Editor’s Note: Matthews Mayor John Higdon made these comments on August 12 before introducing a resolution opposing proposed Mecklenburg County transit/transportation sales tax legislation. The resolution was passed unanimously by the city commissioners.

Matthews has been considering and considering public transit for decades. Those plans have often alternated between Bus Rapid Transit and light rail, but a CATS study conducted more than 20 years ago concluded that light rail was the best fit for our region.

Matthews formed a stakeholder group and many people spent countless hours in meetings over approximately 18 months to determine what the locals’ preference would be for the rail line through our city.

Over $50 million has been spent to get the Silver Line East to 30% design stage as a light rail line and this light rail line, as designed, cannot be used for Bus Rapid Transit. CATS engineers have told me that they need to redesign this line for Bus Rapid Transit.

For many, many years now, we have been forcing developers in Matthews to move buildings, adjust grades, relocate roads, redesign retention ponds, and rezone property boundaries in preparation for the arrival of light rail.

Light rail would be a wonderful addition to our growing, ever-expanding and vibrant Matthews, serving downtown, our sports complex, our soon to open Hendrick Manufacturing Campus, and our CPCC Levine Campus.

Matthews was excited because we were eagerly awaiting the start of construction of the light rail.

Our friends up north in Huntersville, Davidson, and Cornelius are also dreaming of light rail. In order to get their support for the transit plan, I was one of the first to stand up publicly and state in MTC meetings that Matthews would support having the Red Line built before the Silver Line to get their support. I didn’t say, you know, that we wouldn’t have the Silver Line here as light rail.

It seemed like the whole county was behind the one penny sales tax as I walked the streets of Matthews. People were excited about the light rail. As is usually the case, it was the young people, but they were saying, man, I can’t wait to park my car or my bike and go to downtown Charlotte or to the airport. It was a very exciting time.

Then Raleigh stepped in and demanded that only 40% of the one-cent sales tax go to public transportation. First 40% for roads and then 20% for buses.

It should be noted that while there are four counties that levy some form of transit tax, including Mecklenburg, no other county has implemented a tax for road construction that would otherwise be paid for by NCDOT.

Raleigh is asking Mecklenburg County, where we already spend a huge amount of money on NCDOT taxes, to levy another 0.4 cents in sales tax on ourselves so we can build the roads the state should be building in the first place.

I’ve had many conversations with (City Manager) Becky Hawke. It became clear to us very early on that 40% was not going to build the entire system as planned as light rail – at least not this quickly. When I say this quickly, we looked at the models and they said, well, maybe in 100 years we can build light rail in Matthews if we follow this plan. Well, I’d like my grandchildren to be alive to ride light rail, so that was not acceptable.

I have made many inquiries and I have never heard a peep from anyone. Apparently in a dark room in a a non-discreet office, a number of elected leaders and a number of unelected, well-connected individuals met repeatedly to decide who would be the winners and losers in this new plan.

It wasn’t until Manager Hawk requested that the veil be lifted in May that the truth was revealed. The Red Line was to be built as light rail, just like the Blue Line extension to Ballantyne and the Silver Line West at the time, so the big loser would be ding ding ding Matthews.

Matthews would get BRT – Bus Rapid Transit.

Bus Rapid Transit has been largely unsuccessful in North America because it was never built optimally. I don’t believe it ever will be.

What do I mean by that?

Bus Rapid Transit needs dedicated routes for the buses to run on. In any case, with a few exceptions, Cleveland may be the exception to a very short BRT line, they have not been able to muster the political will to have dedicated routes.

We have all seen the value engineering in every project built in this region

forever, so what happens is we design a really nice plan and then the cost-cutting engineers say, well, if we don’t make this a dedicated road, maybe we can save a lot of money. If they do, they introduce stops and starts and lights and wait times. So we really have a bus, not a Bus Rapid Transit. There is no Bus Rapid Transit system in North America that meets the gold standard for BRT. Not even close.

Many of these same well-connected leaders asked Becky and me to go to Miami to talk to Miami leaders about the new BRT system they are building. The key word here is that they are “building it.” It is not built yet.

So we would fly to Miami and hear politicians and leaders say we are going to build a really great BRT system – yay. It would make more sense to go to any city in North America that has a mature BRT system and figure out what the real pitfalls are.

I would bet my house – and if I’m wrong, you can come and collect it – that if BRT is built in Mecklenburg County, it will not be real BRT and we will not have 100% fixed lines.

We will have stops and we will have starts and it will be just like any other bus system. It will be an Express Bus system at best maybe.

One provision of our resolution suggests that the entire Mecklenburg public transport system should be converted to BRT. This is done somewhat jokingly, because we know that will never happen, but it is included to address all those who have suggested that BRT is as good as light rail. It is not. They know it. I know it. Everyone knows it.

The development focused on public transport is a game changer in itself. Apparently it is good for you, but not for me. Those who claim we should be happy with BRT get light rail. How ironic.

My vocal opposition to the current transit tax proposal has led some in the county to say you are going to ruin this for all of us. Do you think Matthews deserves it? I don’t think Matthews deserves it, but we deserve it no less than any other city in this county.

I and this board represent the people of Matthews. I hope that a real sense of regionalism will prevail and a fairer solution can be considered. Matthews has some ideas.

This legislation is not expected to be heard until Raleigh’s long session, so we have ample time to discuss and formulate a better, fairer, more reasonable plan.

That is my hope for all elected leaders in Matthews.