They’re back! GoTriangle’s March service changes include the return of two well-loved express routes and other improvements
GoTriangle is pleased to announce that the agency is restoring two routes – Chapel Hill-Raleigh Express (CRX) and Durham-Raleigh Express (DRX) – that had been suspended in December due to a national operator shortage that hit the agency hard last year. The express routes are among other service changes that take effect starting March 26* and are designed to better serve the public in a variety of ways that include improving on-time performance and safety.
The restoration of the CRX and DRX routes comes after GoTriangle worked hard to attract and retain operators during the shortage, creating its own in-house driver training program and raising operator salaries to competitive levels with approval from its Board of Trustees in September. Due to these efforts, GoTriangle now has enough operators to restore the express routes to their November service levels.
GoTriangle is happy to be able to bring back the CRX and DRX routes, which are vital to so many of our customers, said Vinson Hines Jr., GoTriangle’s chief of operations and director of transit operations.
“We know that our riders depend on us to get to work, medical appointments, school and basic life necessities,” he said. “During the pandemic when our numbers of operators kept dropping, GoTriangle employees from many departments – especially operations – were working hard to recruit, retain and train drivers so we could restore those routes and other suspended service. Thanks to the Board for approving raises and a new pay structure for operations – those changes have had positive impacts on turning around our staffing shortages. Now that support and dedication have paid off!”
In addition to reinstating the DRX and CRX routes,* GoTriangle is rolling out other service changes to Routes 305, 310, 400, 405 and 700 designed to improve reliability and safety. Visit gotriangle.org/service-changes for details.
GoTriangle continues to hire bus operators to reach our pre-pandemic staffing levels, and we continue to monitor demand for transit to ensure we are meeting community needs.
* Note that the CRX and DRX Routes begin operation on March 27, 2023
Note to members of the news media: For interviews and additional information, please contact GoTriangle Chief Communications Officer Eric Curry, ECurry@gotriangle.org or 919-632-9326.