Minutes 06-02-2022 Budget Public Hearing and Work Session

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34 considered. He said he is not just upset at GoTriangle. He said he is bitter that the folks that need the transportation services did not get them, and they will not. He said the $600,000 is the only benefit that the county will get out of it. He said that all of the other money spent is not transferrable to light rail 3.0 but he highly suspects it is still out there. He asked what the number 1 lesson is learned at GoTriangle to avoid light rail 3.0 or some version of that. He asked what we are going to do. He said that the money is already gone, and it did not move one person. He asked what we are going to do to avoid that happening again. Charles Lattuca said there is no benefit except the property and software. He said that the lessons learned are difficult and painful. He said there have been many changes been made in how they address their studies. He said there has been discussion of a light rail replacement project, but he is not sure where that light rail discussion is today. He said he has heard there is some interest in Orange County, in Chapel Hill, in developing a project that would serve that corridor. He said that the data that shows how Orange County is going to grow, and the 15-501 corridor will grow a lot. Commissioner McKee said he fears that it is still being considered and he does not want another set of plans at his house. Charles Lattuca said GoTriangle is not driving that conversation. He said that will come from this body, along with the MPO, and Durham. Commissioner McKee said he focuses on GoTriangle but understands that this was not just a GoTriangle debacle. He said that GoTriangle has a huge influence because of the information they got was from GoTriangle. Commissioner Greene thanked the representatives for being at the meeting. She said she is sorry the light rail project is over, but she is not interested in relitigating it at this point. She said that one of the lessons is shoring up those relationships in writing and via contracts. She said that they have seen the draft of the Orange County Transit Plan and there is no light rail project depicted. She said they are working in tandem with Durham County in forging a regional connection, and the plan that will be adopted will be very constrained and it is basically a pay as you earn transit system. She said that another lesson that they have learned is to think carefully about the resources they have. She said that she does not think that this is a time to relitigate and cry in their beers over what happened. Charles Lattuca said that he recognizes the dissatisfaction of the folks here and in Durham. He said that they did not have all of the answers and that they want to be more thorough with any future plans. He said that they also want to make sure that they answer all previous questions before another project is taken on. Commissioner Bedford said there is zero talk of light rail 3. She said that the 15-501 study will be redone and it has not gone out to bid yet, but the conversations are about bus rapid transit (BRT). She said they still have work to do to get the North South BRT in Chapel Hill. She said that she wants to reassure folks that what Commissioner Greene said is accurate. She said that the MPO pushed NCDOT to consider changes in how they fund bike/ped and mobility. She said that this could get better impact of travel and transit by adding other projects at a lower cost. She said that NCDOT has been receptive. She said that with the governance study, her board would like GoTriangle to be a little more flexible with working alongside the staff working groups from the municipalities. Chair Price said that at least three of her colleagues were not on the board when the light rail drama was occurring. She said that as background, Durham had a lot of concern about the consultant fees. She said that as she left the MPO one of the big concerns was 15-501 and the widening. She said that it was sent back several times because NCDOT wanted to widen but the MPO wanted bike lanes and pedestrian paths. She said that they talked more about buses and the last mile and one of her biggest issues was that so many people got left out of light rail. She said that is why there is a lot of focus on buses right now.