In reaction to a WFAE short article about the proposed $8 billion Silver Line light rail, the Charlotte Area Transit System said Monday that it did not “misrepresent the project analysis or make up data” — however the transit system did not deal with several issues raised in the short article.
CATS composed in a letter to chosen authorities that the short article “attempts to undermine staff’s credibility with this public attack and damages their professional reputation.” It likewise said the transit system was “blindsided” by what it said was an “inappropriate attack-oriented nature of this article.”
The problem has to do with how the Silver Line from Matthews to the airport must go through prosperous.
In June 2022, CATS said that a path utilizing existing Lynx Blue Line and Gold Line tram tracks would have the most riders by 2050 and the most financial advancement capacity. It likewise said it would be the least pricey, conserving $1 billion.
But 6 months later on, CATS reversed itself.
It now preferred a path that loops around the heart of prosperous by following the Brookshire Freeway and turning west near Graham Street.
CATS Silver Line task supervisor Andy Mock informed chosen authorities that the path would have the most riders by 2050 and the most financial advancement capacity. It likewise decreased the possible cost savings of the line that utilized the Blue Line and Gold Line tracks, stating it would just save $500 or $600 million.
The WFAE story kept in mind how CATS said the path that utilizes the Blue Line and Gold Line tracks was forecasted in June to have 20% more riders in 2050 than the path that loops around the city.
But when CATS made a brand-new discussion in January, it said the path that utilized the Blue Line tracks would have 3% less riders.
CATS acknowledged making 2 mistakes in its discussions to Charlotte City Council’s transport committee.
One mistake was putting the incorrect ridership numbers in a discussion. The error revealed that the path that loops around prosperous had the most riders by 2050. In truth, it had the least, although the distinction wasn’t big.
CATS said it was a small error and didn’t alter the total analysis.
The other mistake was an inaccurate map revealing the walkability and redevelopment location of the various paths. CATS acknowledged that was an error, however it said the hidden analysis was proper.
But the letter did not deal with other concerns raised by the WFAE short article.
For circumstances, the expert who did the ridership analysis, WSP, just did an analysis for half of the Silver Line. Former CATS Chief Executive Ron Tober said that was an error due to the fact that the transit system requires to comprehend how the whole line interacts. That likewise permitted CATS to make the path that loops around the city seem a much better choice.
In a discussion to City Council in January, CATS did not state it was studying just the very first stage of the line.
CATS was likewise utilizing ridership forecasts for 2050, which would not be permitted by the Federal Transit Administration. When choosing whether to money a task, the federal government just permits transit systems to go twenty years into the future due to the fact that anything past that is too speculative.
WFAE likewise questioned the expert’s choice in December to change the ridership forecasts based upon modifications to the bus network.
In an internal discussion to CATS, the expert, WSP, displayed in information how the modifications would affect the path that loops around the city, along with a path that would just utilize the Gold Line tracks.
But WSP offered no info regarding how the bus modifications would affect the path that utilizes the Blue Line tracks.
The modifications to the bus network made the path that loops around the city seem a much better choice than the path that would utilize Blue Line and Gold Line tracks.
Mock informed WFAE that the expert changed that info for the Blue Line and Gold Line path later on, and the modifications were shown in the last discussion to the City Council in January.
But it doesn’t appear that took place. The ridership numbers for the path that utilizes the Blue Line and Gold Line tracks didn’t alter from December to January.
