Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
14 <br /> Triangle <br /> MEMO <br /> Date: February 27, 2026 <br /> From: Jay Heikes, GoTriangle <br /> Re: Q4 Amendment Request for FY26 Orange Transit Work Program — Route 800 <br /> This request is to deliver five additional revenue hours of Orange Transit Plan funded expansion service on <br /> Route 800. This request will provide additional cycle time during weekday daytimes, inclusive of run-time, <br /> schedule recovery, and layover time to improve reliability and on-time performance. This request is a partial <br /> year of incremental costs in FY26. <br /> Recent expansion on Route 800, initiated in FY25 Q3, resulted in an increase of 4,300 boardings (9%) year- <br /> over-year from FY25 Q2 to FY26 Q2, the most recent quarter available. In order to maintain this growth and <br /> sustain operation of this service, reliability improvements are necessary. Transit plan-funded survey and <br /> engagement efforts consistently indicate reliability, the bus arriving as scheduled, as a critical factor in <br /> improving the quality and usefulness of transit. Improved reliability also ensures that operators have sufficient <br /> break time between trips, improving quality of life for operators and retention to ensure sufficient workforce <br /> to deliver the service. <br /> Route 800 provides all-day/every-day regional connections along NC-54 and 1-40 between UNC Hospitals and <br /> Regional Transit Center and serves people traveling between Chapel Hill, Southpoint, RTP, and to Raleigh at <br /> off-peak times. Substantial growth continues to occur along the corridor, driving demand for Orange County <br /> residents, employees, and visitors to travel along this corridor. With approval of the RTP 3.0 rezoning, it is <br /> more important than ever to deliver dependable, on-time service to provide transportation alternatives <br /> residents, employees and visitors to RTP from Orange County. <br /> Route 800 expansion service includes: <br /> - FY18: Weekday midday frequency was increased from 60 to 30 minutes. <br /> - FY18: Saturday daytime frequency was increased from 60 to 30 minutes. <br /> - FY18: Saturday evening service was extended from 7:15 PM to 11:20 PM. <br /> - FY18: Sunday service was added from 6:45 AM to 10 PM. <br /> - FY25: All-day, every-day service on NC 54, providing direct connections between RTP, South Durham, and <br /> Chapel Hill <br /> Regional Transit revenues allocated through the Transit Plans fund expansion service on Route 800. If this <br /> request is approved, on an annualized basis: GoTriangle legacy revenues fund 54% of Route 800, regional <br /> transit revenues collected in Orange County fund 23% and regional transit revenues collected in Durham <br /> County fund 23%. <br /> 4600 Emperor Blvd., Suite 100, Durham, NC 27703 1 gotriangle.org <br />