Agenda - 03-07-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

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15 1 Commissioner Rich asked if the timing, from the beginning to the end, of the light rail 2 line could be identified. 3 Patrick McDonough said it was originally a 35 minute ride time in 2011, but the design 4 has changed in order to accommodate community values; for example, property impacts and 5 the addition of the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) stop. He said these changes 6 lengthen the time. 7 Commissioner Price referred to the comparison of Durham and Orange with King 8 County, Washington, and asked if Orange County will benefit in the same way. She asked if 9 people in rural areas like Efland will benefit from the LRT. 10 Patrick McDonough said the most important element is good rail-bus integration 11 planning. 12 Chair Dorosin referred to the hand out about buses that run in 100% mixed traffic lanes, 13 and asked if this is the case, how is that type of bus considered rapid. 14 Patrick McDonough said the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has noticed this as 15 well, and has redefined BRT to require that lanes must be at least 50% bus dedicated. He said 16 the cities referenced in the presentation are still committed to improving their bus systems. 17 Chair Dorosin said there could be a bus system, which goes down the existing traffic 18 ways of Martin Luther King Boulevard in Chapel Hill that is called a BRT system. He asked if 19 the distinct characteristics of a BRT system could be identified. 20 Patrick McDonough said there is a national standard checklist for a BRT definition. He 21 said BRT is still being applied to a wide variety of implementations nationwide. 22 Chair Dorosin said one of the challenges is that there are not clear definitions about 23 many of the things being discussed. 24 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if BRT systems ever get faster. 25 Patrick McDonough said it depends on the system and the location. 26 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if Wake County is focusing on BRT due to the wide- 27 open spaces that exist there. 28 Patrick McDonough said Wake County is much more spread out than Orange and 29 Durham, and BRT would work better for them. He said Orange and Durham counties have 30 gone to great planning lengths to preserve the LRT corridor. 31 Commissioner Price asked if Patrick McDonough could speak more about decreased 32 car trips in Raleigh, as mentioned in the presentation. 33 Patrick McDonough said he was actually talking about Franklin Street. He said since 34 the buses became fare free, ridership doubled over a few years. 35 Commissioner Price asked if there was a way that it was determined that buses or the 36 move to fare free were the cause of the decreased ridership, as opposed to more people living 37 in town. 38 Patrick McDonough said this is part of it, but traffic has dropped, and it would be a 39 strange coincidence if this were not related to the buses being fare free. 40 Danny Rogers, GoTriangle Project Director, said he is here to update the BOCC on the 41 project, and it is moving forward at an appropriate pace. He said the next big step is moving 42 into engineering, and good progress is being made. He said all information has been given the 43 FTA, and there are a few additional clarifications that need to be made regarding the existing 44 bus rail investment plan and the money that is included in that. He said as the timeline has 45 been followed appropriately, the FTA is allowing additional time to make up the clarifications 46 during. 47 Commissioner Burroughs asked if the plan is for the GoTriangle Board to vote on 48 advancing the engineering contract on April 26th.