REAL not RAIL Transit for the future!
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments (0)
Use today's technology!
On WBTV today they were all glassed eye and salivating over how many more people are riding the light rail and how the controversy must have been answered with this outstanding increase in ridership. In fact they say that during sport events the numbers increase by sometimes three times as much. And to prove the success they say the I485 parking deck is often closed due to the large number of cars parked there.
Great so we are now only looking at the numbers of riders as the success. I guess the distortions of the advertising campaign last year from those in support of the light rail have sold everyone on the same way of looking at the SUCCESS of our light rail.
We do not need to bother to look that it costs us in subsidised tax dollars around TWENTY SEVEN dollars each way plus the fare people pay on Light Rail. Nor that we could move these same people for only around FOUR dollars in tax subsidies plus the fare each way on buses. An we can overlook the fact Raleigh can move people on buses for about ONE DOLLAR AND SEVENTY FIVE cents each way in tax subsidies plus the fare with their more efficient transit operation. But of course they are not operating off of the windfall of the half cents sales tax as it was in the past, but becoming a real problem for cash cow status in this economy for our transit system, CATS.
And we can overlook the fact that the majority of the tags parked in the parking lot at I485 are South Carolina Tags as they pay taxes here. And hopefully they buy a few thousand each rider per day to help us offset these costs by paying the half cent sales tax and it is not being borne by the Mecklenburg County People more than it should.
But that is not what we are here to discuss. We want to eschew technology that is over a hundred years old and go with the future. We want to say that costs are important but apparently not that important when it comes to moving people.
Helicopters. YES HELICOPTERS.
Imagine the potential? No marring of the land, flexablilty of travel, and a myriad of other advantages.
Can you imagine the fuel savings for commuters, the cars that would be off the overcrowded roads and think of how our environment would benefit. Beautiful new helicopters flying through our beautiful and smog free skies?
Let’s do a Charlotte Observer on you:
Imagine you get up from your lake home in Hickory, North Carolina. You forgot to set the clock. It is 8AM. You go to your automated cleaning station which uses no water, chemicals or anything else. You go downstairs as you only have two rooms a bedroom and a residence room to keep your carbon foot print low. Your spouse (male or female or any gender change they bravely may have wished to change to or a person of a same sex relationship) greets you. If you are so inclined you have only two offspring who attend the local school which houses 10thousand students all in a high rise to again save the environment.
You tell this Person you are late and go out the door to your segway which takes you the two miles to the local heliport. You board with others wearing the same suits all from recycled plasic bottles but the suit feels like silk but looks like something a worm spit up.
As you fly over the terrain you see closed big empty box stores all along the overgrown rail lines. All those poor people who still live along those lines are desperate to sell but no one wants to be near these reminders of all the expense they once incurred.
So you finally land on top of your building at 8:30 am and wend your way down to the cubicle where you approve the 665.245 form all day long. Once in a while you get the opportunity to approve a 665.248 but those days are far between. Life is good!
And imagine not having to buy land or wait long at all as we build a few heliports around the area. No special orders just standard passengers helicopters is all we need. Then imagine using them during the day to ferry people to the Airport or what ever needs we might have during the day? Let’s not even talk about using them in an emergency to get people out of the area or people to the hospital in a big way. Then during the events you can just imagine the use. We can only look at the NASCAR success of helicopters to see how well it would would work with our sporting events.
Now many would be saying what would all of this costs, to which I would say not that much. Apparently that is all you have to do anymore for the media and they will quit asking questions.
So let’s get moving on Helicopters!!! TODAY and we can have them flying in Charlotte in just a couple of months all over the place.
Admin @ January 12, 2009
Rail Roaded By CATS/Center City
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments (0)
Tax Payer Seeing Bill
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/408/story/417620.html
If you read the Observer story above today you will see that CATS is using the story that a downturn in the economy is the only reason we are in the position of having bus services cut and light rail services cut.
We told you last year that this whole house of cards would come down on them even if the economy were to keep going well. Just note how we asked that they take two years and show us how successful and cost wise this whole transit system would be.
When will we learn that all these people are surrounded with people who are there because they were put there to support us paying more and more of our taxes while they and their friends make money off of the developments and other activities which whirl around all this money.
Charlottelightrail @ December 16, 2008
Affordable Light Rail, Cats on budget and other Christmas wish Tales 2008
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments (0)
OH! I just can not wait to see the surprise!
Anyone could see we were slowing down last year and yet our Elected Officials were still going at it like it was the old days when they could just Annex more and cover their wild spending
So now we are getting the real truth about our Transit Spending
More to come!
