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13 <br /> In March 2019, the DO-LRT Project was discontinued. This project was central to the Transit <br /> Plan, was the Plan's primary investment, represented a critical partnership between Durham <br /> and Orange counties, and served as the transit infrastructure around which other transit <br /> services and growth strategies were planned. In response to the discontinuation of the light rail <br /> project, a staff team began the process of creating a potential planning framework to create a <br /> new Orange County Transit Plan that prioritizes investments, funds service improvements, and <br /> improves the resiliency of the public transit network. <br /> At its November 17, 2019 meeting, the Orange County BOCC approved the planning <br /> framework for updating the Orange County Transit Plan. The framework included a Policy <br /> Steering Committee (PSC) composed of two (2) Commissioners serving as Co-Chairs, and one <br /> representative each from Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, and Mebane to lead the process. <br /> The County and/ or municipal appointees are intended to represent the interests of GoTriangle <br /> and DCHC MPO. <br /> The PSC is aided by a staff team which is led by County staff and includes representatives from <br /> the same organizations as well as staff support from the Triangle J Council of Governments <br /> (TJCOG), the Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization (TARPO), and the University of North <br /> Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Both the PSC and the staff team provide direction and guidance <br /> to the consulting firm whose tasks include analyzing data, facilitating public input processes, <br /> soliciting feedback from specific stakeholders, and drafting the Transit Plan. The new Plan is <br /> intended to outline transit investment priorities through 2040. <br /> In January 2020, Orange County Planning staff began work with Renaissance Planning, Inc., <br /> the consulting firm chosen to update the Orange County Transit Plan. Over the past two years, <br /> Planning staff and the consulting team have established key project deliverables and the <br /> timetable for their delivery, defined the scope of the consulting work, established a project <br /> website (www.octransit2020.com), created the public participation and outreach plans, and <br /> conducted regular meetings with the PSC, transit service providers, and key stakeholders with <br /> updates on the plan's progress. <br /> Following is a list of key process milestones carried out by the consultant, PSC, transit service <br /> providers and staff teams: <br /> • Held bi-monthly meetings with progress updates for the PSC during the 2020 calendar <br /> year (May 2020) <br /> • Received the Transit Choices Brochure (TCB), a visual document that illustrates the <br /> concepts and continuums of transit planning, and the Regional Connections Opportunity <br /> (RCO) Report, a technical assessment of key issues and opportunities for effective <br /> transit service (July 2020) <br /> • Held the first Transit Summit over the Zoom platform and received a memo of key <br /> themes from the summit discussions and first public survey (October 2020) <br /> • Met with Durham City and County representatives to discuss progress of Durham <br /> Transit Plan Update relative to the Orange County Transit Plan Update (November <br /> 2020) <br /> • Received draft versions of conceptual scenarios and graphics with an accompanying <br /> memo (January 2021) <br /> • Held recurring monthly PSC meetings over Zoom with updates for first half of 2021 <br /> (January 2021 — June 2021) <br />