Most of this run down of contributors to Charlotte city council candidates is self-explanatory, but it is interersting to note that the Teamsters PAC gave $2,000 to Susan Burgess. CATS bus drivers are Teamsters and the system’s light rail operators would presumably be Teamsters as well. Needless to say, the more money CATS gets to spend, the bigger slice the Teamsters get.
Burgess has repeatedly said she favors light rail for the Independence transit corridor, a solution many times more expensive than bus ways and no more efficient at moving people. What’s more with the altogether shocking — and as yet underreported — news that CATS plans to stop the Indy line inside I-485 after concluding that they’d have to tunnel under the Beltway to reach CPCC’s Matthews campus, the cost of light rail in that corridor truly looks prohibitive compared to its impact.
Burgess is smart enough to figure out the numbers of this next crucial step for Charlotte’s transportation future. Bucking the Teamsters — somewhat tougher.
