The 27-member board for the Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority is almost complete after Mecklenburg Commissioners this week made their six picks.
The new authority will take over the Charlotte Area Transit System and will be responsible for spending more than $10 billion over the next 30 years on expanded bus service and new rail transit.
WFAE’s Morning Edition host Marshall Terry speaks with reporter Steve Harrison about who is on the board so far.
TERRY: Steve, this authority board is almost complete, except for two picks remaining, one by Gov. Josh Stein. Who has been tapped to serve?
HARRISON: Marshall, for the past six weeks or so, this has been a pretty big competition among civic and business leaders to see who could get appointed. You might call it a popularity contest.
Remember that the PAVE Act — the enabling legislation from Raleigh — requires many of the appointees to have what is deemed as relevant professional experience, in areas like law, finance, engineering, logistics.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles picked a retired banker, Charles Bowman, and an executive at Wells Fargo, Christy Long.
The Foundation for the Carolinas picked developer Peter Pappas. Senate leader Phil Berger picked retired developer Ned Curran.
Eleven of the picks so far are from the so-called wedge in south Charlotte, which is the most affluent part of the city that’s home to most power-brokers.
TERRY: OK, so south Charlotte and the business community are well represented. What about other parts of the city?
HARRISON: With some of their recent picks, elected officials have worked to bring more geographic diversity to the board. For instance, Mecklenburg Commissioners picked former City Council member Justin Harlow, who lives in the unincorporated part of the county near Steele Creek.
They also selected small business owner Alysia Davis Steadman, who lives north of uptown. And the city has also picked Corine Mack of the NAACP, who was once a union representative for the New York City Transit Authority.
And the six towns have their own picks.
TERRY: And what about people who use public transportation? Do they have a voice?
HARRISON: A little bit.
Mecklenburg County appointed Clayton Sealey, who commutes to work by light rail. And the city appointed Cameron Pruette, who commutes by the 27 bus on Monroe Road, and then transfers uptown to the 8 bus on Tuckaseegee Road.
Pruette says he wants to improve service.
PRUETTE: My goal really is to make sure that as we implement (Better Bus) and implement microtransit that we’re thinking about the experience of riders. My 27 bus, it varies every day. Some days I’ve got a nice screen where I can tell my next is coming. And some days I have an old sound system where I can’t hear where the next stop is.
HARRISON: And he says he’s already planning to be a squeaky wheel for bus riders, who make up about 60% of transit riders, and who are disproportionately Black and lower income.
PRUETTE: It is something that I will have to keep at the top of my mind in every room I’m in, that many of the folks may not share that experience of bus riding.
HARRISON: And, Marshall, the current governing structure for the Charlotte Area Transit System — the Charlotte City Council and the Metropolitan Transit Commission — doesn’t have regular, daily riders either
TERRY: So the authority starts meeting later this month. What are they going to be doing?
HARRISON: For the first year, nothing that will make headlines. The board will be transferring the assets and employees of CATS to the new authority.
There won’t be any real immediate movement on building the Red Line commuter rail to Lake Norman, but the authority hopes to begin work in 2026 or 2027 on the Better Bus program, which is more service, and new microtransit.
And there are going to be some other decisions:
Does the authority create its own transit police force? Or does it continue to rely on private security? Does it charge fares for the Gold Line streetcar? Does the authority renovate the main bus station uptown? Or does it look to move it to a new location all together?
TERRY: OK, lots to focus on then.
