Research Triangle Park, NC (Sept. 24, 2018) – Whether your favorite get-out-of-the-house plans involve biking, beers or books, add a twist to your typical trip this month and let the bus be your ride.
September is Try Transit Month across the nation, and GoTriangle wants to help area residents participate by offering tips and suggested trips for all types of people, be they adventurers, intellectuals, tour guides or foodies.
Which type are you? Take our personality quiz at gotriangle.org/trytransit to find out then see what hotspots along GoTriangle routes we’ve picked out for you to try.
For intellectual types, a stop at the Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill may be in order. Pullen Park in Raleigh could be the place for adventurers and Bull McCabe’s in Durham for foodies. You the tour guide of the family? The Cary Downtown Farmers Market awaits.
To have more time and money to explore those experiences, maybe a cheaper and easier commute to work would help. As Durham, Orange and Wake counties go forward together with new transit investments, the ever-expanding regional network is making it even more convenient for Triangle residents to get where they need to go.
Get ready for Try Transit Week Sept. 23-30 by heading to gotriangle.org and using the trip-planning tool to find a route to work. If you log your new commute online at Share the Ride NC, you’re even eligible for monthly prize drawings through GoTriangle’s GoPerks program.
GoTriangle has numerous park-and-ride lots to help those who don’t live near a transit stop connect with jobs, schools or doctors, with six lots in Raleigh, two in Apex, three in Cary, two in Fuquay-Varina, two in Garner and one each in Knightdale, Wake Forest, Wendell and Zebulon. Find maps at gotriangle.org/park-and-ride. Never ridden the bus? Get all you need to know at bit.ly/ridegotriangle. Need help planning a route? Call GoTriangle at 919-485-7433.
And no one ever need waste time waiting at bus stops. The free TransLoc app shows buses moving in real time and offers arrival predictions and proximity alerts. Learn about TransLoc at gotriangle.org/transloc.
Wake County public school teacher Billy Lane is a recent transit convert. When he started a full-time 14-month graduate program at UNC-Chapel Hill this summer, he was pumped to discover GoTriangle’s comfortable and convenient CRX route running between Raleigh and Chapel Hill.
“I’ve always lived in Raleigh and almost always taught in Raleigh, and after half a week of commuting on Interstate 40, I was done with it,” says Lane, who is getting a master’s in school counseling. “In addition to getting to ride free with a GoPass as a grad student, I’m saving gas money and I’m saving wear and tear on my vehicle.”
Lane uses a park-and-ride lot off of Wade Avenue in Raleigh to catch the bus -- all of them equipped with Wi-Fi and able to bypass I-40 congestion by driving on the shoulder as part of the state-approved Bus on Shoulder System or BOSS.
“I would say it’s well worth spending a little bit of time to see what’s possible with transit,” Lane says. “I had no idea there was a straight shot to the UNC campus from downtown Raleigh. It’s well worth the time to investigate what’s possible. Transit is a winner.”
Are you eligible for a GoPass?
Many employers and schools in the Triangle offer a GoPass or other transit subsidies to workers or students. Find a list of participants here.