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Research Triangle Park, NC (June 28, 2017) – Seven electric buses could be quietly and efficiently tooling around the Triangle by early 2019 if the federal government approves a grant application that GoTriangle, GoRaleigh, GoCary and Chapel Hill Transit jointly submitted this week.

The grant, combined with local transit money, would allow GoRaleigh, GoTriangle and Chapel Hill Transit to buy two buses each and GoCary one bus so that transit planners can begin the move to lower-emission and more efficient transit vehicles.

After weeks of public comment, the Durham County Board of Commissioners, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization and the GoTriangle Board of Trustees approved updated county transit plans in April. Here’s a look at improvements already made using the half-cent transit tax that Durham voters approved in 2011 and at upcoming projects.

IMPROVEMENTS COMING IN FISCAL YEAR 2018

Research Triangle Park, NC (June 12, 2017) —  Expanded bus service made possible with transit taxes that voters in Wake, Durham and Orange counties approved has made it even easier for Triangle residents to try transit on national Dump the Pump Day on Thursday, June 15.

Research Triangle Park, NC (June 12, 2017) – Managers for the Streets at Southpoint installed signs over the weekend that the City of Durham has said will allow the mall to begin towing cars from its parking lot. The new signs say the spots are reserved for park-and-ride users “during non-holiday weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.” (See a map of the parking area here.)

Managers for the Streets at Southpoint mall in Durham are threatening to tow customers who are parked in the park-and-ride area.

GoTriangle has learned from transit riders that Southpoint management told customers who use the transit park-and-ride area to catch a bus to work, school and medical appointments that they may park there only Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. (See a map of the parking area here.)

Research Triangle Park, NC (May 25, 2017) – Reverberating around the Dean Smith Center at the University of Chapel Hill are the exhortations that accompany any volleyball game: “Over, over, over!” “Coming to you! Coming to you!” “It’s out! It’s out!”

Cheers go up and backs are slapped before faces reset with determination as the next server, ball spinning in his hand, eyes his intended target on the other side of the net.

The destination is set. The tickets are bought. The suitcases are packed. Now it’s time to get to Raleigh-Durham International Airport, where a record-breaking 11 million passengers were served in 2016 with even more expected this year.

This summer traveling season, consider leaving the car at home and taking the bus right up to the doors of RDU instead.

Wake County, N.C. (March 31, 2017) – April 1 marks the beginning of the community’s new investment in a better public transit system for Wake County as the transit-dedicated half-cent sales tax that voters approved in November goes into effect.

The Wake County Transit Plan is moving forward. Today, the GoTriangle Board of Trustees approved a $3 increase to the Annual Motor Vehicle Tax in Wake County to partially fund the 10-year plan. The board’s action follows earlier approval today by GoTriangle’s Special Tax Board.

The Annual Motor Vehicle Tax is outlined in the Wake Transit FY 18 Draft Work Plan that was released earlier this week for public comment. The FY 18 Draft Work Plan outlines specific proposals, and the governing agencies are requesting public comment between Feb. 20, 2017, and April 3, 2017.

Though their morning commute began like any other for the passengers of Vanpool 5817, it certainly didn’t end that way. All aboard last November 16^th were thankful that Shelia Lassiter was behind the wheel as she calmly and safely moved the vehicle off the road after a deer crashed through her windshield.