By Dustin Joyce and Kevin McCarty
December 17, 2007

In late November, rail transit returned to the Charlotte area amid considerable fanfare and growing public support, as the new 9.6 mile South Lynx line connecting Charlotte’s center city to the Pineville area commenced revenue service.

At the opening ceremonies, more than 120,000 people swarmed the rail platforms throughout the two-day Thanksgiving Day weekend, with many waiting patiently in line to ride the ride the region’s new light rail system.

“An incredible number of people went to see their investment, to be part of it,” said Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory who had made expansion of the region’s transit capacities a top priority early in his tenure.

The mood at the event was also especially upbeat for McCrory, other local elected officials, community leaders and transit proponents, who were still buoyed by the successful election outcome earlier in the month, where voters overwhelmingly defeated a ballot initiative that threatened to derail the existing transit services and put the region’s long-term vision on hold for an indefinite period.

The opening of the South Lynx line is first major installment in the Charlotte area’s 25-year plan to introduce new transit services in numerous corridors throughout the region, from enhanced bus services, to bus rapid transit and other light rail and trolley lines.

Like cities in other parts of the country which have launched new rail transit service, ridership is already well above expected levels. In developing the project, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), the operator of the Lynx line and other transit services throughout the region, has projected daily ridership at about 9,100. During the first two weeks, the service on average is attracting about 12,300 passengers each day.