Regional mobility’s necessary; the vehicle is perplexing

PHOTO | TROY HULL

A proposed referendum for a 1-cent sales tax, if approved for the November municipal ballot, would dedicate 40% of revenue to maintaining roads and the remainder to Charlotte Area Transit System.

Javon Patterson rides the bus to get to and from work at Charlotte Douglas International airport.

“I love it, it’s really convenient,” he said, pulling up the Charlotte Area Transit System app on his phone.

Patterson scrolls the map illustrated with bus stops, stopping when he locates a bus tracked en route in real time.

“You can go all the way across the city for $2.20,” he said.

Convenience and affordability are relative, though, as Patterson says he’s in the process of buying a car. To get to work on time, he must board the bus at 7 a.m. to make the 9 a.m. shift.

To make up those shortcomings, state Sen. Vicki Sawyer and Rep. Tricia Cotham have introduced bills that would put a one-cent sales tax referendum on November’s municipal ballot.

Cotham’s bill, HB 948, or the Projects for Advancing Vehicle infrastructure Enhancements, or PAVE Act, would dedicate 40% of revenues from the tax to maintaining roadway systems and the remainder for CATS. Sawyer’s bill, SB 145, or the Mecklenburg Transportation Referendum, is nearly identical.

At a May 2 transit town hall hosted by the Black Voter Project, local officials discussed the pros and cons of a tax provision at Weeping Willow AME Zion Church in south Charlotte.  CATS interim CEO Brent Cagle said most Charlotte bus riders are working class people of color, with 60% of them Black.

During the discussion, one person in the audience expressed frustration that the bond referendums are always at the end of a long ballot and written in confusing language. Both bills state that the referendum’s language would read: “One percent (1%) local sales and use taxes, in addition to the current local sales and use taxes, to be used only for roadway systems and public transportation systems."

“We know taxes hit everybody hard. Nobody likes taxes,” Cagle said. He added that 30% of sales tax revenues come from visitors. According to Cagle, Sawyer’s bill states that no more than 40% of tax revenues can be dedicated to rail improvements, leaving the rest for road improvements.  

BVP co-founder Colette Forrest said the referendum won’t go forward if Black voters don’t support it, but many at the town hall were already familiar with the proposal and bills.

Kendrick Cunningham, a political strategist with Withers-Zoenak Associates Consulting, noticed the voters most needed to push the referendum across the finish line were not in attendance. He contended Black elected officials have “consolidated power” and “aren’t empower grassroots leaders” that would better connect to working class people. Even the town hall’s start time – 6 p.m. – was an issue.

“A lot of working-class people work at this time, so they aren’t able to make it,” Cunningham said.

Part of the discussion centered on prioritizing commuter rail over bus improvements.  

“Without buses, we can’t have a rail system,” Mayor Vi Lyles said, adding the connectivity would improve workforce development and access to commuters. “We have to pull this together, but without the funding, we don’t have anything to pull.” 

Mecklenburg County commissioners Chair Mark Jerrell said decisions made today “won’t be felt until 2045 or 2055.” 

The tax would push forward the “Better Bus” model, which would get all buses on a 15-minute frequency, which supporters contend would increase access and socioeconomic opportunity for commuters.

“This could serve 202,000 more people of color compared to the 40,000 it’s serving right now,” Jerrell said. “Three hundred twenty thousand more jobs would be accessible within a half mile of the 15-minute frequency than 120,000 today.”

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