That made the timing of the idiocy in Uptown Charlotte early Sunday morning even more unfortunate. At least one person died and dozens were arrested in a gunfire-induced melee hours after the conclusion of Food Lion Speed Street, the weekend festival that coincides with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Charlotte Transportation Center turned out to be ground zero for Sunday morning’s hooliganism. It’s not the first time that the hub of the Charlotte Area Transit System has been host to violence. Which, Talkers note, begs the question:

How willing will suburbanites be to ride the train into what they perceive as a war zone, even if the Red Line station is a few blocks away from the main transit center?

“Next stop: OK Corral!”

The Charlotte region’s love affair with the automobile has already fed an anti-transit bias. Uptown thuggery can only make it worse.