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Hey, it’s Tony Mecia with The Ledger here. Thanks for joining the discussion. We’ll get going about 12:00. In the meantime, if you have any questions or topics you’d like to discuss, feel free to drop them in!

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OK, we are just about at time. Thank you to all who joined us and had questions and comments. And thanks to Steve and Ely for joining as well. Appreciate it, everyone!

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Here's another big-picture question: Do you think Charlotte should bury the central bus terminal below-grade, or not?

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Question for anyone out there: How bad is Charlotte traffic these days? Conventional wisdom seems to be that volumes have been back to pre-Covid levels for a while, but the trips are more spread out throughout the day. Do you agree with that? What are you seeing?

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Here's a question for everyone: What would it take to get you to ride public transit in Charlotte, if you don't already?

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To get the ball rolling, let me ask Steve and Ely – what are some big-picture topics you’re keeping an eye on over the next few months related to transit and transportation?

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Hi everyone! I had to reauthenticate my login. I'm here now!

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Ely Portillo of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute and Steve Harrison of WFAE are also here. We write regularly about Charlotte-area transit and transportation for our organizations and for the weekly Transit Time newsletter (www.TransitTimeCLT.com) . We will go for 30-45 minutes.

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Feasibility of battery-assisted, eletric trolley-buses as a cheaper, more expedient alternative solution to expanding the Gold Line

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Recently, officials announced an expansion of I-85 in Gaston County. I totally agree there is a bottleneck in that spot. But I don't get how a highway that's already four lanes will be getting another free lane and yet in Mecklenburg county, they say the only relief of two lane I-77 would be a possible toll lane? Isn't it interesting that the counties surrounding Mecklenburg have wider and free interstate highways than Mecklenburg?

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Since East-west light rail is a $14 B plan w no funding and 20+ years away, what is the likelihood of solving for better transit in 5-10 years w ride-share, robo taxis, and tunneling at a fraction of the cost and in half the time?

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Regarding the underground bus terminal, in the trade off between effective transit and having a practice facility of the Hornets, transit wins, in my opinion. In other cities an undergoing terminal has failed. Why would we want to repeat a failure?

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Bus routes can be changed, but not light rail. CATS needs to undergo a complete reorganization before a regional transit plan is seriously considered. It's time to look at what other cities are doing effectively, like Pittsburgh working to time traffic lights in partnership with CMU (Carnegie Mellon Univ), or Austin, TX.

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Are there any plans to continue expanding the commuter bus system? I have a friend who lives in Huntersville who I would visit via the bus if it ran on Saturdays

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As a political/leadership question how many CATS leaders or City leaders routinely use the system?

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Tony & Ely- I was one of those residents in South Charlotte who helped organize opposition to approval of a commercial office building on Providence Road 1/2 mile north of the Rt 51 intersection. We relied on the designated Neighborhood 1 Place Type and the 10 goals of the 2040 Plan. I feel I have wasted a lot of time. In our rezoning the planning department indicated that 8 of the 10 goals were not applicable and there was no public input regarding changing a residential place type to commercial. I will be working to help defeat Ed Driggs in the next election.

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How likely are we to get a shorter silver line route just from Uptown to the Airport instead of a much more expensive plan from Matthews to Gaston County?

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Has the bus or light-rail system ever considered surge pricing for big events in order to deliver stepped-up servicing? For example, surge pricing for panthers games but also guaranteed faster headways and it would still be a compelling proposition versus driving to the game and paying for parking.

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Audio? Just written Q and responses?

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All the negative press coverage of the issues with CATS might be meant to hold public officials to account, but it is also making the CATS brand toxic, exacerbating the issues in getting people to consider riding and in recruiting and retaining drivers? How can CATS improve & enhance its brand, while also instituting an operational excellence/process excellence program?

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I heard something about a micro mobility program from CATS like Uber, is that rolling out in certain areas or is that a planned city wide thing?

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Are there any attempts to change bus or train schedules to make transfers easier? to make sure that a bus is at the bus bay for a station in time for a transfer to/from the blue line?

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Council members have said that the reason we need a hub-and-spoke bus system is because the majority of riders need to go into Uptown. While that may be true, why does that necessitate a central hub-and-spoke? Why not instead have suburban park and ride lots with bus routes that go both N/S and E/W across the city and a rider can just take the route they need to the stop they need? Why can't busses just run through Uptown with on-street stops?

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Recently City Council has indicated that it will approve rezoning petitions under the existing Charlotte Zoning Ordinance and disregard the 2040 Comprehensive Plan Goals and the lace types under the Policy Map even though these plans are in effect now. As an example Dimple Ajmera has indicated that there should be exceptions for drive through. On 9/19 Ed Driggs stated explicitly that the old zoning provisions should control out of fairness to developers during this transition period in approving a commercial office building in a Neighborhood 1 Area on Providence Road- RZP 2021–246. These city-wide comprehensive plans are being ignored in favor of adhoc zoning, and it’s business as usual. It makes many of us very cynical.

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As mentioned, it seems a major challenge is getting a regional plan. It seems our neighbors not only don't want to pay for it, they actually don't want to be connected to Charlotte. So they resist a regional plan

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Although I am an avid supporter of light rail, what I would really like to see is leadership on a statewide basis that would get behind high speed rail. Connecting Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh and Wilmington with high speed rail would cement this state as a 21st Century leader by democratizing capital and work location. Imagine living in a state where a major metro area was never farther than a 30 minute train ride or imagine a major international company locating in eastern NC with workers able to live in Raleigh or Wilmington. The possibilities are endless, but requires the kind of leadership we haven't seen since Terry Sanford's time (aka a very long time).

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Is it realistic to believe that Charlotte will coordinate with surrounding counties on a regional transit plan? Taxpayers in Mecklenburg county will not be willing to pay for a $13 billion plan.

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