Transit
Orange County is holding public meetings to discuss options for new, expanded and existing bus services outlined in the Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan. Bus routes to be brought for public input will include rural service routes, regional service routes, and the Hillsborough Circulator. The purpose of the outreach is to obtain information regarding community bus service needs and assist in the design of future services.
As the meetings will be conducted primarily in an “open house” format, feel free to come when you can. A presentation may be given a couple of times during the course of the evening to best accommodate attendees.
Date:
Thursday, August 8, 2013 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Location:
Northern Human Services Center Cafeteria, Cedar Grove Park, 5800 NC Hwy. 86
Orange County is holding public meetings to discuss options for new, expanded and existing bus services outlined in the Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan. Bus routes to be brought for public input will include rural service routes, regional service routes, and the Hillsborough Circulator. The purpose of the outreach is to obtain information regarding community bus service needs and assist in the design of future services.
As the meetings will be conducted primarily in an “open house” format, feel free to come when you can. A presentation may be given a couple of times during the course of the evening to best accommodate attendees.
Date:
Monday, August 5, 2013 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm
Location:
Fairview Community Policing Center, Fairview Park, 501 Rainey Avenue, Hillsborough
The 1/2% transit sales tax in Durham and Orange Counties taxes becomes effective Monday April 1, so if you are imbibing out past midnight on Sunday, tip your glass to regional transit.
The $7 county vehicle registration fee for transit takes effect a bit later, July 1 in Orange and September 1 in Durham. The $3 TTA Durham/Orange regional fee surcharge is still plodding through the approval process.
Tonight, the Chapel Hill Town Council is expected to enact fees on users of their park and ride lots. This fee is in response to UNC’s decision to start charging at their own park and ride lots. Leaving Town-owned park and ride lots free would create a traffic nightmare, so the Town is trying to start their own permit program. I’m sure that the extra revenue that will be generated from this fee is also a consideration, especially in a tight budget year.
While most people (75% by CHT estimates) who use the park and ride lots are affiliated with UNC, there is a sizable minority who do not use the park and ride to travel to campus. UNC students and employees will pay for their permit through UNC (because of taxing and payroll deduction issues), and that money will then be given to the Town. Non-affiliated users will purchase their permits directly from the Town. The resolution being considered tonight sets the fee at $250/year, or about $1/weekday.
I understand the importance of implementing the fee, but there are two major issues that have not been addressed:
Starting tomorrow - just a few hours too late to help revellers tonight - you might actually want to take a cab in Chapel Hill! In the past, their fees were so exorbitant that cabs were only for the very desperate. But the Town Council has reformed the system in response to a request from UNC students. The change will also help regional commuters (like me) who can get a bus back from Durham or Raleigh after 7pm, but then are stuck walking the last mile to get home.
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