The light rail's only failing is that we need more of it. It is wonderful for traveling from Uptown to South End and beyond, but in any other direction you're eff'd. Apparently that is going to change. They have already laid the groundwork for a line out to Elizabeth, but after closing the street for a year to install the tracks, ran out of money and paused the project. That extra route will be added one day. Presumably soon, since it is 90% completed. Then I met a couple of surveyors in the woods by UNCC (long story) who were examining the ground's suitability for an above-ground extension of the network to the northeast. And the UNCC student union was built with a train station on the assumption that it will one day be connected to the LYNX system. So that's at least two train routes in the works.
Unfortunately, the system now relies on buses. Buses are not great, for the simple reason that they travel on roads and that roads are slow, bumpy and twisty. Otherwise they are fine. There is a big stigma against public transportation in the south, presumably because it puts you into contact with poor people (!!!), but that is a stigma worth confronting. I met a lot of interesting people on the bus, but most were far more normal than I expected. With a car you can live your entire life meeting only people that you have handpicked. Public transportation forces you to interact with strangers and learn something about the people in your community. I think we all benefit from that.