A lack of funding and has changed the picture. How will it affect hopes for commuter rail north of Charlotte?

The head of Charlotte Area Transit System said Thursday a long-range plan the system’s board approved in 2006 is “no longer financially feasible” and will need to be reviewed and updated in the coming months.

That word from CATS interim Chief Executive John Muth Thursday following a tense meeting Wednesday night of the Metropolitan Transit Commission, which oversees CATS. The MTC includes area mayors and the head of the county commission, and sets policy for the transit system.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the MTC put off a planned vote on a new federal lobbying agenda for 2010-11. Some officials in the towns north of Charlotte had objected to that proposal, saying it appeared, in the words of Davidson’s mayor, to be putting the north commuter line “in mothballs.”

Mr. Muth downplayed the decision to table the lobbying agenda. “It was not imperative that the MTC make a final vote on the legislative agenda at (Thursday’s) meeting,” he said in a statement provided to DavidsonNews.net.  “I am confident that CATS staff and the MTC will finalize a legislative agenda that will satisfy all involved parties.”

The issue could resurface at the next MTC meeting, on Oct. 28.

RETHINKING THE VISION

CATS officials say the October and subsequent meetings also could include discussions about revising the system’s long range plan.

The MTC adopted the current plan, known as the 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan, in 2006, and it has been the basis for planning assumptions by local officials throughout the region since then. It envisioned a network of five transit lines around Charlotte.

So far, only the Lynx Blue Line light rail has been built, stretching from Charlotte South toward Pineville.

That plan authorized CATS to move forward with engineering for both an 11-mile extension of the light rail, to the UNC-Charlotte area northeast of downtown, and for the proposed 25-mile North Corridor, which would be a heavier commuter train with limited stops between Charlotte and Mooresville.

The 2030 plan projected at the time (2006), that the North Corridor commuter line could be operational by 2012. Supporters of the line have noted that it would be less expensive than other lines because it would run on an existing Norfolk Southern right-of-way and would require relatively limited improvements. Current estimates project it will cost $375 million.

The light rail extension was projected to be completed by 2013. More recent estimates say it could cost more than $1 billion. CATS still needs to acquire right-of-way for the line, which could extend both the timeline and cost.

As time has passed, the weak economy has reduced income from the region’s 1/2-cent sales tax for transit, which CATS was relying on to help fund the line. Meanwhile, officials have learned that the north line does not qualify for federal funding, while the northeast line could qualify.

2006 CORRIDOR PLAN WON’T WORK

With no clear picture of where the money would come from to build the lines, Mr. Muth said Thursday it’s now clear the 2006 plan won’t work.

“The 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan voted on by the MTC in 2006 is no longer financially feasible given today’s economy,” Mr. Muth said.

So he wants the MTC to come up with a new plan. “In the upcoming months the MTC will need to review and update the plan. In 2006  the decision by the MTC was to move forward with engineering on the North and Northeast lines.  Each of the lines had its own financial plan to pursue.  Staff continues to work on both proposed lines in an effort to keep moving forward.”

Davidson Mayor John Woods late Thursday agreed the plan probably needs to be be revised.

But any revision might only alter the policy to match CATS’ current de facto assumption, which the mayor said favors the costlier, more complicated Northeast line. He hopes the MTC will recognize that the North line remains less expensive and easier to build.

“What seems to be happening is that (2006) plan has been sort of put on the shelf, and all the focus has gone to the Northeast Corridor,” Mayor Woods said. In a worst-case scenario for towns north of Charlotte – Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresvile – the northeast light rail line would get all the funding and attention from CATS, and would not be finished until at least 2019, Mayor Woods said. The north line would come later.

“So we could find ourselves doing nothing for 10 years and still have no Northeast Corridor,” Mayor Woods said. “We’re all struggling with that.”

RELATED COVERAGE

Sept. 24, 2009, “At meeting, mayors try to keep commuter rail in sight.”

Sept. 22, 2009,  “Towns seek to revive focus on north commuter rail,” including full text of a statement by the Lake Norman Transportation Commission.

MORE ABOUT TRANSIT PLANNING

See the Charlotte Area Transit System web page on long-range planning, including the 2030 system plan, descriptions of the various lines, and other documents, CLICK HERE>