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<br /> public transportation can provide access to employment and other locations
<br /> necessary for the health and welfare of our citizens and visitors. Inter--
<br /> estingly, however, high capacity services, like express buses or light rail,
<br /> can create a focus for clustered, high density development which can couenter
<br /> urban forces which lead to urban sprawl and traffic congestion-
<br /> It is inappropriate, however, for public transportation or highways to be
<br /> the driving forces which create, by default, the form of the cities in which
<br /> we live. It is appropriate for community leaders to develop oaster •plans for
<br /> the Triangle region, so that transportation networks can be designed to serve
<br /> the land use. In this process care must be taken to preserve right-of-way for. -
<br /> both highway and public transportation options so that no transportation op.
<br /> tion is prematurely foreclosed: There has already been public discussion swa -
<br /> the need to preserve highway right-of-way. Similarly, possible rail corri-
<br /> dors, like the state-owned North Carolina Railroad connecting Raleigh, Cary,
<br /> Morrisville, the Research Triangle Park, and Durham, should also be protected
<br /> for possible future high capacity transit service and high density develop-
<br /> ment.
<br /> What t' .-s of public trans•ortation are au. • . late for the Research Trian,le
<br /> region?
<br /> Public transportation includes a range of services. Ridesharing in car-
<br /> pools, vanpools, local buses, and express buses are familiar to most people.
<br /> Commuter lanes that accept only high occupancy vehicles gushes carpools, van-
<br /> pools, and buses are common in many large metropolitan areas. Light rail
<br /> service, which is a modern reincarnation of the old street trolley, is effec-
<br /> tively used in a. number of locations. In the barest cities metrorail
<br /> (subways) and commuter trains are used. Trains on monorail -track are also
<br /> used in special high capacity situations like theme parks.
<br /> To determine which of these options.are appropriate, guidelines for suc_:
<br /> cessful public transportation service may be compared to future trends in the
<br /> Triangle region. Eased on population, employment, residential and non-resi-
<br /> dential density, and commuter demand, it has been determined that -carpools,
<br /> vanpools, express buses, and commuter lanes are most appropriate for commuter
<br /> travel, at least in the I-40 corridor which was used as a case study in this
<br /> analysis. The future traffic volumes in this corridor are similar to or less
<br /> than those on I-40/NC-54 between Chapel Hill and the Park, US-70 between
<br /> Raleigh and Durham, and US15--501 between Chapel. Hill and Durham. Thus, car-
<br /> pools, vanpools, express buses, and commuter lanes are appropriate public
<br /> transportation options for those corridors as well. Other heavily traveled
<br /> highways such as US-7O east of Raleigh, US-64 east and west of Raleigh, and
<br /> I-85 into Durham were not studied but may warrant public transportation now or
<br /> in the future. And, while this study concentrated on the use of public trans-
<br /> portation for commuter travel, non-commuters will also use public transporta-
<br /> tion in the for access to shopping, medical, entertainment, social service,
<br /> and other purposes. -
<br /> As metropolitan regions grow, high capacity, high speed rail alternatives
<br /> become feasible and very desirable. Within the next 20 years the Triangle re-
<br /> gion may cross the threshold for which light rail is a workable option for
<br /> commuter and other travel. Before this occurs, however, significant changes
<br /> in land use and development trends must occur. Residential densities, at
<br />
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