As CATS emphasizes bus improvements, Matthews leaders remain upset over Silver Line plans
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Matthews leaders are still criticizing Charlotte Area Transit System plans as the usage of funding from a proposed sales tax is being finalized.
The CATS 30-year plan calls for using a one-cent sales tax that – if state legislators allow – will be on November's ballot. It would fund road improvements and expansions of bus and rail service — including the Red Line linking uptown through north Mecklenburg County.
At Wednesday night's Metropolitan Transit Commission meeting, CATS leaders emphasized the importance of its Better Bus program being just as valuable as any rail plans.
Mecklenburg County leaders discuss transportation improvements and possible expansions
'Better Bus is just as important as rapid transit corridors,' explained CATS Interim CEO Brett Cagle.
But Matthews Mayor John Higdon is unhappy that there's no definite funding for extending the Silver Line rail to his town. Current recommendations would take it from the Charlotte airport to the area of Bojangles Coliseum.
'I'm incredibly frustrated, since every town in the county is getting what they want except for Matthews, everybody else is fat and happy. And that's not right,' he said.
Other leaders say that Silver Line money could come at the expense of bus service improvements.
Voters will have a say in potential one-cent sales tax to fund Mecklenburg County transportation projects
'Without a guaranteed percentage of the tax going to the bus program, it's going to be tough, and it's just not the right thing to do,' Cornelius Mayor Woody Washam said.
Commission members voted down Higdon's motion to rethink how the transit plan would divide up money from the sales tax.
'As we think about implementing rapid transit corridors, knowing we don't have resources at this time to address all corridors all at once, CATS continues to study options to extend options for Silver Line East,' Cagle said.
CATS is partnering with the PGA to provide fare-free rides for people who are carrying a ticket to the PGA Championship May 12-18. There will be a shuttle from the Sharon Road West light rail station to Quail Hollow.
Cagle said the woman struck by a Blue Line train in March is 'OK.' He emphasized the operator was not at fault and praised first responders at the scene.
Blue Line ridership was up 14 percent in March, compared to the previous year, and Gold Line ridership was up 37.2 percent.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Phil Mickelson, chasing career grand slam, admits there is a ‘high likelihood' this is his last U.S. Open
Phil Mickelson's U.S. Open appearances, and his quest for the career Grand Slam, may be coming to an end this summer. Mickelson is in the field at the major championship next week at Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh. The U.S. Open is the last major that Mickelson needs to complete the career Grand Slam, which is something that Rory McIlroy just pulled off with his win at the Masters earlier this year. Advertisement But Mickelson is in the final year of a five-year exemption into the event, which he earned for his win at the PGA Championship in 2021. Without another exemption, Mickelson will very likely have to start trying to play his way into the tournament. 'There's a high likelihood that it will be [my last U.S. Open],' Mickelson said on Wednesday ahead of the LIV Golf event in Virginia, via ESPN, 'but I haven't really thought about it too much.' Mickelson, the once popular and dominant force on the PGA Tour, has struggled in recent years amid his jump to LIV Golf. He got caught up in the feud between the two leagues — especially after his comments supporting Saudi Arabia , who he once described as 'scary motherf***ers.' Mickelson stepped away from golf for a while after that. He also opened up about his gambling addiction , which plagued him for years. On the course, the 45-time Tour winner has not been great since his PGA Championship win. He's missed the cut in 10 of his last 14 major championship starts. The only exception during this stretch was a T2 run at the Masters in 2023, though he never really stood a chance to catch Jon Rahm at Augusta National that year and only surged up the leaderboard that Sunday. Mickelson has come close to winning the U.S. Open plenty of times in his career. He has six runner-up finishes at the major, most recently in 2013. He's made the cut at the U.S. Open just four times since then, and he's missed the last four entering Oakmont next week. Advertisement Mickelson, who will turn 55 later this month, already has lifetime exemptions to play in both the Masters and the PGA Championship. He can keep playing at the British Open until he's 60, too. Mickelson has been leading the HyFlyers GC in LIV Golf since its inception, though he's currently No. 15 in the individual points standings. As for his future with LIV Golf — which still has not struck a deal with the PGA Tour despite years of negotiations — Mickelson only wants to keep going as long as he's productive.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
McIlroy explains media silence after driver ban
Rory McIlroy has explained his refusal to speak to the media at the PGA Championship. (Vaughn Ridley) Masters champion Rory McIlroy has explained his media silence during the PGA Championship admitting that he was unhappy at the way the news of his driver disqualification was leaked. The Northern Irishman was forced to change his driver after an inspection by the US Golf Association found it was non-conforming. Advertisement World number one Scottie Scheffler later revealed that he too had been forced to change his driver for a similar reason but McIlroy was upset that only his issue had become public on the eve of the season's second major last month. "I was a little pissed off because I knew that Scottie's driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked. It was supposed to stay confidential. Two members of the media were the ones that leaked it," said the world number two, who skipped media duties throughout the entire week. "I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted...I'm trying to protect Scottie. I don't want to mention his name. I'm trying to protect TaylorMade. I'm trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself. "I just didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted at the