Routes follow seven main corridors, stretching into Houston's far-flung suburbs.
Fares cover 27 percent of bus costs. Transit works best when houses and apartments are tightly packed along a transit corridor, providing a ready supply of passengers. Mecklenburg voters may be asked in November to approve a half-cent sales tax to pay for a mass transit system that could include rail or busways. Maybe a busway in the middle lane of Independence Boulevard or a commuter train on a little-used rail line between uptown and towns north of Charlotte. Tim Thiel loves his Ford Explorer.