1. Home
  2. Articles & Research
  3. Articles

Articles

[title_1]
Excessive sick leave blamed for shoddy bus service
   June 23, 2022

Tony Mecia

CATS chief John Lewis on Wednesday shed new light on the reasons that his transit agency’s buses increasingly are late or don’t show up, saying that drivers using their allotted paid sick days are leaving the agency without enough workers to operate routes and contributing to unreliable service.

At a meeting of elected officials from around the Charlotte region, Lewis said CATS’...

Read more
[title_1]
Charlotte’s new mobility plan: ambitious goals, tons of data
   June 22, 2022
Ely Portillo

A far-reaching new plan could shape Charlotte’s transportation infrastructure for decades to come, reorienting a car-dependent, sprawling Southern city towards a denser, transit-oriented, bike- and pedestrian-friendly future. 

Charlotte City Council approved the Strategic Mobility Plan on Monday in a 9-2 vote, with council members Tariq Bokhari and Ed Driggs voting no. The plan was...

Read more
[title_1]
Rediscovering an overlooked native plant: Ninebarks
   June 17, 2022
Ruth Ann Grissom

Plant obsessions can run in different directions. Some plant lovers amass a deep collection of a single species – say, iris, roses or hostas. Others go wide — they want one of everything. I’m definitely on the wide end of that spectrum, but I’m moving toward the center. I’ve come to appreciate how a mass underplanting of Southern shield ferns brings cohesion to a shrub border and how a wavy...

Read more
[title_1]
Lessons from 'Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems'
   June 17, 2022
Aaron Houck


Brookings Institution Press (February 22, 2022)
From $24.99 (...

Read more
[title_1]
New Silver Line plan: Ridership favored over development
   June 16, 2022

Steve Harrison, WFAE

For three years, transit advocates have lobbied for the proposed Silver Line to bring passengers closer to uptown — instead of the planned route that would follow Interstate 277.

The Charlotte Area Transit System refused, saying the I-277 route north of uptown would...

Read more
[title_1]
Why uptown and University City want to grow more like each other
   June 14, 2022
Ely Portillo

As COVID-19 fades from the front pages but normalcy still hovers out of reach, Charlotte’s two biggest employment centers want to resemble each other a bit more in the decades to come.

On the surface, University City (a sprawling, suburban landscape dominated by cul-de-sacs, strip shopping centers, the university campus and office parks) doesn’t seem to have much in common with...

Read more
[title_1]
Biking in Charlotte shouldn't be scary. Here's how I do it.
   June 13, 2022

Pam Murray

This might surprise some people who think bicycling in Charlotte is serious, or scary: Riding is fun! If you come and ride your bicycle with me, you'll most likely have a good experience. I've been leading bike rides since 2013, sometimes three per week. I also teach CyclingSavvy, a skills course that equips riders to move around our city safely and confidently. 

Don't believe me? Take...

Read more
[title_1]
Bark-devouring beetles are killing Charlotte's greenway ash trees
   June 13, 2022

Amber Veverka

This story originally appeared in the Charlotte Ledger business newsletter, and is reproduced here with permission. 

The start of summer beckons in the region’s extensive greenways, but Mecklenburg County’s publicly owned green spaces are under attack from a half-inch-long insect that’s turning whole areas of our urban forest...

Read more
[title_1]
A more equitable approach to neighborhood traffic safety in Charlotte
   June 7, 2022
Ely Portillo

Update: On June 13, Charlotte City Council approved changes to eliminate the petition process for traffic-calming requests)

Where you live in Charlotte has a big effect on whether neighborhood safety measures like speed humps, stop signs and lower speed limits are installed nearby.

Charlotte’s traffic-calming policy has been in place since 1997, and remains “very...

Read more
[title_1]
Charlotte considers replacing some low-ridership buses with on-demand service
   June 1, 2022
Ely Portillo

As Charlotte’s transit system struggles to attract bus riders back post-COVID, officials are considering adding more on-demand options and replacing some low-ridership, fixed-schedule routes with services people could summon when needed.

The idea is still in its early stages, but it could eventually lead to replacing some full-sized buses with smaller, nimbler vehicles. It’s part of...

Read more