An article was run in the Charlotte Observer a few days ago about the CATS system from David Hartgen, a longtime critic of the Light Rail system and now employed by a Raleigh-based organization that is fundamentally opposed to the LRT System.
There were a few problems with what he was writing about, and here are the correct statements. CATS has been working very hard in the past few days to correct them...but for the benefit of you, the reader, here is easy access to the correct information.
1. The Charlotte Department of Transportation continues to say that Charlotte will add a city the size of St. Louis by 2035. That's 350,000 people.
2. Trying to compare this current budget for the 2035 Transit System is like comparing the cost of building Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in the 1980s to the cost of building it now. The new third parallel runway is approaching the cost of the Airport back in the 1980s. Inflation is the reason that there appears to be a cost overrun. In 1998, there was no inflationary planning.
3. The "2% ridership" figure Professor Hartgen uses is incorrect. This number includes those that are passing through on Interstates 77 and 85 on their way to other destinations outside Mecklenburg County. In addition, it is counting the non-commuter trips like truck and mail deliveries.
4. The Professor's suggestions that services be contracted out is already done. All but the LRT operators and senior CATS management are contract employees. The person Professor Hartgen is writing to, Senator Pittenger, is not helping to move forward one of the best ideas Professor Hartgen has suggested...toll lanes. It would take legislation from the General Assembly to authorize Toll Lanes, something I have not seen the Senator work on. But an idea that the Charlotte Department of Transportation is working on now.
All in all, there were many errors an inaccuracies in the article written by Professor Hartgen and this serves to correct some of them.
Thoughts? Questions?
1. The Charlotte Department of Transportation continues to say that Charlotte will add a city the size of St. Louis by 2035. That's 350,000 people.
2. Trying to compare this current budget for the 2035 Transit System is like comparing the cost of building Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in the 1980s to the cost of building it now. The new third parallel runway is approaching the cost of the Airport back in the 1980s. Inflation is the reason that there appears to be a cost overrun. In 1998, there was no inflationary planning.
3. The "2% ridership" figure Professor Hartgen uses is incorrect. This number includes those that are passing through on Interstates 77 and 85 on their way to other destinations outside Mecklenburg County. In addition, it is counting the non-commuter trips like truck and mail deliveries.
4. The Professor's suggestions that services be contracted out is already done. All but the LRT operators and senior CATS management are contract employees. The person Professor Hartgen is writing to, Senator Pittenger, is not helping to move forward one of the best ideas Professor Hartgen has suggested...toll lanes. It would take legislation from the General Assembly to authorize Toll Lanes, something I have not seen the Senator work on. But an idea that the Charlotte Department of Transportation is working on now.
All in all, there were many errors an inaccuracies in the article written by Professor Hartgen and this serves to correct some of them.
Thoughts? Questions?
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