But rapid transit at least offers commuters a choice. Uptown business leaders have embraced transit as a way to keep jobs and tax dollars from relocating to neighboring suburban counties. Leaders of the Greater Charlotte Hospitality and Tourism Alliance say an expanded transit system is crucial for hotels, motels, restaurants and other service industries, which already are having trouble finding employees. If the Charlotte City Council and Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners adopt a series of new zoning mandates and economic incentives recommended by transit consultants, rapid transit will allow planners to guide growth. In the process, they'll be able to preserve farmland and other open spaces on Mecklenburg's borders.
Opponents seize on that same lack of details.
Ed Nowokunski, head of the watchdog group Citizens For Effective Government, says voters don't realize that much of the system will be buses. They may vote for buses, but they won't ride them, he said. He says the committee rushed through its job to meet a city-imposed deadline. That's not going to happen. The campaigns McCrory and other supporters say Charlotte can't wait any longer.