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<br />A staff member from Homestart, a residential program for homeless women, <br />expressed concern that there is not any service to their residence after 5:30pm <br />on the weekdays, and limited services on the weekends. Homestart encourages <br />their residents to find jobs and women with evening jobs must make a lengthy walk <br />after-hours that is off of the main road. Recently, the program has had a rise in <br />disabled and older female residents and is concerned for their safety. Another <br />forum participant added that the location of the new senior center is near the <br />residential program, so there is a pressing need for extended service. Moreover, <br />frustration was expressed with the lack of service to northern Orange County. The <br />panelists referred all of the participants to a public forum the following evening to <br />voice their concerns as the transportation system is in the process of reassessing <br />service needs and is considering additional needs. They recognized that not all <br />citizens could afford the shared ride service, thus other options would be <br />considered. There were additional comments expressing confusion with specific <br />services that the panel members responded to according to their expertise. <br />The panelists were very. responsive to the comments of the participants, but did <br />remind everyone of the barriers to service, such as financial feasibility and <br />personnel limitations. The OPT is currently working on two development plans, one <br />of which focuses on metropolitan planning and the other a regional plan to develop <br />community transit services. The organization is in the process of considering how <br />to combine services in Durham, Orange, and Wake counties, specifically looking at <br />the .costs and impacts. Chapel Hill Transit is considering more environmentally <br />friendly technology such as buses that run on more efficient fuel. <br />Both session panelists and attendees were very engaged during the first panel <br />session. Upon ending, participants continued to engage with the panelists before <br />moving on to the next session. <br />Page6of18 <br />