A “Tax District” was created by the North Carolina General Assembly to levy, after voter ballot referendum approval, a Half-Cent Sales and Use Tax for Public Transportation (North Carolina General Statutes 105-509). The statute assigned the Regional Public Transit Authority (GoTriangle) to collect and administer this tax revenue.

• On Nov 6, 2016, 52.65% of Wake County voters approved it.
• On Nov 6, 2012, 58.88% of Orange County voters approved it.
• On Nov 8, 2011, 60.14% of Durham County voters approved it.

In addition to the Half-Cent Sales Tax, each Board of County Commissioners approved and authorized the Department of Motor Vehicles to levy a $7.00 County Vehicle Registration Tax and a $3.00 Regional Transit Authority (GoTriangle) Registration Tax. The County Commissioners assigned the Regional Public Transit Authority (GoTriangle) Tax District to collect and administer these two taxes.

There are 25 stakeholder agencies — including staff from 3 counties, 17 municipalities, 2 Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Research Triangle Foundation, North Carolina State University, and GoTriangle — that meet monthly to work collaboratively and vote on the best uses for the Transit Tax revenues. These stakeholders decide on both long-term Vision Plans and Annual Work Plans that are in the best interest of regional transit.

Each transit plan's tax revenue is invested according to each long-range Vision Plan, like Wake County's 2035 Wake Transit Plan, a roughly $3 billion, 10-year investment strategy, and then carried out year by year through that county's Annual Work Plan or Work Program (the Wake Transit Work Plan, the Durham Transit Work Program, and the Orange Transit Work Program). Together, these plans guide investment across four broad areas:

• Expanding and improving bus service — adding new routes, increasing frequency, extending service hours, and building out higher-capacity options like Bus Rapid Transit and regional transit options across all three counties.
• Building and upgrading transit infrastructure — capital projects such as the Raleigh Union Station Bus Facility, renovation of the Downtown Durham Bus Facility, new transit centers, park-and-ride lots, and accessibility upgrades to bus stops throughout the region.
• Growing and modernizing the vehicle fleet — purchasing new buses, vans, and support vehicles, and replacing aging fleet to keep service reliable.
• Supporting the people who deliver the service — funding staff across the region, including bus drivers, maintenance crews, transit planners, and administrative personnel who plan, operate, and report on these investments.

Ultimately, these investments are aimed at making it easier for residents throughout the Triangle to get to jobs, education, healthcare, and other opportunities - connecting communities within each county and linking Wake, Durham, and Orange counties together as one regional transit network.

GoTriangle plays two distinct roles in the region's transit system. Transit Operations is the delivery side — it runs the regional bus service that riders see every day. Tax District Administration (TDA) is the stewardship side — it safeguards and manages the tax revenue that funds transit across Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. In plain terms: Transit Operations puts the money to work on service; TDA makes sure that money is properly accounted for and spent only on what was approved.

Across the region, TDA functions as the single grantor for all three Annual Work Plans— it holds and distributes Wake, Durham and Orange Transit Plan dollars on behalf of every partner involved. Every other agency delivering transit service or building transit infrastructure — GoTriangle's own Transit Operations division, the cities and counties, and the other transit operators across the three counties — sits on the grantee side: each receives funding for its portion of the work, spends it on approved projects, and reports back to TDA. That single-grantor structure is what lets TDA track the same dollar consistently no matter which of the 25+ partner agencies ultimately spends it.

For Wake Transit specifically, this group operates as the Transit Planning Advisory Committee, or TPAC. Durham and Orange each have their own version, called a Staff Working Group (SWG). These committees review and recommend the Work Plan, but none of them have final sign-off — every plan still has to go to that county's governing boards for approval before any money moves. For Wake, that's the CAMPO Executive Board and the GoTriangle Board of Trustees; for Durham and Orange, it's their respective County Board of Commissioners along with the GoTriangle Board of Trustees.
What's the step-by-step process for approving an Annual Work Plan?
It follows seven steps each year:

Partner agencies submit project requests.

• The lead agency consolidates them into a draft plan.
• The committee (TPAC or SWG) reviews it.
• The governing boards approve it, with a public comment period.
• A formal funding agreement is signed for each project.
• The project sponsor implements the work.
• The lead agency/Tax District reports back on progress.

There's also a quarterly process for smaller mid-year amendments, so plans aren't locked in for a full 12 months if priorities shift.

No. Once collected, the revenue is legally segregated and can only be spent on the approved Transit Plan for that county, in accordance with its adopted Financial Plan. The revenue sources carry their own added restrictions in that the Half-Cent Sales Tax and the regional vehicle registration fee must supplement and not supplant or replace existing transit funding.

GoTriangle presents audited financial statements annually, along with quarterly (non-GAAP) financial reports and quarterly project status updates to the TPAC and SWG. Each tax district's finances are reported separately from GoTriangle's other funds, so Wake, Durham, and Orange transit plan dollars can each be traced independently. Tax District Administration also created this dashboard to give partners and the public that same transparency and historical context in an ongoing, accessible way.

Every project needs a signed Capital Funding Agreement or Operating Agreement before any money is released. These agreements spell out the project scope, timeline, budget by year, reporting requirements and what happens if the project doesn't move forward as planned.