Hey, if Charlotte’s doing it, it’s an idea destined to make the Triangle a world-class community, right? Actually, no. Yet it appears Triangle residents may be facing a Charlotte-like transit tax, thanks to bills filed this week in the Senate and House. The Herald-Sun reports legislators are optimistic about passage.
The bill is in most respects the same as the one supporters pushed for last year.
The major difference is that at the behest of freshman Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, this year’s version includes language that requires local governments receiving subsidies from a proposed state “congestion relief” fund have to promote the development of low-cost housing near transit stations.
Planning for that should include the identification of resources to house any low-income residents displaced by transit construction, and an effort to see that at least 30 percent of the housing within half a mile of a station is affordable to families making below 60 percent of the region’s median income, the bill says.
JLF’s Michael Sanera explains why a rail system is not suited to the Triangle in this commentary. You probably won’t be shocked to learn from Sanera’s piece that the push for rail is part of a much larger and onerous central planning effort that’s ironically known as “smart growth.”
If you’re wondering how the rail project has worked out for Charlotte residents, take a minute to peruse this report.
