Transit Time: He’s car-free in a car-centric city
Transit Time: He’s car-free in a car-centric city
You’re reading Transit Time, a weekly newsletter for Charlotte people who leave the house. Cars, buses, light rail, bikes, scooters … if you use it to get around the city, we write about it. Transit Time is produced in partnership among The Charlotte Ledger, WFAE and the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.
As Charlotte tries to become more pedestrian-friendly, some residents choose to forgo the automobile
The Rail Trail and the light rail line in South End are making owning a car less necessarily in that part of Charlotte. (Photo by Kevin Young/The 5 and 2 Project)
by Tony Mecia
Ryan Bergin is the kind of guy that Charlotte leaders want to have more of.
Sure, he’s part of a wave of younger new residents (he’s 26). And yes, he lives in South End (off South Boulevard).
But what sets Bergin apart from most other Charlotte residents is that in a city that largely seems dependent on cars, Bergin chooses not to own one.
After college, he lived for a year and a half in New York and didn’t need a car. When he took an uptown job in Charlotte nearly three years ago, he figured he’d go car-free here, too.
“Everyone thought I was crazy because I didn’t have a car and I was walking a mile to work,” he says.
City planners, hoping to reverse decades of auto-centric developments and policies, are taking steps to encourage more Ryan Bergins. They’re building greenways and bike lanes, updating development standards, investing in public transit and trying to make the city more friendly to walkers and bikers.
But in Charlotte, it’s still rare to find someone who chooses not to have a car. The most recent census data shows that just 2% of Mecklenburg County workers say they walk to work, compared with the 83% who say they use a car. But walking could be growing in popularity in places close to uptown where cars aren’t as necessary to get around.
Bergin says he has a coworker originally from Boston who also doesn’t own a car. If you ask around South End or uptown, you hear stories of people who get around by other means.
Bergin now walks about 20 minutes to work in South End. In contrast, his commute in New York was 90 minutes.
“I’m glad to walk to work on the Rail Trail,” he says. “It’s a good way to start your day.”
Uptown and South End now have enough entertainment options, housing and offices to make avoiding use of an automobile possible. It’s more of a challenge in other parts of Charlotte that are more spread out, requiring longer travel distances that are tougher to make in a reasonable time without a car.
But if you have most of what you need close to you, you might not really need to spend thousands on a car and its associated costs of repairs and parking. Bergin says: “I’m lucky to be able to walk and not worry about parking, flat tires, et cetera.”
Some developers near uptown and South End have started moving away from the assumption that all residents will have cars:
Although most apartment complexes include the cost of parking in their rents, Centro Railyard in South End charges $50 a month for a parking space in its parking deck.
Last year, the city approved plans by Grubb Properties for a 104-unit apartment complex in Seversville, north of uptown, that is the first in Charlotte to require residents to attest that they don’t own vehicles.
In Optimist Park, a firm called Space Craft is building a six-story, 83-unit apartment complex called The Joinery that will have off-site parking that costs extra, according to Axios Charlotte.
Bergin says he cobbles together different options — scooters, walking, light rail, biking, Uber and Lyft — depending on where he’s going.
“If we’re going to the Knights game or Optimist Hall, we’ll take the light rail and walk a little bit,” he says. “If we’re staying local in South End or anywhere uptown or in NoDa, it’s either a walk, light rail or Uber.”
Although Charlotte often beats itself up for not being walkable enough, Bergin gives the city high marks: “Charlotte is definitely more walkable than people give it credit for. I think the city has done a great job with its Rail Trail and greenway system.”
In fairness, though he doesn’t own a car, he sometimes uses his girlfriend’s car, or they drive together to get groceries or head out of town for the weekend to the mountains or the beach.
And on those rare days where it’s pouring rain and he has to get to work, having a girlfriend with a car can be an advantage.
“When it’s really coming down,” he says, “I ask nicely for a ride.”
Tony Mecia is executive editor of The Charlotte Ledger.
In brief…
Parkwood protected bike lanes open: A $3.7 million project to make a stretch of Parkwood Avenue safer for bicyclists officially opened Friday. The 0.8-mile, protected bike lanes occupy two former general-purpose lanes for cars. “This segment of Parkwood has been transformed from a dangerous road for moving cars to a complete street that will be safer for all users: pedestrians, cyclists, bus riders and drivers,” said Sustain Charlotte Executive Director Shannon Binns. The campaign to install protected bike lanes launched in 2015 after a 73-year-old man was hit and killed on Parkwood while bicycling to a nearby laundromat, one of several serious accidents on that stretch of road. (City of Charlotte)
CATS hiring amidst “manpower constraints”: The Charlotte Area Transit System is holding a “Super Day” for hiring on Saturday, Oct. 30. Jobs available include call center workers, rail car technicians, drivers, dispatchers and more. In possibly related news, CATS announced several times in the past week that the new Gold Line streetcar would operate only every 30 minutes, which the agency attributed to “manpower constraints.” (CATS)
Does N.C. suspend too many drivers’ licenses?: That’s what an opinion piece this week in the Charlotte Observer argues. “One in seven North Carolina drivers have lost their right to drive, and it happens more often and easily than you may think. North Carolina (and 32 other states) will suspend your driver’s license if you cannot pay your traffic-related fines or fees.” (Observer)
Real-time bus tracking is now available: Charlotte Area Transit System says that after years of waiting, you can now see exactly where local buses are on your phone. Download the CATS-Pass app for bus tracking, fare payment and trip planning. CATS says it plans to make real-time tracking for the Blue Line light rail and Gold Line streetcar will be available by the end of the year. (CATS)
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