🧳 Happy Sunday! It's Alex, who's packing her carry-on for Atlanta. All the Axios Local teams will be meeting there tomorrow for our company retreat.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 83 and a low of 54.

🎂 Happy birthday to our members Matthew Sohner and Patrick Oltmanns!

Today’s newsletter is 607 words — a 2.5-minute read.

Charlotte was outshone by Raleigh in a recent ranking of the country's top public transportation systems, particularly on safety.

Why it matters: Safety concerns have hurt Charlotte's light rail reputation and ridership, and now the city's transit system is falling behind Raleigh, a city half its size.

By the numbers: Charlotte ranks 36th among 50 of the largest U.S. urban areas, according to a Consumer Affairs analysis of Federal Transit Administration and Census Bureau data.

• It ranked close to last place (45th) in operational safety. Raleigh ranked first.
• In the category of usefulness and accessibility, Charlotte was 32nd.

Yes, but: Charlotte ranks seventh in affordability, better than San Francisco, which is 16th. Consumer Affairs researchers deemed San Francisco the best system in the country overall.

Zoom out: Raleigh ranked 14th overall, boosted by its first-place scores in affordability and safety. However, its low ridership hurt its rank.

The fine print: The safety score looks at collisions, derailments and fires as well as people killed or injured per million vehicle miles traveled in service.

Driving the news: A report from the state auditor last month revealed the Charlotte Area Transit System has $1.7 million in unspent safety and security funding. The auditor began examining CATS following the 2025 murder of Iryna Zarutska on the light rail.

• It also found CATS was losing between $5 million and $6.5 million yearly by not enforcing fares. An estimated 45% of bus and light rail riders don't pay.

The other side: CATS told the office the unspent money was due to "multi-year project complexity, capitalization timing, non-capital items, and active but incomplete projects."

• Charlotte Mayor Rob Harrington responded in a letter to the auditor, saying CATS was more than doubling its contracted security staff from 110 to 262.
• CATS plans to launch a new fare enforcement ambassador team of 60 people in October, the letter stated.

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If you're on the hunt for a new job, here are 2 to get you started.

• Assistant Head of Lower School at Charlotte Country Day School
• Proposal/Business Development Specialist at Little

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Long Island-based Heatherwood bought the Miller Services building in South End for $27.5 million and plans to build multifamily and ground-floor retail on the 2.5-acre site, though it didn't share more specifics. (CBJ 🔒)

Lowe's is testing drone delivery at its store on Matthews Township Parkway in a partnership with drone company Wing and delivery platform DoorDash. The goal is for deliveries to be as fast as 20 minutes. (Observer)

UNC Charlotte has launched the North Carolina Economic Impact Center, where business and civic leaders can find data about the state's economy. (BusinessNC)

CATS has named its new South End light rail stop the "Atherton Mill" station.

Why it matters: The name is a nod to the historic textile mill opened in 1893, now home to Not Just Coffee and other businesses.

Catch up quick: CATS is building a new $30 million light rail station just outside the old mill, in South End, between Publix and the Cortland apartments. It's expected to open in 2028.

🤗 I'm excited to learn what the other Axios cities have been up to.

🎄 Ashley wants make mini-book ornaments for holiday markets, but her sister is reminding her how long it will take just to make one.

✈️ McKenzie is excited to spend the next few days in Atlanta.

📺 Alexis is loving the reboot of "A Different World" on Netflix.

Thanks to Mike Szvetitz for editing this newsletter.