Agenda 06-18-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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18 The Staff Working Group includes representatives of the County, the Durham-Chapel Hill-1 Carrboro Metropolitan Transportation Organization (DCHC MPO), and GoTriangle as 2 prescribed by the 2012 Interlocal Implementation Agreement for the Orange County Bus and 3 Rail Investment Plan. The recommended FY20 Work Plan was released for a 21-day public 4 comment period on May 9, 2019 by the DCHC MPO. The public comment period will end on 5 May 30, 2019. 6 7 Upon completion of the public comment period and subsequent Work Plan adjustments, the 8 Staff Working Group will make a recommendation to the GoTriangle Board of Trustees which 9 administers the Transit Tax District Funds and adopts the Work Plan as part of the GoTriangle 10 Annual Budget. 11 12 The draft FY20 Draft Work Plan is the first to be recommended following the discontinuation of 13 the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project. No funding is recommended in the FY20 Draft Work 14 Plan for this project. The Draft Work Plan contains several highlights that are intended to revise 15 the long term strategy for public transportation in Orange County and result in a revised Orange 16 County Transit Plan. Specific highlights include: 17 18 1. Funding to Develop a New Orange County Transit Plan 19 The Work Plan recommends an initial investment of $500,000 to facilitate the process of 20 creating a new Transit Plan. Using this framework, the County would provide funding to a third 21 party consultant to assist with the transportation planning elements of the plan and to 22 coordinate a public information process according to direction provided by Orange County. The 23 contracting process may flow through the DCHC MPO to provide regional context while a local 24 oversight group will guide and define local priorities. If this initial investment is approved, a more 25 detailed scope will be developed in cooperation with the County’s regional and local transit 26 stakeholders, and a more detailed cost estimate will be established. 27 28 2. Future Funding Flexibility 29 The FY20 Draft Work Plan does not spend all of the available estimated revenue. The Draft 30 Plan currently projects a surplus of $3.8 million for FY20. These funds will rollover to future 31 years and would be invested in the new transit priorities identified through the new Transit Plan. 32 33 3. Mobility on Demand 34 The recommendations for Orange County Public Transit include the initial investments to 35 advance a “mobility on demand” model to better and more efficiently serve the less densely 36 populated portions of the County. This model will also be leveraged to serve the commuting 37 population through the use of van pools and other smaller, more flexible modes of 38 transportation. 39 40 Proposed Participation in the Triangle Commuter Rail Feasibility Study 41 The Transit Plans adopted by Wake County and Durham County included initial investments in 42 a Commuter Rail Transit (CRT) project. Commuter Rail Transit uses existing railroad tracks to 43 provide passenger rail service focused on peak commuting times. The initial scope of this 44 project is envisioned to run thirty-seven (37) miles from Garner to downtown Raleigh, N.C. 45 State University, Cary, Morrisville and the Research Triangle Park continuing to Durham. The 46 longer term vision for this system would extend commuter rail service through Orange County 47 to Alamance County. 48 49