Charlotte

Dr. David Hartgen analyzes the Charlotte LYNX Line, finding, among other things, that final LYNX construction costs are about $521.9 million, about 130 percent above the initial estimate ($227 million), operating costs are about $9.22 million/year, and revenues are averaging about 31 percent of operating costs.

RALEIGH — Taxpayers are picking up more than 90 percent of the tab for a lucky few commuters riding Charlotte’s LYNX light-rail line, despite the trains’ limited public benefit for…

RALEIGH – A new assessment of “parent-friendly” public school systems assigns Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools a D+ grade. That’s one of the region’s worst grades, as compiled in a new John Locke…

RALEIGH – Charlotte and Mecklenburg County governments earn C-minus grades, when it comes to making budget and spending information available online. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools earn a D-plus, according to a…

Click here to view and here to listen to Chad Adams discussing the By The Numbers Report. RALEIGH – Charlotte continues to top the list of cities with…

The Minneapolis I-35 bridge disaster and the poor condition of North Carolina’s bridges should be a wake-up call for policymakers to set sensible priorities for transportation policy. N.C. has 17,782 bridges, of which 5,082 (29 percent) are deemed deficient by the federal government. N.C. ranks 32nd in the nation in percentage of deficient bridges — 10th worst in total number of deficient bridges.

RALEIGH – This year’s high-profile Minneapolis bridge disaster exposes North Carolina’s need for new state transportation priorities. That’s the key finding in a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

RALEIGH – Charlotte deserves just a D grade for its limited efforts to reduce traffic congestion, according to a new Policy Report from the John Locke Foundation and Reason…

Charlotte’s half-cent sales tax for transit, passed in 1998, has allowed the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) to become one of the least efficient bus systems in the state. Ridership increased 52 percent, but operating costs increased 234 percent from 1997 to 2005.

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…