Orange County NC Website
5 <br /> Are) Attachment 1 <br /> RENAISSANCE <br /> PLANNING <br /> April 26, 2022 <br /> To: Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br /> From: Caroline Dwyer, AICP, Project Manager, Renaissance Planning <br /> Re: Update Memo for the Orange County Transit Plan Update <br /> Background <br /> In 2012, the Orange County Board of County <br /> Commissioners (BOCC), the Durham-Chapel Hill Tos"byPhase <br /> Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC PSC Coordination <br /> MPO), and GoTriangle adopted the Orange County's Transit Choices Brochure <br /> first comprehensive Transit Plan allocating the Article PhOse 1 Regonol Connections Opportunities Report <br /> 43 Half-Cent Sales Tax dedicated to funding public EngogemeniPreporatians <br /> transportation improvements in Orange County. The Engagement Wave 1 <br /> 2012 plan included investments in new and Conceptual ScenonoDevetoment <br /> expanded bus service and capital projects such as Identify projects <br /> the Chapel Hill North-South Bus Rapid Transit (N-S Priorttrzationprocess development <br /> BRT), the Hillsborough Train Station, and the Preferred Scenario <br /> Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit (D-O LRT) project Phase 2 Engagement wave 2 prep <br /> Engagement Wove 2 <br /> connecting employment, education, and health care <br /> centers in Durham and Chapel Hill. Revenue forecasting <br /> Impoemeniation Pian <br /> The Orange County Transit Plan was last updated in Final Report <br /> 2017 to adjust financial projections and cost share Figure 1 Project Tasks <br /> information related to the D-O LRT. The subsequent <br /> discontinuation of D-O LRT in 2019 compelled the need for an additional update of the Orange <br /> County Transit Plan to confirm transit-related priorities and projects in Orange County, and to <br /> reallocate revenues collected through the County's half-cent transit sales tax. <br /> Renaissance Planning was selected in 2020 to lead the team developing the Orange County <br /> Transit Plan Update. Team members include internationally-recognized transit planning firm <br /> Jarrett Walker & Associates (JWA) and the equity and inclusion experts at McClaurin Solutions. <br /> The project encompassed two main phases of planning. In Phase 1, the consulting team <br /> introduced key transit planning concepts and framed investment decisions within community <br /> values generating two conceptual transit scenarios (a high-ridership focused scenario and a <br /> geographic coverage-focused scenario). The project's second phase proposed a set of projects <br /> aligned with community values and priorities to include in the Plan update. These projects were <br /> thoroughly vetted with transit service providers, key stakeholders, the public, and the Plan's Policy <br /> Steering Committee (PSC). A plan and schedule for project implementation was also created. <br /> The Transit Plan Update also includes a conceptual transit vision map in addition to projects that <br /> can be funded using transit tax revenues. The conceptual vision shows longer-term, regional, <br /> capital projects, such as bus rapid transit routes, that will require substantial funding support <br /> beyond what is generated through the County transit tax and close cooperation between regional <br /> partners. <br /> 1 <br />