Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
<br />SECTION 1: Executive Summary <br />• Enhanced transit access for pedestrians and <br />bicydes around park and ride lots and <br />bus stops <br />Circulators: Denoted by orange shaded areas. <br />Circulators to provide flexible travel options within <br />our major activity centers. Circulator zones are <br />depicted at the conceptual level only, actual <br />routes will be sited by the respective <br />communities and MPOs. Initially all circulators <br />are anticipated to be buses with potential future <br />operations by modern street cars or trolleys <br />depending on local conditions, communities <br />and costs. <br />Implementing the Vision <br />The Regional Transit Vsion Plan faces three <br />significant implementation challenges that the <br />region will need to address in bold and creative <br />ways in order to achieve success: funding, land <br />use, and leadership and governance. Or, put <br />another way: dollars, development and <br />decision making. <br />Dollars: It is dear that our present sources of <br />transit funding are inadequate, and federal <br />funding is uncertain. New local and state funding <br />will be essential. Therefore the STAC <br />recommends: <br />• RDU/RTP dreulator connedting RDU to the <br />Triangle Metro Center and other major <br />activities areas in RTP <br />• Circulators in the downtowns of Raleigh, <br />Durham, Chapel HilUCarrboro and Cary <br />Rail /nvesbr-ents: Denoted by blue lines. The <br />regional system is anchored by rail service that <br />connects the region's principal centers of activity, <br />serves our most congested corridors, and offers <br />the greatest opportunities to influence <br />development patterns. <br />The segments connecting Durham, RTP, <br />Cary, downtown Raleigh and north Raleigh <br />will use diesel multiple unit (DMU) rail cars <br />operating within existing railroad <br />rights-of--way. <br />The segment connecting Chapel Hill to <br />Durham will use Light Rail Transit (LRT), <br />eledrically~lriven rail cars on a new <br />alignment. <br />These investments should be coordinated with <br />the North Carolina Railroad Shared Corridor <br />Track Expansion Study, which is investigating <br />the feasibility, costs and operating standards <br />for rush hour rail service on the Burlington <br />to Goldsboro and Hillsborough to Chapel <br />Hill/Carrboro corridors. <br />• '/Z cent sales tax (5¢ per $10 in purchases) <br />• $10 increase in vehide registration fee <br />If combined with existing local, state and federal <br />funding, and debt financing of approximately <br />$600 million, finandal models demonstrate that <br />these revenue sources are adequate to build the <br />Regional Transit Vision Plan. <br />Development: In order to realize the full benefits <br />of the recommended transit investments, the <br />region, its communities and its development <br />sector will need to do much more to ensure a <br />development pattern that matches major transit <br />investments and maximizes the opportunities for <br />people to routinely use transit. Therefore the <br />STAC recommends: <br />Pairing transit service and investment <br />with local government investment in <br />transit-supportive development polides <br />Existing land use policies on <br />transit-supportive development be applied <br />consistently <br />Decisions: Leaders and decision makers need <br />to recognize that local interests are inextricably <br />linked to regional interests as they cooperate in <br />planning, funding and sequencing transit <br />investment dedsions. The STAC recommends: <br />