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BRIEFING: 'PROPOSAL OF A JOINT A-PPLICATIOM BY CABARRUS AND ROWAN COLqNTIES FOR A MASS TR3%NSIT FEASIBILITY STUDY July 3, 1980 Daily services of fixed route transit were terminated last month by the Kannapolis Transit Company. This system served portions of Rowan and Cabarrus Counties in the China Grove-Landis-Kannapolis (Rowan) - Kannapolis (Cabarrus) and Concord. The Rowan and Cabarrus Planning staffs are concerned about the lack of a mass transportation system in this area. To address this concern, it is proposed that a mass trans- portation feasibility study be prepared for the Counties of Rowan and Cabarrus including the urbanized areas of China Grove, Landis Kanna- polis, and Concord. A need is apparent in this area for mass transportation to aide local industries, human services, and general transportation. With the ever increasing cost of fuel and the rising cost of operating an auto- mobile, mass transit is a more economical and practical method of trans- p¢,rting people from one point to another. Several industries in this area are large trip generators and c~eate a substantial amount of automobile use. With the present energy sztuation, some sort of mass transportation system should be designed to provide access to and from work as an alternate mode of transporta- tion. There is an ever increasing demand on human services vehicles to provide transportation for handicapped, elderly, and low-income citi- zens. A mass transportation system in southern Rowan and the urbanized areas of Kannapolis and Concord (Cabarrus Countv) should decrease the demand and large costs of the present human service transit in both counties. In this area, there are four central business districts, also many neighborhood and regional shopping facilities. At the present time, the general public must depend on the use of the automobile for intra and inter city transportation. A mass transportation system would provide an alternate mode of transportation for the general public. It is suggested by the Planning staffs of Cabarrus and Rowan Count- ies that a "mass transit feasibility study" be prepared for the China Grove to Concord urban area. The feasibility study should address the possibility of establishing a mass transit fixed route bus system and/ or a response transportation system like van pooling, car pooling and human services transit for the low-income, elderly, and handicapped. A major concentration of this study will be identifying a mass trans- portation system that is the most beneficial to the local industries in assuring transportation for employees to and from work, and to coordi- nate services with those provided by existing transportation suppliers, both inside and outside the study area. The resulting study should provide information as to the most suitable t~ansit system for the area, with detailed information as to how to establish it, gosts, and sources of funding.