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CATS Light Rail, Streetcars Aid Future Development
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BY JOHN LEWIS
Executive Director, Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS)
 Charlotte, NC, has experienced a 10 percent expansion in population since April 2010 and is now ranked as having the third highest population growth rate among major U.S. cities, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is also in the midst of an expansion, with multiple rail lines and rail infrastructure expansion projects underway supporting regional growth and spurring private economic development along multiple rail corridors. |
Most recently, CATS launched the CityLYNX Gold Line streetcar in July 2015, and ridership has already surpassed projections by more than 60 percent. Providing a direct link to uptown Charlotte, Phase 1 connects customers to universities, employment, sporting and entertainment venues and to more than 70 CATS bus routes and the LYNX Blue Line light rail service.
Phase 2 of the CityLYNX Gold Line is currently advancing through the 90 percent level of engineering design, with construction scheduled to begin in fall 2016. Phase 2 will extend the existing line by an additional 2.5 miles in the east and west directions of the city, providing an additional 11 stops and creating a four-mile streetcar service. The line is already attracting new transit-oriented development (TOD) and projections anticipate the Gold Line will attract nearly $4.5 billion in new TOD adjacent to the streetcar corridor by 2035.
In addition to advancing the streetcar project, CATS is currently midway through construction of the $1.16 billion LYNX Blue Line Extension (BLE). This project is extending the existing LYNX Blue Line light rail line an additional 9.3 miles north, from uptown Charlotte to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte campus, creating an 18-mile cross-county, congestion-free service.
The BLE is also attracting new private development along the line with more than $200 million in planned or under construction projects, with an estimated new development of $4.4 billion by 2035. The BLE is scheduled to open in August 2017 with an estimated 25,000 in daily ridership.
The existing LYNX Blue Line, which opened in 2007, exceeded ridership projections in the first year by more than 50 percent and has continued to grow. To accommodate this growth, CATS is currently in Phase 1 of a multi-phase project to expand the existing Blue Line platforms to accommodate three-car trains.
The LYNX Blue Line has also been a catalyst to transform the south corridor, attracting more than $1.3 billion in development, $900 million in private development and another $400 million planned or under construction. These new developments with business, retail and residential components have created a vibrant mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly environment that is attracting both people and businesses to the corridor.
The investments the Charlotte region has made into a robust transit system are being embraced by the citizens and have become a critical transportation choice and economic development engine that will continue to provide sustainable benefits to the region for the next 50 years.
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CATS crew distressing the rail, with the 9th Street Station in the background.
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