The one light rail line in Charlotte was built within the last 5 years. They've had bus service longer. However, get outside the major metro areas and public transportation is non existent. I never did use the public transportation in Charlotte, but we lived outside of Charlotte and with hubby's work hours it wasn't available and I worked in the town we lived in the most part. When I did work in Charlotte I had the same issues, the hours I worked were not compatible to public transportation. The city I grew up in never has and does not have public transportation. It's a city of around 50,000. I have no issues using public transportation as long as it's convenient and well actually useful.