time," added McIlroy, speaking ahead of this week's RBC Canadian Open in Ontario. Advertisement McIlroy, who finished tied for 47th at three over for the tournament, also said that there were other factors behind his unwillingness to face reporters. - 'A weird week' - "The PGA was a bit of a weird week. I didn't play well. I didn't play well the first day, so I wanted to go practice, so that was fine. Second day we finished late. I wanted to go back and see (daughter) Poppy before she went to bed. The driver news broke. I didn't really want to speak on that," he said. "Saturday I was supposed to tee off at 8:20 in the morning. I didn't tee off until almost 2:00 in the afternoon, another late finish, was just tired, wanted to go home. Advertisement "Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida. Yeah, look, and also the driver stuff...," he said Unlike in some US sports, such as the NFL, golfers are not contractually obliged to speak to the media and McIlroy said that meant he was within his rights to have a week of silence. "If we all wanted to, we could all bypass you guys and go on social media and we could talk about our round and do it our own way," he said. "We understand that that's not ideal for you guys and there's a bigger dynamic at play here, and I talk to you guys and I talk to the media a lot. Advertisement "We understand the benefit that comes from you being here and giving us the platform and everything else. So I understand that. "But again, I've been beating this drum for a long time. If they want to make it mandatory, that's fine, but in our rules it says that it's not, and until the day that that's maybe written into the regulations, you're going to have guys skip from time to time, and that's well within our rights," he said. sev/rcw
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Why Rory McIlroy was 'annoyed' by PGA Championship failed driver test, skipped media
Why Rory McIlroy was 'annoyed' by PGA Championship failed driver test, skipped media Show Caption Hide Caption Rory McIlroy on Bryson DeChambeau comment about not talking at Masters Rory McIlroy was asked about Bryson DeChambeau's comment that the two didn't speak during the final round of the 2025 Masters. Rory McIlroy finally talked about why he wasn't talking. The 2025 Masters winner spoke for the first time Wednesday about his failed driver test at last month's PGA Championship and defended his decision to skip speaking with reporters throughout the major tournament. McIlroy said during a pre-tournament news conference at the PGA Tour's RBC Canadian Open outside Toronto that part of his silence was due to being "pretty annoyed" only his failed driver test was leaked to the public and not also Scottie Scheffler, according to Golfweek. Scheffler later revealed he also was ruled to have had a non-conforming driver during PGA Championship week. 'I was a little pissed off because I knew that Scottie's driver had failed on Monday, but my name was the one that was leaked. It was supposed to stay confidential. Two members of the media were the ones that leaked it," McIlroy said. "I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either, because there's a lot of people that — I'm trying to protect Scottie. I don't want to mention his name. I'm trying to protect TaylorMade. I'm trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself. I just didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted at the time. With Scottie's stuff, that's not my information to share. I knew that that had happened, but that's not on me to share that, and I felt that process is supposed to be kept confidential, and it wasn't for whatever reason. That's why I was pretty annoyed at that.' 2025 RBC CANADIAN OPEN: Predictions, odds, sleeper picks McIlroy had a disappointing showing at the 2025 PGA Championship on the heels of becoming just the sixth golfer in history to complete the sport's career grand slam. He finished in a tie for 47th (+3) and was never in contention after shooting a 74 in the first round. The RBC Canadian Open, which begins with first-round action on Thursday, is McIlroy's first PGA Tour event since the PGA Championship. But it was McIlroy's cold shoulder to reporters throughout the second major of the year that became as much the story as his performance. In explaining why he chose to do that, McIlroy called the PGA Championship "a bit of a weird week." He played poorly and wanted to practice after the first round, rather than speak with reporters. The second day of the tournament ended late and he wanted to get back to see his daughter, Poppy, before she went to bed. His tee time on Saturday got delayed from the morning to the afternoon and he felt too tired to speak with reporters afterwards. "Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida," McIlroy said. 'From a responsibility standpoint, look, I understand, but if we all wanted to, we could all bypass you guys ... and we could go on social media and we could talk about our round and do it our own way,' McIlroy added, addressing reporters and the PGA Tour media policy. 'We understand that that's not ideal for you guys and there's a bigger dynamic at play here, and I talk to you guys and I talk to the media a lot." "I think there should be an understanding that this is a two-way street," he continued, "and as much as we need to speak to you guys, we understand the benefit that comes from you being here and giving us the platform and everything else. So I understand that. But again, I've been beating this drum for a long time. If they want to make it mandatory, that's fine, but in our rules it says that it's not, and until the day that that's maybe written into the regulations, you're going to have guys skip from time to time, and that's well within our rights.' McIlroy also declined to speak with reporters after he blew a late lead with bogeys on three of the final four holes at the 2024 U.S. Open. His silence at the PGA Championship comes after a similar discussion emerged when Collin Morikawa declined to hold a session with reporters after he finished in second place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Though Morikawa took criticism from golfers-turned-commentators like Brandel Chamblee and Rocco Mediate, McIlroy came to his defense. McIlroy is slated to play in the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club beginning June 12 after his appearance at the RBC Canadian Open this week.
