Council backs $300,000 study and partnership to build enhanced transportation/land‑use model

Council approved $300,000 to fund a partnership with local research teams to develop an enhanced land‑use and transportation modeling capability that would run alongside Charlotte’s existing travel model. Proponents said the effort is intended to add real‑time data, enable multi‑objective scenario testing (including equity and anti‑displacement measures) and produce public‑facing tools that let residents and policymakers test tradeoffs between outcomes such as travel times, housing affordability and displacement.

Councilmember Watlington and proponents argued the city could not rely solely on a single decade‑old modeling approach for future high‑growth decisions and that UNC Charlotte and university partners offered low‑cost, quick wins as well as longer‑term research: literature reviews, grant‑identification and prototype builds. Staff stressed that the city’s existing transportation model is robust but that the university partnership would provide complementary, research‑grade scenarios and short‑run, low‑cost improvements (for example, incorporating live traffic feeds rather than decennial survey data).

Council members asked that the Transportation Committee receive the proposed scope and milestones and requested that the project include agency partners (NCDOT, regional transit) and guard against duplication with existing DOT models. The council also asked staff to pursue outside grant and philanthropic matches as part of the partnership. The motion approved $300,000 and asked for committee review of deliverables and staged milestones before significant spending.