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The transportation needs for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina are served by an expanding mass transit system, major airport, and several highways.
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The transportation needs for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina are served by an expanding mass transit system, major airport, and several highways.
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the agency responsible for operating mass transit in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area.
CATS operates light rail transit, streetcar service, express shuttles, and bus service serving Charlotte and its immediate suburbs. The LYNX system comprises a 19.3-mile long north-south light rail line known as the Blue Line and a 1.5-mile streetcar line, known as the CityLYNX Gold Line. The Blue Line was extended from the original section, I-485 to Uptown, to the UNC Charlotte campus in 2018. Bus ridership has declined in the system along with a nationwide trend in ridership [1] The 2030 Transit Corridor System Plan looks to add more light rail and bus rapid transit lines in Charlotte as well as add a commuter rail line.
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport is the 11th busiest airport in the world, as measured by traffic. [2] It is served by many domestic airlines, as well as international airlines Air Canada and Lufthansa, and is the second largest hub for American Airlines. Nonstop flights are available to many destinations across the United States, as well as flights to Canada, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Mexico, and South America.
Charlotte's central location between the population centers of the northeast and southeast has made it a transportation focal point and primary distribution center, with two major interstate highways, Interstate 85 (I-85) and I-77, intersecting near the city's center. Charlotte's beltway, designated I-485, has a total circumference of approximately 67 miles (108 km). Within the city, the I-277 loop freeway encircles Charlotte's uptown (usually referred to by its two separate sections, the John Belk Freeway and the Brookshire Freeway) while Charlotte Route 4 links major roads in a loop between I-277 and I-485.
Trade Street and Tryon Street are the central thoroughfares though Uptown Charlotte. The intersection of Trade and Tryon marks the center point of the city, dividing the city's first four wards.
Charlotte Route 4 is a partial ring road utilizing many existing two-lane roads around the south and east sides of the city. It is denoted by a pentagonal county road shield, with a green background and the city's crown logo above the number.
Other major thoroughfares include: Albemarle Road (part of NC 24 and NC 27), Arrowood Road, Atando Avenue, Beatties Ford Road, Billy Graham Parkway, Brookshire Boulevard (part of NC 16), Carson Boulevard, Central Avenue, Charlottetowne Avenue, Clanton Road, Davidson Street, East Boulevard, Eastway Drive, Elizabeth Avenue, Fairview Road, Freedom Drive (part of NC 27), Graham Street (part of U.S. Route 29 (US 29) and NC 49), Hawthorne Lane, Idlewild Road, Independence Boulevard (part of US 74 and NC 27), Johnston Road, Kenilworth Avenue, Kings Drive, LaSalle Street, Lawyers Road, Little Rock Road, Mallard Creek Road, McDowell Street (part of NC 27), Mint Street, Monroe Road, Morehead Street (part of US 29 and NC 27), Mt. Holly Road (part of NC 27), Nations Ford Road, Nevin Road, Oaklawn Avenue, Park Road, Pineville–Matthews Road (part of NC 51), The Plaza, Providence Road (part of NC 16), Queens Road, Randhiolph Road, Rea Road, Remount Road, Rozzelles Ferry Road, Runnymeade Lane, Sardis Road, Scaleybark Road, Selwyn Avenue, Sharon Road, Sharon-Amity Road, South Boulevard, Statesville Road (part of US 21), Steele Creek Road (part of NC 160), Stonewall Street, Sugar Creek Road, Sunset Road, Tremont Avenue, Tuckaseegee Road, Tyvola Road, University City Boulevard (part of NC 49), W.T. Harris Boulevard (part of NC 24), Wendover Road, West Boulevard (part of NC 160), Westinghouse Boulevard, Wilkinson Boulevard (part of US 74) and Woodlawn Road.
Charlotte is served daily by three Amtrak routes. [3]
The Crescent train connects Charlotte with New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlottesville, and Greensboro to the north, and Atlanta, Birmingham and New Orleans to the south. It arrives overnight once in each direction.
