30-04-2025
Officials detail plans to improve Mecklenburg County bus stops, but they need a one-cent sales tax to do it
MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte transportation officials want to improve the 2,000 bus stops across Mecklenburg County. It's one of many points of a project they're working on to improve transportation in communities like Mountain Island Lake.
'As I told you earlier, when I got here in 1981, getting around was pretty easy… Now it's not,' said city council member Malcolm Graham. He was addressing constituents during a town hall in the Mountain Island Lake community.
He and other city leaders are working to change that, especially in communities well away from Uptown.
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Neighbors heard new details about a mobility project that would improve how easily they might get around over the next 30 years.
It's largely centered around a proposed one-cent sales tax.
'This new funding would allow the transit system to essentially double the frequency of our highest ridership routes. There are about 3 or 4 of those in this part of Charlotte, where you would go from. Some of these are 45-minute frequency routes that would go to a 15-minute service,' said the city's strategic mobility planner Ed McKinney.
That would be the same number of times a train comes on the Blue Line.
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If the one-cent sales tax is passed, officials would also improve hundreds of bus stops across Mecklenburg County — building shelters and seating for waiting riders. McKinney says it would bring dignity to riders.
The biggest addition would be microtransit, an Uber-style way to get around smaller neighborhoods like Mountain Island Lake — for the same cost as a bus ride.
That makes Linda and Horatius Green happy.
'That sold me…the micro-transit…they could have five cents from me. If I could get a little Uber car just to pick me up and take me from point A to point B,' Linda said.
A recent accident took away her sight, restricting her ability to drive. She leans on her husband of 45 years to help her get around. She says a cheaper way to move around would work wonders in her life.
Mecklenburg County leaders discuss transportation improvements and possible expansions
'I'd like to hear a little bit more about it, but I think it's at one cent, it seems to be something that is very doable, especially if it's going to provide the type of transportation that is being presented,' Horatius said.
The couple was pleased to hear of the upcoming improvements in the area.
They were looking to hear about streetlighting in the neighborhood and how certain intersections could be upgraded with traffic lights and sidewalks to reduce car and pedestrian accidents near Rhyne Road and Mount Holly.
The Greens are hoping that traffic congestion will improve once the infrastructure is upgraded.
'The questions of many people were answered. I thought it was engaging. And I saw some things that I hope can be sped up a little bit, although I knew they had the planning process, and they have to do things in a particular way,' Horatius said.
Officials say if the sales tax isn't approved in November, transit will stay the way it is.
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