Bus, rail transit plan backed

May 12, 2011

DURHAM -- Local elected officials on a western Triangle planning board endorsed a $1.4 billion bus and rail transit plan Wednesday that - if local voters agreed - would be financed in part with a half-cent sales tax increae in Durham and Orange counties.

The county commissioners of both counties will be asked to approve the plan and to put the half-cent transit sales tax on the November referendum ballot.

In that same election, voters in both counties already are expected to consider separate proposals for a quarter-cent increase in the sales tax, mostly for education improvements.

Given a tough economy and a long list of competing needs, it wasn't clear whether the two county boards would agree to put the transit tax up for a vote this fall.

"We really do have some crushing needs that we must prioritize," said Michael Page, the Durham County commissioners' chairman. "And I'm not really sure if that's going to be the top priority. Right now it's really touch-and-go as to whether or not this will be able to move forward."

The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization's transit committee approved the plan for beefed-up bus service in and between the three municipalities, an electric-powered light-rail line from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus to East Durham, and the Durham County portion of a rush-hour commuter train line from West Durham to Garner.

Wake County commissioners and transportation planners also are considering proposals for the commuter trains and similar bus and light-rail improvements, but no decisions are expected this year. Wake voters won't be asked to consider a transit sales tax increase before May 2012.

The Durham-Orange plan calls for expanded bus service in the first few years while design and construction work begins for the proposed light-rail line, which could open in 2025. State and federal funds would be sought to help pay for the rail line.

"This will mean a huge increase in the public transit services we are able to provide," Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton said.

Durham City Council member Mike Woodard was hopeful about chances that county commissioners and voters will support the transit plan and a half-cent sales tax to help pay for it.

"The early polling numbers show that people do favor it," Woodard said.

Bernadette Pelissier, chairwoman of the Orange County commissioners, said she was "comfortable" with the transit plan and with urging commissioners to schedule the referendum. Chilton said he was "extremely optimistic" that Orange voters will approve the tax this fall.

Regional leaders say Durham and Orange can start work on bus and light-rail improvements without waiting for Wake County, but the two western counties will depend on each other for success.

"It's got to be together or not at all," said David King, general manager of Triangle Transit, a three-county agency that helped develop the bus and rail plan.

Originally published on 5/12/2011 in the News & Observer

BY JIM WISE AND BRUCE SICELOFF - Staff Writers

jwise@newsobserver.com or 919-932-2004