CHOICES

What are the Choices the Orange County Commissioners Face on April 27?

#1. Commissioners could vote ‘no’ to the Gotriangle Financing Plan. The Commissioners could find the costs and risks of the light rail portion of the transit plan unacceptable, and decide to research less expensive transit options for Orange County.  Technically, one option could enable Durham to build light rail and allow Orange County to pursue options that better serve our growth centers, downtowns and communities. More frequent bus service, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and demand/ridersharing services would go a long way to provide public transportation for Orange County’s citizens.

#2.  Commissioners could delay decision.  A decision to delay the project has the benefit of protecting funds for Orange County citizens. Rather than spend millions on light rail engineering, commissioners could hit “pause” and wait to see if federal funds will be available for the project in another year. A delay allows the county to shore up its finances, make more realistic assumptions, and to research alternatives to the current plan.

Watch this video below to imagine how bus rapid transit would help move people in our community. Several BRT systems could become the transit spine for the county that would be supported by a bus feeder system throughout the county.  Chapel Hill has proactively planned for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on the MLK corridor between Eubanks Rd near I-40 and Southern Village.

#3. Commissioners could vote ‘yes’ for the Orange County Transit and the GoTriangle Financing plans. If the Commissioners decide to support the plans as proposed, they will commit us to millions of dollars of engineering and future interest payments even before the Federal Transportation Administration decides whether or not to fund the project.

State fund commitments for light rail have already been drastically cut and federal budget guidance calls for reducing federal funds.  If the federal funds don’t come through, then the county loses millions of dollars.  If the federal funds do come through, then the Counties will move forward with GoTriangle’s plan to spend $3.3 billion on transit, including $935 million in long-term loans, putting Orange County’s finances at risk.  We will be stuck with millions in loan payments until 2062!  And still we will not have TRANSIT WHERE WE NEED IT. 

Why not spend our transit dollars on transit that will relieve our congested corridors, along with expanded bus service county wide?


Key Pages from Davenport Analysis

 

Top