By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
CARRBORO – The Carrboro Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to support a measure paying for public transit – including local bus service improvements and light rail between UNC and Durham – through a half-cent sales tax.
Under a 2009 bill approved by the N.C. General Assembly, the Orange County Board of Commissioners could choose to put a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot to pay for public transit service. In addition, the bill authorized a $10 increase in vehicle registration fees to further support public transit.
Elected officials have developed a draft plan for transit changes, including bus service expansion and improvements and light rail connecting UNC and Durham – which could be completed as early as 2025.
Costs for the light rail would be shared between Orange and Durham counties, with Orange County’s share projected to be about $3.2 million annually for operations and $330 million for construction.
However, board members said they were concerned that county commissioners might hold off on the referendum, given that a quarter-cent sales tax to fund economic development and schools is already on the November ballot. Board member Joal Hall Broun said she felt that the commissioners were concerned about asking for another tax increase given the current economic climate.
“I really disagree with the way that the county commissioners are looking at this right now,â€
Mayor Mark Chilton said. “I think it’s pretty clear that they feel that the quarter-cent sales-tax proposal that they’re already planning on having on the ballot in November is very important to the Orange County budget and they don’t want to do anything that they perceive jeopardizes the quarter-cent sales tax passing.â€
David King, CEO and general manager of Triangle Transit, pointed out that the Triangle was just identified as the nation’s top gas-guzzling region per household by Forbes.
“When [gas] prices go up, we suffer disproportionately,†he said. “Whereas it may be pleasant to have that sort of spread-out demographic we’ve got, there’s a cost associated with it.â€
Planning for transportation alternatives, such as light rail and bus, is crucial, he said.
“It’s a way to assimilate the 1.2 million people that we’re all told are coming our way, without it destroying us,†he said.
Chilton said if gas prices continue to rise, transit changes become increasingly needed.
“This is what I got involved in local government to do 20 years ago – to make this kind of transformation in our public transit system,†Chilton said. “When ordinary working people can’t afford … to fill up their gas tank, I think people are going to look at us and say, ‘What were you doing? Why has this taken so long? We need this now.’â€
…While I agree with the construction of a good, viable public transportation system…I am in cross with the reasoning and implementation.
the statistic provided by David King, seems to be biased. If you read the entire article from Forbes — http://www.forbes.com/2011/05/10/gas-guzzling-cities_slide_11.html
and look at the complete list there are several other cities in the top10 list that have good public transportation and yet continue to consume gasoline. For ex. Atlanta, GA and Middlesex County, NJ. Both of which has large population then the Triangle Area.
The problem is not lack of public transportation (while it certainly maybe one factor), but also urban development. The Triangle area has too many residential pockets and it is very difficult to link all these pockets with key commercial zones. A better alternative would be invest money in building electric recharge station and build alternative energy infrastructure.
If public transit system is the only option, it makes more sense to develop a transit system in 2 main areas.
1. Link the Universities. NCState, UNC, and Duke. This will allow students to move between schools and the surrounding areas.
2. Link the Research Triangle to key residential hubs. Most of the business is centrally located in Triangle. Allowing people to get to work using transit will allow better utilization of the services.
Having a public transit link between Carbboro and Durham will not be the best utilization of resources and poor urban planning.
Dear Malay Patel;
The Carrboro-Chapel Hill-Durham express bus service is only a very small piece of the proposal. The main thrust of the proposal is a light rail system which would go from UNC to Duke to Downtown Durham to NCCU – eventually connecting to Cary Raleigh etc. The proposal also includes many other public transportation upgrades in both Durham and Orange County.
And you are right that changing our land use patterns to be more ped/bike/transit friendly is also a critical to achieving any kind of sustainability for the future. We are working on that piece, too.