Minutes 03-19-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Chapel Hill Transit will add additional morning service along the A, D and J routes; additional mid-day service on the NS route and additional Saturday service on the D and FG routes. • Orange County will provide expanded service in rural portions of the county; additional senior center shuttle options; two fixed routes connecting Mebane, Efland and Hillsborough; more service on the Hillsborough to Chapel Hill midday shuttle; and continuation of the Hillsborough Circulator service in the spring of 2015. • New express service by Triangle Transit between Hillsborough, Duke University, and downtown Durham with an extension to Mebane and Efland. • Later Saturday evening and Sunday service on Triangle Transit routes between Durham, Chapel Hill and RTP, connecting with Route 100 to RDU Airport and Raleigh. • Over the next five years, Chapel Hill Transit, Orange Public Transportation and Triangle Transit will implement new or expanded bus services. Residents will also see new bus shelters, Park-and- Ride lots, and sidewalk connections to bus stops. • Chapel Hill North-South Bus Project - Chapel Hill Transit is conducting the North South Corridor Study along the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard — South Columbia — US 15- 501 South Corridor. The study is funded by a federal grant which is not part of the OCBRIP plan. The OCBRIP plan does include funding set aside for capital improvements, if this project moves to construction in the future. • During 2014, a Public Involvement Plan, Purpose and Need Statement and Tier 1 Analysis were completed. No Build, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Low and BRT High transit modes passed Tier 1 Analysis and moved into the Detailed Definition of Alternatives phase. CHT held three public meetings in March 2014 and will continue to share the study with the public and collect feedback. • Hillsborough Amtrak Station - Work on the station awaits a rail corridor capacity analysis to be performed by the North Carolina Railroad Company, Norfolk Southern and Triangle Transit. Planning work will begin after the analysis is complete. • Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project - In February, the Federal Transit Administration approved Triangle Transit's request to enter Project Development on the proposed 17-mile Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project. Environmental work is underway with a Draft Environmental Impact Statement to be published and available for public comment in spring 2015. The proposed light rail line will run from Chapel Hill to Durham and cost an estimated $1.34 billion (in 2012 dollars). The Orange portion of the voter-approved one-half cent sales tax will help fund the local share of the rail project. John Talmadge said work is being done with the various capital expenditures, which have not been prescribed in the plan. He said there is an ongoing process to identify projects, scope and responsibilities. He said this is rolling out a bit slower than anticipated. Commissioner Pelissier said, given some of the expanded bus services, she would like to see the next annual report include information on how ridership has increased. Chair McKee said he was appreciative of the quick response in getting the newly implemented transit routes online. He said he expects the use to be light on the front end, but he thinks ridership will continue to build. He said he is supportive of mass transit, especially the expanded bus service. A motion was made by Commissioner Burroughs, seconded by Commissioner Rich to adjourn the meeting at 9:19pm.