MATTHEWS, N.C. -- Charlotte city leaders took a big step towards their goal Tuesday night of providing more regional transit options by voting to spend tens of millions of dollars to begin designing a new light rail line.

It will serve a very long corridor that runs from east to west through the Charlotte region.

Commuters say it will make something vital to their quality of life more accessible. For some public transportation is an escape from traffic. But for others it means a whole lot more.

“That's the only way I have to go, because I sure can't afford to take a cab or Lyft, or anything like that,” Eugene Williams said as he waited for a bus at a Matthews park-and-ride.

Williams relocated from Missouri to Mint Hill in Mecklenburg County about a month ago.

“I'm down here with my son,” he said. “I'm moved in so I'm getting acclimated.”

Part of that adjustment period includes regular bus rides to his therapist.

“I lost my son to a heroin overdose about two years ago, it'll be three, and then on top of that I lost my sister to cancer,” Williams shared.

His trip includes taking one bus to Uptown and then a transferring to a second one that takes him to his appointment in the Southpark area.

“This system's a lot better than the one out in Missouri,” he said.

Eugene says councilmembers made Charlotte Area Transit, or CATS, even better when they voted to spend $50 million Tuesday night to begin designing the 26-mile long LYNX “silver line” that will stretch from Matthews to Belmont, with stops in Uptown and the airport.

It another public transit option for a part of town city leaders say has been largely ignored. “Most people that live on the east side have to travel twice the time that it took other people to get to their jobs because there were no jobs on the east side,” Mayor Vi Lyles said.

For passengers like Eugene Williams, they look forward to the day when they have the option to choose the fastest way to get there from here.

“Which will be good cause I planned on riding the light rail this coming summer when we had more time,” Williams added.

As for the Mecklenburg County towns the silver line will touch, the Belmont city council unanimously passed a resolution a couple weeks ago supporting the LYNX silver line and Tuesday night Belmont officials tweeted their thanks to Charlotte leaders for funding the design phase.

The Town of Matthews town manager told Spectrum News the area has endorsed the proposed silver line route previously and they remain on board.