Five years ago, when I was seeking a way to help myself
overcome some of my physical challenges of being in a wheelchair, I discovered an organization called Disability Rights and
Resources. Over the years I have become a strong advocate for transportation and have worked diligently to make our transit
system better for everyone, not just for those with physical challenges. I have taken it upon myself to meet with numerous
CATS officials and have offered hundreds of proposals to help improve our transportation system. I've rallied the troops and
have gotten people to all of the public meetings to do what we needed to do to keep vital routes from being eliminated.
We've had some good success. But, for every success that we have achieved, we have also gotten hundreds of no's.
In our journey to improve our local transit system, we have discovered many things that need major improvement. While we have
spent considerable time on the LYNX rail line and used that to bring our transit system into the 21st century, there has been
no change within the rest of our bus system other to continue extending routes further out as the city grows. Over the years,
this has created rides of 2 to 2 1/2 hours ONE WAY, to get to a destination you can travel to in 10 minutes by car. As an
example, traveling from downtown Matthews all the way to the CTC in Uptown and back out to the Arboretum on Providence Rd
and Hwy 51 takes nearly 2 1/2 hours. This is just simply not acceptable.
One of the biggest problems that we have tried to bring to CATS attention
is the breakdown in communication among CATS employees. As I mentioned, I have made hundreds of proposals to CATS, especially
to the ROUTE PLANNING department. I kept being told that they can't afford to make the changes that we have proposed, when,
in fact, these changes could be make at no additional cost to the city transportation budget since they are improvements in
our route structure and could be done within the current budget framework. Many of the proposals I have made would actually
save millions of dollars from the current budget.
I've mentioned the fact that our routes are discriminatory against the everyday bus rider to officials at CATS, but
they have taken no action to correct the situation. As an example, when the busway in the middle of the Independence Freeway
was first proposed, we were told that it would be used to get passengers from Uptown Charlotte to the Park and Ride in Matthews,
which it does in 30 minutes. However, regular bus riders have to take the number 17 Commonwealth bus along city streets, which
takes 30 minutes just to get to the first stop on Independence, then nearly 30 minutes more to get to Matthews. While the
Express bus riders are on and off the bus to their Matthews destination, regular riders have to endure long rides and do not
have the benefit of using the busway along Independence Freeway.
One thing that many of us have noticed is that CATS proudly posts the STATEMENT
on Title VI Protection Against Discrimination all over Charlotte. Have any of you really read this statement? Let me read
some exerpts
Full Statement
on Title Vi Protection Against Discrimination is on the next link on our webpage.
Prohibited practices include but are not limited to:
* Denying a person any service or benefit because
of race, color, or national origin.
* Providing a different service or benefit, or providing services or benefits in a different manner.
* Locating facilities in any way
that would limit or impede access to a federally funded service or benefit.
Wait a minute - let's go back to the second statement. PROVIDING A
DIFFERENT SERVICE OR BENEFIT, OR PROVIDING SERVICES OR BENEFITS IN A DIFFERENT MANNER.
You ARE providing Express Bus Service along the busway on Independence
Freeway, but you ARE NOT providing bus service to the everyday bus rider who is black, white, hispanic or disabled just because
they don't pay an additional fare for the privilege. Hwy 74 IS a federally funded highway and all bus riders are entitled
to enjoy the privileges.
We
are asking that Routes 40X and 65X become REGULAR routes to immediately allow all bus riders the ability to utilize this federally
funded highway so that CATS can start to become in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with service
offered to everyone from early mornning until late night 7 days a week as soon as possible, but NO LATER than our next service
change.
WAIT A minute!!! Aren't Interstates 77 and 85 federally funded? That means that
bus service to Concord, Gastonia, Mooresville, Rock Hill and Monroe are all services that Express Riders enjoy, but are not
offered to the everyday bus rider, the core riders of our system. Title VI allows ALL bus riders this privilege if buses travel
over federally funded highways.
Now, isn't it amazing that we have proposed many changes to our
Transit Route system that would offer Bus Riders regular bus service to all of these areas, and that it could be done WITHIN
the current budget that has been set for CATS. We can offer regular buses to Concord and Gastonia that by simply streamlining
existing routes, we could offer these routes with no additional outlay in buses or capital expenditures.
I
have proposed to several city council members that a new sub-committee be established that would allow citizens of Charlotte
and Mecklenburg to have the abiltiy of totally revising of existing bus system to change it from being a SPOKE system where
nearly all of the buses come Uptown and then return to the edges of the county, to a HUB system, where buses travel between
HUBS and offer transfers. This would allow us to offer service from Matthews to Southpark, from Rosa Parks Place and northern
Mecklenburg to UNCC, and build a regional system linking all of the surrounding counties who currently offer their own independent
transportation services. This would allow a passenger to travel from the western edge of Gastonia, to the southern end of
the town of Salisbury in Rowan county, utilizing the services of CK Rider in Concord and Kannapolis, for as little as $3.50
each way.
The time to provide this service is NOW. And, Title VI allows all riders to enjoy this
service. Until these links are provided to the surrounding towns by CATS, our transportation service is in violation of Title
VI of the Cilvil Rights Action of 1964. However, rest assured, Charlotte is not the only transit system in the country that
has these violations. I have not found a single transit system in the country that is in total compliance with Title VI.
I hope that we can work together to make the changes necessary to change our transit system to a user friendly
system. It is our goal to make CATS a mean, lean and green machine.
However, please don't continue
to ignore the citizens of Charlotte. We have just about reached the end of our rope. We are asking that CATS and our City
Leaders start listening and realize that we have a problem that can be fixed with simple improvements to start, with a total
revamping of the system over the next several years.
Work with us, and we'll work with you.
