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ORANGE COUNTY <br /> ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: October 19, 2022 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 5.a. <br /> SUBJECT: Transit Plan Update — Final Draft <br /> DEPARTMENT: Planning and Inspections <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Transit Plan Executive Summary Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning <br /> Supervisor, 919-245-2579 <br /> Nish Trivedi, OCTS Transportation Director, <br /> 919-245-2007 <br /> PURPOSE: To provide a recommendation to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br /> (BOCC) on the final draft of the Orange County Transit Plan (OCTP) Update. <br /> BACKGROUND: In 2012, the BOCC along with the Durham-Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan <br /> Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) and GoTriangle adopted Orange County's first <br /> comprehensive Transit Plan. This Plan was funded using a newly-adopted Article 43 Half-Cent <br /> Sales Tax, and it included investments in new and expanded bus service and new capital <br /> infrastructure projects such as the Chapel Hill North- South Bus Rapid Transit Project, the <br /> Hillsborough Train Station, and the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit(DO-LRT) Project. The Plan <br /> was most recently updated in 2017 to meet federal requirements associated with the DO-LRT <br /> Project. <br /> In March 2019, the DO-LRT Project was discontinued. This project was central to the Transit Plan; <br /> it was the Plan's primary investment, represented a critical partnership between Durham and <br /> Orange counties, and served as the transit infrastructure around which other transit services and <br /> growth strategies were planned. In response to the discontinuation of the light rail project, a staff <br /> team began the process of creating a potential planning framework to create a new Orange <br /> County Transit Plan that prioritizes investments, funds service improvements, and improves the <br /> resiliency of the public transit network. <br /> At its November 17, 2019 meeting, the Orange County BOCC approved the planning framework <br /> for updating the Orange County Transit Plan. The framework included a Policy Steering <br /> 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 supported by a staff team which is led by County staff and includes representatives <br /> from 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 />