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4 <br />AGENDA #7 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />T0: Town Council Members <br />FROM: Mayor Rosemary Waldorf <br />SUBJECT: Regional Transportation Strategy for the Triangle Region of North Carolina <br />DATE: May 21, 2001 <br />As requested by the Council on May 7, my request for endorsement of the Regional <br />Transportation Strategy returns to our May 21 agenda to receive public comment and any <br />discussion the Council desires. I ask the Council to adopt the .attached resolution, which I have <br />revised to address concerns expressed to me. ' <br />I offer the following information about the purpose, background and content of this report. <br />Back ound and Pu ose <br />After some time of service on the DCHC MPO, the transportation planning group for Durham <br />and Orange counties, I came to some realizations that seemed important to me: <br />1. Transportation planning in the Triangle region is not as well coordinated as it should <br />be. <br />2. Our transportation needs far outstrip our resources. New and additional sources of <br />revenue need to be identified and secured. <br />3. A stronger multi-modal emphasis is needed, region wide. <br />4. Air quality problems call for an approach that is somewhat different from what we <br />have pursued in the past. . <br />5. The public perhaps believes that our transportation problems will be addressed in a <br />timely and responsible fashion. Well, this is not happening. It will not happen <br />without some dramatic changes in what we do, the pace at which we move ahead, and <br />resources available. <br />6. The NC General Assembly needs to be more responsive to urban area transportation <br />needs, particular non-road needs. A serious effort at presenting the problem seemed <br />in order. <br />In the late fall of 1999 and early winter of 2000, Mayors Tennyson, Lang, Coble and I met <br />several times to discuss what we might do to stimulate an improvement of this situation. We <br />eventually agreed that a region wide analysis of the problem and' statement of need would be <br />a useful tool, both for purposes of public education and illustrating transportation needs to <br />the General Assembly. <br />