Charlotte mobility plan aims to slash car use, transform access to lower-emission options

Source: Smart Cities Dive By Austyn Gaffney

Dive Brief:

The strategic mobility plan that Charlotte, North Carolina, recently passed seeks to reduce carbon emissions, improve equity and replace cars on the road with new transit options. Two main goals are expanding transit options to achieve a 50-50 mode share — in which half of all trips are not made in a single-occupancy vehicle — and achieving Vision Zero, the elimination of traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Charlotte’s plan also aims to increase economic mobility, particularly for Black residents, who make up one-third of the city’s population but account for more than three-quarters of bus riders.
While the city council approved the plan at the end of June, the city has not yet established financing for implementation, as it needs support from the state capital to levy an additional tax.

Dive Insight:

North Carolina’s largest city is seeking to become a model for technological innovation in transportation. That effort follows a 2014 study out of Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley that ranked Charlotte last out of the nation’s 50 largest commuting zones for intergenerational, or economically upward, mobility.