislators and ask them to change this provision.

"Build a system that works, and the riders will come." Keynote speaker John Martin from the Southeastern Institute of Research inspired attendees at the Regional Transit Summit last Thursday with a message of hope for the future of transit as our area struggles with accommodating the transportation needs of a growing population. He explained the transportation and lifestyle preferences of the various generations currently living in the United States, and emphasized the need to shift from talking about transit riders as a captive audience. "It's not about Transit Dependent. It's about Transit Empowered." In other words, when transit performs well compared to the choice of driving alone or using a ride-sharing service, people of all ages will choose to use it. Nowhere has this been more clear than in Seattle, where that city's investment in fast, frequent transit has led to a huge increase in the number of daily transit commuters. 

Summit attendees raised their hands to express support for transit expansion!