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/local/story/394843
Admin @ December 5, 2008
Visit the New Website (Now Closed)
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
Hi:
For a lot more information on Light Rail in Charlotte, we suggest you visit the new website (now closed)
They are the people who got the Repeal the half cent sales tax on the ballot for Fall 2007
We are surprised that the Elected Officials and Transist Professionals did not at least try to sit down and talk to the leaders of the 66 thousand tax payers who signed to have this on the ballot. Instead the Elected Officials are now going to go to the big uptown businesses and get a war chest so they can quiet any of these Citizens and Taxpayers voices.
Do citizens operate the city or does big business? Maybe we can make that clear to the elected officials this Fall
Admin @ June 1, 2007
We have our signatures!
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
We have the number of signatures we need and they will soon have this verified by the Mecklenburg Board of Elections.
This means you will now have the opportunity to discover the way your tax money has been spent and not rely on the the sound bites from Elected Officials and Government Employees, who seem to spend your money like it is expiring at midnight.
We ask you to spend some time and research The Charlotte Arena Transit System yourself. That way you can decide if you will vote yes or no to recend the half cent sales tax.
If you salary had gone up as fast as the costs and expenditures at CATS then you would be very, very rich.
Contact us if you need a copy of the research or you can see the studies we have on this website.
Admin @ April 2, 2007
Where does the one half cent sales tax come from?
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
Where does the one half cent sales tax money come from? This chart might help. If you go to the website you will see that the majority of the money from Charlotte comes from the suburbs and not the center city as this is based on sales. This protects the center city and the very expensive tax base located there.
Fiscal Year 2005-2006
State (4.5%)
Taxable Sales* Gross Collections* Estimated 1/2%
Charlotte 10,374,589,252 458,166,938 50,907,438
Cornelius 205,833,159 9,082,480 1,009,164
Davidson 47,365,460 2,066,645 229,627
Huntersville 39,963,002 17,756,153 1,972,906
Matthews 590,433,295 26,418,638 2,935,404
Mint Hill 27,794,828 1,258,016 139,780
Pineville &Unincorporated 2,071,329,430 74,947,064 8,327,452
Mecklenburg County 13,357,308,426 589,695,934 65,521,770
per NC Dept. of Revenue
www.dornc.com/publications
Admin @ March 29, 2007
Make Charlotte One of the Premier Bus systems in America
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
This letter from Tom Ashcraft, dated: March 27th, 2007, is one you should read.
Mr. Ashcraft is a former US Attorney and currently is an Attorney here in Charlotte.
To Mayor Pat McCrory and City Councilman John Lassiter
Dear Mayor and John:
Despite what you implied at last night’s Charlotte City Council meeting, taxes are not on automatic pilot, and they are not set by City staff. Elected officials set them. Elected officials can raise or cut them. Charlotte-Mecklenburg has for years imposed the highest per capita tax burden in North Carolina among large municipalities. This is because of excessive tax rates set by local elected officials, many of them Republicans. It doesn’t have to be this way.
There apparently will be enough signatures, including mine, to call for a referendum this fall on repeal of the half cent transit sales tax. This tax was imposed after the people were misled about the costs of the 2025 Transit Plan during the 1998 referendum. Further, the light rail project on South Boulevard has experienced huge costs overruns. More are surely on the way, given chronic mismanagement at CATS.
The credibility of those running the City of Charlotte and CATS has been damaged by past actions. Many citizens just don’t trust Charlotte officials.
Why don’t you join the people’s movement and agree to a pause in extravagant spending on the current light rail and mass transit plan by repealing the transit sales tax? During the pause, we can reassess the whole transit mess and do what’s best for this community. There’s no reason Charlotte cannot be a low tax city and also have one of the premier bus systems in America.
Thank you for considering this request. Best regards.
Sincerely, Tom
Thomas J. Ashcraft
Admin @ March 27, 2007
I am scared!
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
And you should be scared to if you believe any part of the mess Charlotte City Council, CATS and the Media want you to believe.
Charlotte will grind to a halt with no busses and property taxes will go up.
The true story is that they know they can fund busses and taxes will not go up if they quit this mad rush toward Light Rail.
All we have ever asked for is proof that it works, and holding off for two years of operations of the Southern route would be the litmus test. The Southern route funding has been in place for some time.
As far as putting another issue on the ballot to fund just busses, it can be done if they merely change it to say it is only for busses, not just changing the amount of the current one. A fact they used to confuse citizens into thinking they have no options.
So let’s review what they are saying, busses will stop and taxes will go up.
