bus
I attended the "Special Topic: Making Transportation Decisions at a Local Level" presentation a smaller section of the larger "Sketching Chapel Hill" Series, and I thought that I'd share some details that were discussed by Martin/Alexiou/Bryson Consulting. The firm presented a 50 minute PowerPoint concerning both the CTP for the greater area, the Long Range Plan and the shorter 7 Year Transportation Plans for the area, followed by Q&A. Also, on the consulting firm's website, there are some interesting bike lane sharing plans for NCSU that are pretty cool to check out.
Carrboro (and West Franklin Street in Chapel Hill) are arguably the most mass transit friendly developments in the entire region, if not the entire state. And yet direct bus and rail connections have yet to be established connecting these dense centers of work, entertainment, and population to the rest of the Triangle. Furthermore, Carrboro rail and bus discussions have been
markedly/noticeably absent from the most recent regional
planning processes.
Triangle Transit is proposing service changes for the 15-501 corridor between Chapel Hill and Durham. I (and others in the region) believe that these service changes should include regional transit service through downtown Carrboro so that residents can take a direct bus to Durham.
Carrboro has the highest transit ridership per capita in North Carolina (9%) without even having a direct bus service out to places where many residents work and hang out (namely downtown Durham, RTP, etc.). At the same time, Carrboro is building up and not out, which means that our land use supports increased transit services. We have the highest density of all large towns and cities in NC with high transit ridership. Finally, I think that economically, increased transit service to Carrboro would very much benefit both downtown Carrboro and West Franklin Street in Chapel Hill by allowing riders from Durham a much faster way to get to our stores and food offerings.
I just left a public information session put on by the Town of Chapel Hill about the Chapel Hill/Carrboro/UNC Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), as discussed on the Town's website. Chapel Hill's plan includes the assumption that the LRTP of the Durham-Chael Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) will be adopted and that light rail will be a reality along the NC 54 corridor and on some of US 15/501. Other than that admittedly optimistic assumption, the plan is extremely feasable. Don't get me wrong, I desperately hope that light rail will implemented, but it is far from assured.
A day after the elections for city-wide offices in Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough several of our elected officials joined advocates for transit to publicly launch "DO Transit" - Durham Orange Friends of Transit. Thanks to Gerry Cohen for posting info about the kick-off meeting here on OP and for being there last night to help explain House Bill 148. The newly enacted legislation establishes the Congestion Relief and Intermodal Transportation 21st Century Fund, providing the Triangle with an unprecedented opportunity to build a robust transit system.
I see that the BOCC has decided to rename OPT as The Orange Bus, with resultant web-site and advertising changes as well as painting all their vehicles OP-orange. As a side-note, perhaps OP should think about taking out some advertising on the buses. Commissioner Barry Jacobs was against the idea, according to OrangeChat, calling it "too precious" and saying that he thought OPT was just fine. C'mon Commissioner Jacobs, this is a web 2.0 world! I am totally in favor of OPT becoming The Orange Bus. First off, how many of you knew what OPT was the first time you heard the acronym? How many of you know what OPT actually does? But, The Orange Bus, that's easy to understand and by playing on the county name it becomes catchy.
This does raise a question in my mind though and that is, what changes will be made on the website to make it a better tool for potential customers. As it stands right now, I think most people have no idea what OPT does unless they are already using it. How will the website make this information more accessible? I had the opportunity just this morning to tell a coworker moving to Hillsborough about the Hill-to-Hill route - she had no idea that it existed and was very excited about the possibility of not driving every day. How will The Orange Bus get this information out to the public?
A couple of recent letters to the editor are stretching logic and hyperbole in order to make their points. I think they end up having the opposite effect. In today's Daily Tar Heel for example, senior Chris Garrison complains that "if Benito Mussolini can get public transportation to run on schedule" why can't Chapel Hill? Do we really have to answer that, Chris?
In last week's Independent Weekly, Sharon Cook wrote a letter taking issue with that paper's October 2007 characterization of her as a newcomer to the issue of justice for the African-American neighbors of the landfill. She accused the Indy of shoddy reporting, and explained her history of supporting her Rogers Road neighbors.
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