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164 <br /> and still relies on mixed-use traffic for portions of its trip. Businesses cannot plan on bus service, <br /> but businesses can and will plan on a fixed light rail system. <br /> D. Light Rail Creates Desirable Mixed-Use Communities <br /> Private citizens are also increasingly choosing to live near established public <br /> transportation options. Indeed, a recent Chapel Hill poll indicated that the D-O LRT project is <br /> "overwhelmingly popular"with 69% of voters supporting the project.26 This is in line with <br /> national trends showing that people,particularly the Millennial generation, are consciously <br /> driving less and prefer to use alternate modes of transportation.27 The vast majority of <br /> Millennials express a preference for living in more urbanized, mixed-use, walkable communities <br /> with public transportation access.28 Existing compact, mixed-use development along public <br /> transportation routes have shown that such less automobile-dependent communities are a reality <br /> with corresponding real benefits: "[r]esidents of communities with high-quality, well integrated <br /> public transit . . . own half as many vehicles, drive half as many annual miles, walk and bicycle <br /> four times more, and use public transit ten times more than residents of more automobile- <br /> dependent communities."29 <br /> Light rail will also assist less mobile populations, such as the elderly, 0- or low-car <br /> households, and lower-income families. These populations will be able to depend on light rail <br /> for their transportation needs, while also making long-term housing and employment decisions <br /> knowing that light rail will remain, fixed in route, for the future. Indeed, the D-O LRT system <br /> will connect large employment and education centers with its end points near the institutions of <br /> the University of North Carolina and Duke University, respectively.30 Public transportation to <br /> such employment hubs will provide a low-cost, reliable means of transportation to jobs for low- <br /> income and 0-car households. These same individuals will also have greater access to the <br /> educational opportunities at both universities on the D-O LRT project route. Light rail and its <br /> corresponding transit-oriented development"provide basic mobility and accessibility, <br /> particularly for physically and economically disadvantaged people, such as people with <br /> disabilities and lower-income seniors."31 Public transportation and more compact, mixed-use <br /> communities can provide a means of greater access to necessary medical services for the elderly <br /> and disabled.32 The D-O LRT project exemplifies this attribute by connecting to both the UNC <br /> 26 Memorandum from Tom Jensen,Dir.of Pub. Policy Polling, State of the Chapel Hill Election 2 (Sept.23,2015), <br /> available at http://chapelboro.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ChapelHillPo112015.pdf. <br /> 27 TONY DUTZIK&PHINEAS BAXANDALL,U.S.PIRG FUND&FRONTIER GRP.,A NEW DIRECTION:OUR CHANGING <br /> RELATIONSHIP WITH DRIVING AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE 21-25 (2013),available at <br /> http://www.uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/A%20New%20Direction%20vUS.pdf. <br /> 28 Id. at 23;Millennials Prefer Cities to Suburbs,Subways to Driveways,NIELSON(Mar.4,2014), <br /> http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/millennials-prefer-cities-to-suburbs-subways-to-driveways html. <br /> 29 LITMAN,supra note 9,at 3. <br /> 30 E.g. DEIS,at 1-3-1-4. <br /> 31 LITMAN,supra note 9,at 16. <br /> 32 E.g. WENDY FOX-GRAGE&JANA LYNOTT,AARP PUB.POLICY INST.,EXPANDING SPECIALIZED <br /> TRANSPORTATION:NEW OPPORTUNITIES UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT 1 (Jan.2015),available at <br /> 6 <br />