Hey what about all the other messes they have gotten us into. Are we not heavy into debt for that third arena? Don’t we have to pay a lot of taxes to service that debt? That second arena had more owing on it than they sold it for, who paid for that, oh yeah, property taxes spread over a few years so we would not balk.Â
Wait, could we not also borrow this loss and spread it over the years instead? A loss this small would be a lot better than the big loss and the extensive property taxes once we get all those empty trains running around the county?
Admin @ March 27, 2007
We have focused on Light Rail and not Busses over the last few years!
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
March 15, 2007 - johnlocke.org
Scrapping special Charlotte tax would boost efficiency
JLF analysts highlight bloated transit spending
Contact:
Dr. Michael Sanera Â
919-828-3876
Click here to view and here to listen to Dr. Michael Sanera discussing this Spotlight report.
RALEIGH – Charlotte could focus on real transportation problems and improve its bus system’s efficiency by scrapping a special half-cent sales tax. That’s a key finding in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.
“The half-cent sales tax money has been an unfortunate diversion,†said Dr. Michael Sanera, JLF Research Director and local government analyst. “It has diverted the attention of Charlotte’s citizens to a light rail system that has expended vast amounts of money with little promise of reducing traffic congestion.
“It has also diverted Charlotte’s bus system onto a path of inefficient operations,†Sanera added. “It is time for Charlotte to rethink its total transportation needs without the half-cent sales tax.â€
Sanera and co-author Joseph Coletti, JLF fiscal policy analyst, are unveiling their report as light rail critics work to repeal the half-cent sales tax. If those critics gather enough signatures, Charlotte voters will decide in November whether to repeal the tax.
Charlotte adopted the special sales tax in 1998. Supporters said the tax would generate funds to help expand an existing city bus system and to match federal funds for the city’s light rail system.
Sanera and Coletti found that the tax has had harmful unintended consequences. Cost estimates for the entire transit system – light rail and buses – increased from $2 billion to $9 billion. Bus ridership increased by 52 percent from 1997 to 2005, but operating costs more than doubled during the same period, Sanera said.
“The ridership increase would be a success story if the system had controlled its costs, but the infusion of guaranteed sales tax funds caused costs to spiral out of control,†Sanera said. “For example, operating costs per trip grew 118 percent from 1997 to 2005. If Charlotte cut its costs from $4.29 per trip to $3.20 per trip – the average cost for seven other North Carolina bus systems – the city could slice 25 percent off its operating expenses.â€
Revenue from the special sales tax has allowed the Charlotte Area Transit System to become one of the least efficient bus systems in North Carolina, Sanera said. “Transit bureaucrats, like most bureaucrats, will always find ways to spend most, if not all, of the money available, even if they spend it inefficiently. Flush with cash, CATS went on a spending binge that resulted in an inefficient system and some of the highest costs in the state.â€
Repealing the sales tax would force Charlotte’s bus system to return to more efficient pre-1998 operating practices, Sanera said. “Ending the half-cent sales tax would force transit bureaucrats to control costs and reverse spending trends,†he said. “Cutting per-trip costs would lower expenses. Then CATS could fund its less expensive bus system by taking too simple steps.
“First, ask riders to pay more,†Sanera explained. “Before the tax, riders paid 26 percent of total costs. Now they pay 14 percent of total costs. Charlotte should increase that percentage to 25 percent to bring in another $14.3 million.â€
Second, Charlotte should give CATS $21.9 million, about 2.5 percent of the city’s operating budget, Sanera said. “Most cities fund bus systems without designated tax revenue,†he said. “Bus systems justify their worth in the normal city budget process. This keeps the pressure on bus administrators and helps systems operate more efficiently.â€
Joseph Coletti and Dr. Michael Sanera’s Spotlight report, “Charlotte’s Transit Tax: A costly distraction from the city’s true transit needs,” is available at the JLF web site. For more information, please contact Sanera at (919) 828-3876 or msanera@johnlocke.org. To arrange an interview, contact Mitch Kokai at (919) 306-8736 or mkokai@johnlocke.org.
Material published here may be reprinted provided the
Locke Foundation receives prior notice and appropriate credit is given
 |
 |
 |
 |
Admin @ March 16, 2007
Busses Will Still Be Rolling and in fact are the best choice if commuters would use them
Posted in: Charlotte Light Rail | Comments Off
You are hearing the scare tatics of desperate elected officials and people who make a lot off of your tax dollars telling you that Busses will stop with the repeal of this tax.
This is a lie.
We like busses. They give you more flexiblily to change routes and to respond almost daily to the volume of riders. Why not build bus corridors that could be used later for light rail, or real subways, when Charlotte grows into the size that would support rail?
Admin @ March 9, 2007