The Carolinian train connects Charlotte with New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro. Charlotte is the southern terminus, with the northbound train leaving just before the morning rush and the southbound train arriving in the evening.
The Piedmont train, a regional companion of the Carolinian, connects Charlotte with Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro via three daily round trips.
The Charlotte Amtrak station is located at 1914 North Tryon Street beside the Norfolk Southern railyard.
The city is currently building a new centralized multimodal train station called Gateway Station. It is expected to house Amtrak, Greyhound, the future LYNX light rail lines, Red Line, and the CityLYNX Gold Line. [4]
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Los Angeles has a complex multimodal transportation infrastructure, which serves as a regional, national and international hub for passenger and freight traffic. The system includes the United States' largest port complex; an extensive freight and passenger rail infrastructure, including light rail lines and rapid transit lines; numerous airports and bus lines; vehicle for hire companies; and an extensive freeway and road system. People in Los Angeles rely on cars as the dominant mode of transportation, but since 1990 Los Angeles Metro Rail has built over one hundred miles (160 km) of light and heavy rail serving more and more parts of Los Angeles. As a result, Los Angeles was the last major city in the United States to get a permanent rail system installed.
The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Charlotte metropolitan area. CATS operates bus and rail transit services in Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas. Established in 1999, CATS' bus and rail operations carry about 320,000 riders on an average week. CATS is governed by the Metropolitan Transit Commission and is operated as a department of the City of Charlotte. In 2021, the system had a ridership of 9,332,700, or about 35,500 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2022.
Interstate 277 (I-277) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US state of North Carolina. It serves as a 4.41-mile (7.10 km) partial loop around Uptown Charlotte.
North Carolina Highway 160 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The highway runs north–south, connecting the Steele Creek neighborhood of Charlotte, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and Uptown Charlotte.
Route 4 is an 18.6-mile (29.9 km) partial ring road located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Beginning and ending at Interstate 85 (I-85), it loops south around Uptown Charlotte along state-maintained secondary roads, connecting the Charlotte Douglas International Airport and several city neighborhoods including Madison Park, Myers Park, Windsor Park and Sugar Creek. The route is posted by the Charlotte Department of Transportation (CDOT), using a modified pentagonal county road shield, with a green background and the city's crown logo above the number. The loop has a radius of about 4 miles (6.4 km), hence the number.
North Carolina Highway 16 (NC 16) is a 143.8-mile primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Traveling in a north–south direction, it connects the cities and towns of Charlotte, Newton, Conover, Taylorsville, Wilkesboro and Jefferson, linking the Charlotte metropolitan area with the mountainous High Country. NC 16 is part of a three-state route 16 that connects the Charlotte region with northwestern West Virginia.
Charlotte station is an Amtrak station located at 1914 North Tryon Street, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the northeast of Uptown Charlotte. Owned by Norfolk Southern, it is located near that railroad's yard outside Uptown.
The Charlotte Transportation Center (CTC), also known as Arena or CTC/Arena, is an intermodal transit station in Center City Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It serves as the central hub for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) buses and connects with the LYNX Blue Line and CityLYNX Gold Line. It is located on East Trade Street, Fourth Street and Brevard Street. Notable places nearby include the Bank of America Corporate Center, Belk Theater, EpiCentre, Overstreet Mall and the Spectrum Center.
Brooklyn Village, formally Stonewall, is a light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The elevated dual side platforms are a stop along the Lynx Blue Line in Uptown Charlotte.
I-485/South Boulevard is a light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The elevated island platform is the southern terminus stop along the Lynx Blue Line and includes the second largest park and ride operated by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS). Serving both Carolina Pavilion and Sterling neighborhood in the immediate area, it also serves commuters from Pineville, Ballantyne, and the South Carolina border towns.
