Agenda - 05-03-2012 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 Draft Orange County Transit Plan FAQ In addition to this existing transportation demand, integrated planning by the Town of Chapel Hill has led to the implementation of local land use decisions and considerable transit investments in the NC 54 corridor (including Meadowmont and East 54 developments and increases in Chapel Hill Transit and Triangle Transit bus services). Due to this planning, the NC 54 corridor to the UNC Campus and Chapel Hill is the most heavily used market for transit services in Orange County, with more than 6,000 riders boarding buses each weekday. As the region and the area grows, the demand for transit will increase in the NC 54 corridor, and the increased capacity provided by light rail will enable a more cost effective long term transit solution while greatly enhancing regional transit mobility and supporting local economic development efforts. Q5: Why was Light Rail Transit (LRT) chosen as the preferred alternative over Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)? A5: The corridor between Durham and Chapel Hill, including the segment along NC54, is among the most heavily traveled corridors in the region and needs a high capacity transit solution to address long term mobility needs. LRT was selected for several reasons: • LRT has a proven track record in North America for enhancing transit- oriented development, whereas the performance of BRT in this area is less established. The ability to focus growth and support increased development around transit stations is particularly important in a fast growing region such as ours. • While BRT is often cheaper to build, one of the benefits of LRT is its ability to move more people at a lower cost per passenger than BRT by linking multiple train cars together, and over the long term this means lower costs to operate the transit system. • LRT offers faster and more reliable end-to-end travel times than BRT • LRT's electric power supply reduces reliance on petroleum-based fuels.