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152 <br /> SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL L A CENTER <br /> Telephone 919...967...1450 601 WEST ROSEMARY STREET, SUITE: 220 FdcsimIle 919-929-9421 <br /> CHAPEL HILL, NC 275.16••2356 <br /> April 21, 2017 <br /> VIA E-MAIL <br /> Our Transit Future <br /> P.O. Box 13787 <br /> Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 <br /> info @ourtransitfuture.coin <br /> Re: Comments on Draft Orange County Transit Plan <br /> Please accept these comments on the Draft Orange County Transit Plan("Plan"). The <br /> Southern Environmental Law Center("SELC")represents a wide variety of citizens' groups with <br /> an interest in North Carolina transportation issues, and as such, we are pleased to submit these <br /> comments in support of the Plan. We believe this Plan will generate many benefits for Orange <br /> County and the region,particularly by investing in long-term transportation solutions like the <br /> Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit project("D-O LRT project"). In addition to our general <br /> support for the Plan, we submit the following specific comments. <br /> I. A Comprehensive and Varied Plan <br /> The Plan continues the County's past commitment to enhancing public transit options for <br /> all residents and visitors with a balanced mix of projects. Much progress has been made since <br /> the 2012 Bus and Rail Investment Plan ("BRIP"). The updated Plan carefully evaluates the <br /> improvements made since the 2012 BRIP, highlighting progress made toward specific goals. <br /> Where goals in the 2012 BRIP have not yet been met, the Plan carries forward those goals and <br /> updates them as appropriate to ensure that the new Plan is not merely a restatement of the old, <br /> but instead builds and improves upon the 2012 BRIP. <br /> The updated Plan supports an impressive suite of transit improvements for Orange <br /> County. Further expansions to bus service hours, coupled with the "rail dividend"bus service <br /> hours that will result when the D-O LRT project effectively replaces existing routes, will <br /> ultimately support as many as 70,000 or more bus service hours.' Furthermore, the Plan <br /> continues to fully fund the Hillsborough Train station, as well as a number of other transit <br /> facilities. The Plan also maintains the amount of funds previously allocated to what was <br /> formerly called "Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Bus Lanes and Corridor Improvements," <br /> extending from the University of North Carolina Campus to Eubanks Road near I-40.2 The <br /> See Draft Orange County Transit Plan at 2 (Mar.31,2017)(stating that"nearly 33,500 hours of bus service are <br /> funded in this Plan"); 18 (estimating"30,000-45,000 rail dividend service hours"in Orange County as a result of the <br /> D-O LRT project). <br /> 2 Id. at 29-30. <br /> Chdrlottesullllle 0 Chapel D-iiillll 0 Atlanta 0 Asheullllle BirmiIng;hdm 0 Charleston 0 Richmond WdshiIng;ton, DC <br />