The I-77 Bus Rapid Transit is a proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) service, connecting the towns northern Mecklenburg and southern Iredell counties to Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. The BRT replaces the previously planned commuter rail service, the Lynx Red Line, that was routed along the existing Norfolk Southern O-Line right-of-way. However, several issues had arisen that included ineligibility for federal funding and Norfolk Southern refusal to allow access to its right-of-way. In 2019, after a reevaluation of the entire corridor, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) decided to move forward with BRT and shelve the commuter rail; which had been met with frustration by various city leaders and residents impacted by it.
The LYNX Silver Line is a proposed east-west light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Silver Line would connect the outlying cities and towns of Belmont, Matthews, Stallings and Indian Trail to Uptown Charlotte and the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. In the refined locally preferred alternative (LPA), released in early 2021, the route is estimated to be around 29 miles (47 km), with 29 stations and one maintenance facility.
The CityLynx Gold Line is a streetcar line in Charlotte, North Carolina. A component of the Charlotte Area Transit System's Lynx rail system, it follows a primarily east-west path along Beatties Ford Road, Trade Street and Central Avenue through central Charlotte. The initial 1.5-mile (2.4 km), six-stop segment between Time Warner Cable Arena and Presbyterian Hospital opened for service on July 14, 2015. A further 2.5-mile (4.0 km) segment from the Charlotte Transportation Center to French Street, and from Hawthorne & 5th to Sunnyside Avenue, opened for service on August 30, 2021.
U.S. Route 29 is a United States highway that runs for 168 miles (270 km) from the South Carolina state line, near Blacksburg, to the commonwealth of Virginia, near Danville. It is signed with north-south cardinal directions, but is actually a north-east and south-west diagonal highway throughout the state. The route serves the North Carolina Piedmont, including the cities of Charlotte, Salisbury, High Point, and Greensboro. From Salisbury to Greensboro, US 29 spends roughly a third of its length in the state being concurrent with US 70.
9th Street is a light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The at-grade dual side platforms are a stop along the Lynx Blue Line and serves Uptown Charlotte's First Ward as well as First Ward Park and the UNC Charlotte Center City Campus.
Charlotte Gateway Station is a future intermodal transit station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Currently operating as a streetcar stop for the CityLynx Gold Line, it is the centerpiece of the overall 19-acre (7.7 ha) Station District, and it will serve Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) bus lines, the Lynx Silver Line light rail, Amtrak intercity trains and Greyhound Lines intercity buses. The district will also include parking facilities, mixed-use development and an elevated greenway. Estimated at a cost of $800.1 million for full implementation of all public and private components, the project will be built in three phases, with Amtrak service tentatively scheduled to start in 2025.
The Lynx Blue Line is a light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. Opened in 2007, it was the first rail line of the Charlotte Area Transit System, and the first major rapid rail service of any kind in the state. The 26-station, 19.3-mile (31.1 km) line extends from its northern terminus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in University City through NoDa, Uptown, and South End, then runs along South Boulevard to its southern terminus just north of Interstate 485 at the Pineville city limits. The line carries an average of over 27,700 passenger trips every day and offers connections to the CATS' CityLynx Gold Line which opened in 2015.
JW Clay Blvd/UNC Charlotte is a light rail station on the LYNX Blue Line in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It is located on North Tryon Street at JW Clay Boulevard in University City. The station consists of a single island platform in the street's median, connected via pedestrian overpass to both sides of North Tryon Street and to an adjacent parking garage. The parking garage charges a flat weekday fee for all riders that do not have a one-day, weekly or monthly pass. JW Clay Blvd/UNC Charlotte station is west of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte campus and is near Jerry Richardson Stadium. The station opened on March 16, 2018.
York Road, and recently referred to as Lower South End (LoSo) by redevelopers and businesses wanting to emulate the Charlotte neighborhoods of NoDa and South End, is a mixed-use development neighborhood of commercial, industrial, and residential in Charlotte, North Carolina. Located along South Tryon Street (NC 49), it is bounded by Woodlawn Road to the south, Bill Lee Freeway (I-77/US 21) to the west, Clanton Road to the north, and South Boulevard to the east.
Media related to Transport in Charlotte, North Carolina at Wikimedia Commons