Charlotte-Mecklenburg, in the midst of years of strong growth, has adopted a Centers and Corridors Vision to sustain its prosperity and check the potential loss of jobs and residents to adjacent suburban jurisdictions. Successful integration of land use and transit planning is needed to avoid choking gridlock and gradual stagnation. Recent development is extensive but typically at very low suburban densities. An intensive six-month study conducted for Charlotte-Mecklenburg assessed transit opportunities in five corridors and showed how to alter current land use trends to better support transit a Centers and Corridors Vision. Key features of this strategy helped convince voters to approve a 0.5% sales tax for transit system construction and operations. This effort is presented in a series of three papers. The first paper provides and overview of the planning process and its results and recomendations. The second paper focuses on the innovative approaches to ridership projections utilized in the study. The third paper focuses on a scheme for regional governance proposed as a result of the study.
