Connect Beyond - A Regional Mobility Initiative

To compete in a global economy, transportation infrastructure continues to be a major priority for economic development and regional attraction. Economic competitiveness is important to keep the momentum of regional job growth and economic expansion.

From the CONNECT Our Future project and the Regional Transit Engagement Series, we learned that transportation choices emerged as a top priority for residents and leaders in the CONNECT Beyond region. Transportation choices describe the variety of options available to residents and visitors in a region. These transportation choices could include driving a private vehicle, taking public transportation, riding a bike, carpooling, taking a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft, or walking. Currently, there are limited transportation choices available to area residents and visitors, and many overwhelmingly choose to drive a private automobile for their transportation needs.

To face the mobility demands, the region needs to develop a seamless and multi-modal layer of transit services. The layers can be described and assembled in many different ways, from the smallest mobility unit (e.g., walking), to the largest mobility unit (e.g., commuter rail). For purposes of this study, and because of the recently completed update to the CATS 2030 high capacity system plan, the CONNECT Beyond layers will be assembled from largest to smallest.

As a result of the exponential regional population and employment growth and development over the past few decades, our region has grown in a decentralized, spread-out development pattern, often called urban sprawl. A study by Smart Growth America found that the greater Charlotte region is the fifth most sprawling large metropolitan area with a population of more than one million residents in the United States.

Sprawling growth patterns accelerate land use consumption by rapidly converting open space and rural land into suburban and urban development. Sprawling urban expansion is not sustainable for our region, as our land and other natural resources are finite. In order to safeguard our natural environment while continuing to allow our human environment and existing communities to flourish, our region must adopt more sustainable urban growth strategies, expanded public transportation options and improved pedestrian accommodations.

Connected Communities

CONNECT Beyond will develop a Regional Transit Vision that not only recommends strategic rapid transit investments but also pairs those transportation ideas with coordinating land-use policies. This Regional Transit Vision will allow area transportation agencies to make strategic transit investments that will help foster vibrant communities, promote placemaking and improve livability by encouraging strategies such as transit-supportive development. Transit-supportive development can help correct past sprawling development patterns and sets forth growth patterns that are more sustainable.

While there is no single solution to tackling socioeconomic inequalities, focusing on improving transportation choices, accessibility and increasing affordable housing proximal to transit amenities is a step in the right direction to enhancing equity in our region. Public transit underlies any mobility network that offers several transportation options and is crucial to providing access to education, jobs, and housing as a means to escape poverty and increase one’s economic and social mobility.

According to the Federal Transit Administration, transportation accounts for 29 percent of greenhouse emissions in the United States. A study by the American Public Transportation Association found that in one year, taking transit saved 947 million gallons of fuel that would have been used if passengers would have driven their cars instead. We all have a part to play in taking care of our environment.

Public transportation plays an important part in taking care of our environment by:

Reducing Traffic Congestion

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Conserving Land-Use

Saving Energy

CONNECT Beyond project team will explore ways to further enhance the environmental stewardship of our region while improving regional transit connections throughout the area.