York County, SC (May 28, 2019) The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) seeks public feedback on Lynx Light Rail routes going into Pineville, NC, and Ballantyne, NC. The link shows the proposed route options and links to the survey (see “Want to weigh in” 
section). (July 2019 update – THIS SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED.) CATS plans to extend the light rail from the I-485 station into Pineville and then to Ballantyne – this is an opportunity for York County residents to express our feedback that the Pineville line be extended to SC towards Rock Hill!
In the opinion of Steve Yaffe of Yaffe Mobility Consulting, “We need a CATS Blue Line with two branch extensions: Pineville/Ballantyne and Pineville/Kingsley/Rock Hill. In this decade, Fort Mill alone has doubled in population. The Charlotte metro area will grow from 2.9M to 3.45M in 5 years. South Charlotte-area population will increase 70% in the next 18 years. This growth without a strong transit alternative means sitting in peak period traffic on our under-built arterial streets through six light cycles instead of three (eastbound Regent Parkway at Harrisonburg) – readers can come up with other examples.” Yaffe also notes, “If York County chooses to support the ability of residents to walk or cycle safely, investments must be made for continuous pedestrian pathways along arterials with 2-foot pavement to the right of those often-deeply-serrated white edge lines for cyclists. Each transit station should have bicycle parking and must have ADA-compliant pedestrian access.”
Please share this link and survey with others who may be interested – this is a good way to remind CATS planners that we want light rail in SC.
https://www.charlotteagenda.com/…/cats-unveils-possible-li…/
https://www.charlotteagenda.com/167512/cats-unveils-possible-light-rail-routes-to-pineville-and-ballantyne/