Charlotte is among the most car-dependent cities in the country. Here’s why
Unlike many major cities in the U.S., most people in Charlotte rely on cars to get around.
A study from the website Compare Car Insurance found that Charlotte is the sixth-most car-dependent metro area in America.
To rank each city, the study compared them across four metrics: average annual miles per driver, average annual miles per vehicle, share of workers who commute by car and share of households with two or more vehicles.
The study found that the average driver in Charlotte travels 13,398 miles, and puts 11,578 miles on each of their vehicles annually. It also found that nearly 89% of workers in Charlotte commute by car, and 79% of households own two more vehicles.
For comparison, the average U.S. driver travels 11,621 miles per year, the website says.
Why is Charlotte so car-dependent?
Compare Car Insurance says “most car-dependent locations tend to be sprawling metropolitan areas with less developed public transportation systems” and are often less walkable.
As part of her reporting on solutions to problems with the Charlotte Area Transit System, Charlotte Observer reporter Genna Contino wrote about her experience using only public transit in the city for a week in November.
The story chronicled various issues she faced while navigating the CATS bus system, including getting off at the wrong stop and a bus not showing up at all due to traffic issues on Interstate 77.
“It revealed to me something more fundamental about a car than just a person’s ability to get somewhere,” Contino wrote. “In a city with connectivity holes in its public transit, a car is often necessary for success.”
RELATED: How transit-friendly is Charlotte? I (mostly) left my car parked for a week to find out
How walkable is Charlotte?
Less car dependent areas like Seattle and Portland, are more walkable and bike-friendly, according to Compare Car Insurance, but Charlotte is not nearly as walkable as those cities.
Walk Score, an organization that promotes walkable neighborhoods and measures the walkability of cities in the U.S., gave Charlotte an overall score of 26 on its scale.
According to Walk Score, walkable neighborhoods often include features such as a main street or public space, recreational amenities to gather and play and affordable housing located near businesses.
While Charlotte’s overall Walk Score is low, the most walkable neighborhoods in the city are located in and around uptown. The five neighborhoods that have the highest Walk Score ratings are Fourth Ward (89), First Ward (85), Second Ward (84), Cherry (80) and Dilworth (78).
To improve walkability, the city is spending $7.5 million annually to add 24 miles of sidewalks and 91 new pedestrian crossings, according to the Charlotte Department of Transportation. The city is also funding Uptown CycleLink, a 7-mile network of separated bike lanes that will connect more than 40 miles of bike paths across Charlotte, the Observer reported.
RELATED: How walkable is Charlotte? It depends on which neighborhood you’re in
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 11:02 AM.
