Agenda - 09-05-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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16 1 She reviewed the transit services numbers and said the OPT dollars are at $88,350, and 2 Chapel Hill Transit is at $471,200. She said both of these numbers are based on the planned 3 percentages. She said Triangle Transit dollars total $176,700. 4 She noted that the total bus service expenditure is $736,250, which is equal to the 5 available revenue, leaving a net of zero. 6 She said there is a balance of$3.1 million remaining. She noted a modest negative of 7 $88,000 for fiscal year 2014 and said that this will be covered if the $3 registration happens by 8 the fourth quarter. 9 David King said there are three other components of the plan, including "Busway" 10 improvements along MLK and the Hillsborough Train Station, which is an $8.5-9 million project. 11 He said notification has been given that the County is ready to go on this when the folks at the 12 rail division are ready. He said the Town of Hillsborough is ready to go with the environmental 13 work to prepare for this project. He said this will help determine park and ride and platform 14 locations. 15 He said the final and biggest piece is the light rail work. He said this is on scale with 16 development and planning for a major freeway in design and environmental planning. He said 17 this work will proceed this year, and there will be a board presentation on this tomorrow. He 18 invited the Commissioners to attend. He noted that there are no guarantees that this will be 19 funded. 20 Commissioner Pelissier asked for an explanation of the new application and why this 21 must be re-submitted. 22 David King said an application was submitted in September 2012, and two weeks later a 23 new bill (MAP 21) was passed, establishing a new set of rules. Thus, the submission was put in 24 under an earlier set of rules and now has to be re-done under the new rules. He said one of 25 the most relevant changes is that once you enter the federal pipeline, you have two years to 26 complete the environmental work. He said the current plan includes about 26 months worth of 27 work and this can't be crammed into 24 months. He said the next few months will be spent 28 reducing that timeline, so that when submission is redone and the project enters the pipeline, it 29 will be able to be completed in the required time frame. 30 Chair Jacobs said that one of their original goals, when inviting Triangle Transit to 31 speak, was to give this update to the Board of County Commissioners and to the public. 32 Commissioner McKee said there has been some email traffic about the proposed 33 Mebane to Durham route and whether it will be on 1-85 or Hwy 70. He said there is some 34 disagreement over the word "express." He said that because this route will have 4-5 stops, it 35 can be called "express"; however, the needs of the citizens and the route of the bus need to 36 align. He said the needs are on 70 and not on I-85, but I-85 seems to be Triangle Transit's 37 focus. He asked if there is any clarification for these citizens. 38 David King said TT remains committed to collaborating with Orange County staff to 39 gather facts and arrive at a decision on which is the best way to go from west Orange County to 40 Duke Hospital. He said the plan did say express, and this did not come up until after the transit 41 vote. He said TT is not intending to put a route out there that does not satisfy the residents. 42 He said this may mean two routes, prioritizing the routes, and doing whatever can be afforded. 43 Commissioner McKee said not to prioritize the residents out of their needs. His 44 understanding from the meeting with Triangle Transit was that the Hwy 70 corridor would be 45 used, but he is not comfortable that this decision is still holding. He said he understands the 46 data driven decisions but, with $736,000 for bus services, there is no way to do two routes. He 47 wants to make sure that the service to residents is a priority. 48 David King said he thought that is what he said, and he agreed with Commissioner 49 McKee. He said that TT will work collaboratively with Orange County staff.