“If you plan it, they will come.” This was the prevailing attitude at last night’s meeting of the Metropolitan Transit Commission for Mecklenburg County, which saw a presentation on the North Corridor commuter rail line by CATS officials and the mayors of the North Corridor towns of Davidson, Cornelius, and Huntersville. They see commuter rail and accompanying land use policies as a tool to shift economic development toward their historic town centers, as enlightened planners design a “string of pearls” (actual quote) of transit-oriented developments linked by the train.
Whether or not people will actually ride the thing was a bit of an afterthought, but there was talk of mathematical models that suggest that commuter rail in Charlotte would boast greater riderships than other systems in similar cities.
But not everyone was so impressed with their sanguinity. Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory said in the future that he needs a more “blunt assessment” of the real costs and benefits of the North Corridor line, and CATS needs to be forthcoming with the “good, bad, and ugly.”
If even noted train advocate McCrory is voicing skepticism, perhaps the rest of us should take even more caution at recent reports that costs will be much larger than anyone at CATS has predicted.
