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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: November 7, 2019 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-b <br /> SUBJECT: Approval of a Planning Framework for Updating the Orange County Transit Plan <br /> DEPARTMENT: County Manager <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Travis Myren, 919-245-2308 <br /> Theo Letman, 919-245-2007 <br /> Craig Benedict, 919-245-2592 <br /> PURPOSE: To approve a planning framework for updating the Orange County Transit Plan and <br /> to appoint two Commissioners to serve as representatives to the Policy Steering Committee. <br /> BACKGROUND: In 2012, the Board of Orange County Commissioners along with the Durham- <br /> Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization and GoTriangle adopted the Orange <br /> County's first comprehensive Transit Plan. This Plan was funded using a newly adopted Article <br /> 43 Half-Cent Sales Tax, and it included investments in new and expanded bus service, new <br /> capital infrastructure projects such as the Chapel Hill North-South Bus Rapid Transit Project, the <br /> Hillsborough Train Station, and the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project. The Plan was most <br /> recently updated in 2017 to meet federal requirements associated with the Durham-Orange <br /> Light Rail Project. <br /> In March 2019, the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project was discontinued. This project <br /> was central to the Transit Plan. It was the Plan's primary investment, represented a critical <br /> partnership between Durham and Orange counties, and served as the transit infrastructure <br /> around which other transit services and growth strategies were planned. In response to the <br /> discontinuation of the light rail project, a staff team began the process of creating a potential <br /> planning framework to create a new Orange County Transit Plan that prioritizes investments, <br /> funds service improvements, and improves the resiliency of the public transit network. <br /> The proposed planning framework would be led by a Policy Steering Committee composed of <br /> two (2) Commissioners serving as Co-Chairs, and one representative each from Chapel Hill, <br /> Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Mebane. The County and/or municipal appointees should also <br /> represent the interests of GoTriangle and the Durham-Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan <br /> Planning Organization (DCHC-MPO). <br />