Orange County NC Website
14 <br /> taxes. He said the policy steering outreach has been muted some during the pandemic and that <br /> they have plans to go out again in the upcoming months to get feedback from the community. <br /> He said they have hired Renaissance Consulting to assist with community outreach to make <br /> sure they are reaching the full community. He said that as they get information back from the <br /> community that the policy steering committee will again meet to discuss what types of services <br /> they can afford. He said that the original plan had about 30,000 hours of bus service and there <br /> may be enough money for another 25-30,000 hours of new service. He said that in the short <br /> term they have made a major commitment through the modified transit plan to support the bus <br /> rapid transit in Chapel Hill and some of the capital needs that they have. He said they hope to <br /> have additional federal funding for the bus rapid transit and that the state funding seems to be <br /> drying up. He said that the Hillsborough Train Station, a commuter rail station for Amtrack, is <br /> still part of the plan and will come forward. He said they also analyzed the original commuter <br /> rail, which would have connected Mebane to Raleigh, and found out that the price tag is far <br /> beyond what their financial means are at this time. He said the are ready to do outreach, come <br /> back to the steering committee, bring information to the elected bodies, and then decisions will <br /> be made on how to update the transit plan through 2040. He said they are working with another <br /> consultant, jointly with Durham County, to take a look at the interlocal implementation <br /> agreement. He said that the current agreement is from 2012 and needs an update. He said the <br /> plan will review how decisions are made, how is the membership and voting arranged, when do <br /> financial assumptions get changed or made and who gets to do that. He said it will be modified <br /> and delete references to the light rail. He said there has been one retreat but that they are in <br /> the early stages. He said the plan also includes Triangle J Council of Governments, GoTriangle <br /> so that the process is inclusive. He said they hope to have the surveys completed soon. He said <br /> the timeline and flowchart is included in the agenda packet as attachment 4 and provides the <br /> full detail. <br /> Brian Litchfield from Chapel Hill made the following presentation: <br /> Slide #1: <br /> Chapel Hill Transit <br /> Orange County Assembly <br /> of Governments Update <br /> January 25 2022 <br />