Charlotte loves its cars more than almost any other U.S. city
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Independence Boulevard on a Friday early afternoon. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Charlotte is doing more driving than almost all other major U.S. cities, a new analysis finds.
Why it matters: Charlotte strives to be a walkable, bikeable city and dreams of shiny rapid transit. Realistically, people are still tethered to their cars, though. That won't change any time soon.
Driving the news: Raleigh has the most daily per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMT) among the 50 most-populated U.S. metros, with 38.1. Charlotte is not far behind at 35.5.
- San Francisco (21.7), Philadelphia (21.1) and New York City (14.4) came up last — which makes sense, given their relatively well-developed public transit networks, walkability and density.
- Plus, they predate when America started building cities for cars, not people.
Between the lines: Charlotte will likely remain a car-dominant city as local leaders — under pressure from lawmakers in more rural parts of the state — prioritize short-term road projects over ambitious rail.
- Improvements to road infrastructure compel people to drive more, a phenomenon known as induced demand. It's why widened highways in states like Texas and California are still clogged.
What they're saying: Shannon Binns of Sustain Charlotte says this data is a reminder that Charlotte should reduce how much it's driving by funding public transit and building smarter development.
- "We need more efficient, compact housing as opposed to urban sprawl," Binns said. "That's really critical to making transit more viable ... when people are living closer into the places that they need to access."
- Construction of townhomes surpassed single-family homes in Mecklenburg County for the first time last year, as The Charlotte Ledger reported.