Charlotte's transit transfer center, where both buses and fixed rail converge on Trade Street. Note the building's scale and offerings next door to the light- rail line. Can Columbia's transit catch up with Charlotte's?

Probably not.

We old- timers remember when Charlotte and Columbia were about the same size in the 1950s. Since then, Charlotte has taken public transit seriously, and Columbia has not. Since then Charlotte has taken off, and Columbia has not.

On Tuesday May 27, a citizens' transportation study committee chaired by Dr. Caroline Whitson, president of Columbia College, will present to Richland County Council recommendations for the overall transportation system county- wide, to include Columbia's woefully inadequate bus system.

Part of the committee's proposal is reportedly a penny sales tax, which could generate $521.5 million over eight years for roads (60%), pedestrian and bicycle lanes (15%), and for the bus system (25%). If one- fourth of the money, in fact, goes to the bus system annually, that means a little more than $16 million can fund the buses, which is not a whole lot more than the $12 million now required to keep the system as it is.

Columbia's transit system is operating with about 2.5 million rides annually, while in Charlotte the number of rides on an annualized basis is more than 25 million. Charlotte, then, rides 10 times what Columbia rides. In Charlotte, the transit system has never been on the order of what's available in Austin, Tex., or Portland, Or., two comparable cities with some of the country's best transit systems for medium- sized cities.

Still, for the sake of inspiration, less than 90 minutes' away, look at Charlotte's transit transfer center, where both buses and fixed rail converge on Trade Street. Compare that to what's available in Columbia at the corner of Laurel and Sumter, the transfer center with two bathrooms and one machine for crackers and another for soft drinks, both almost 50% more expensive than the same machines in City Hall a block away.