How Will the DOLRT Affect You?
The proposal for the Durham-Orange Light Rail (DOLRT) was intended to improve transit connections with our neighbors at an affordable cost. This site examines what the light rail project will mean to you. Are the plan assumptions accurate? How does this plan impact county budgets, neighborhoods, traffic, environment, and safety? How will projected costs of this project impact funding for future public transportation options?
This website serves to educate the public just as critical funding decisions are made in 2019. Educate yourself and speak up before it’s too late! Your voice counts!
Quick Facts: What Everyone Should Know About the Light Rail Plan
- Commonly Asked Questions – Just the Facts
- Route — Where does it go, and how has the route changed since it was voted on?
- Latest Project Costs — What is this going to cost taxpayers?
- Neighborhoods – Over 50 neighborhoods will be impacted. Do you live in one of these areas?
- Traffic – Public transit is supposed to ease auto congestion. How does this plan measure up?
- Environment – What are the environmental impacts, including the development of tracks through protected wetlands?
- Better Transportation – What is left in the budget for BRT or increased number of bus hours and routes?
- Safety – At-grade crossings are notoriously dangerous. How many are included in the DOLRT plan?
- Noise Pollution — How loud will the trains be, including horns and signal light warnings?
- Quick Overview of Winners and Losers— Who benefits and who loses?
- Economic Development — Will the DOLRT benefit the economy of Durham and Chapel Hill?
- The Future of Light Rail — As Uber and Lyft and other car services take the center stage as popular and convenient public transportation options, will Light Rail even be relevant to potential riders in 5 years?
- The Latest from GoTriangle — Want to stay informed? Click here to learn about new developments and plans from GoTriangle.
- Does GoTriangle’s Financial Plan rest on sound assumptions?
You can help by signing the petition asking the Orange County commissioners to finally cap the local cost.
This reads like a hit piece of light rail for someone that doesn’t actually commute in Chapel Hill and Durham. Fact is unless you work for the University you are commuting to RTP, Durham or further. Personally I live on the south side of Chapel Hill and could take advantage of this train immediately on its completion to get to work. The train also obviously follows the route from Meadowmont to the University and Hospital parking decks, allowing Chapel Hill to re-purpose those buses to the 15-501 route. Honestly 1 rail line is not going to fix all problems, this should be the first rail line of possibly many. The Uber/Lyft comment is ridiculous in my opinion. I can’t put car seats in an Uber and Lyft, it shows how out of touch the person that wrote this page was. Uber and Lyft can’t scale at rush hour when everyone has to go to work, otherwise car pools would already work and acomplish this goal.
Thanks for your comment, Sean! I am wondering where you are commuting to? If you are going to RTP from Southern Chapel Hill, the train won’t help. If you work at Duke the rail might be pleasant if you are willing to drive to Friday Center, park and ride the train for 55 minutes. That could be over an hour commute — a few might do that. What most don’t realize is that even if the DOLRT does get financing, the costs of the local share has grown so much it is removing local bus routes from both Chapel Hill Transit and GoDurham transit. There will be no more opportunities for borrowing for new transit because this project ties up big time debt til 2062. The Bus Rapid Transit up 86 is a great project and much more affordable. It still has a funding gap of $6-10 million. We could do multiple BRT systems for the price of one DOLRT. If we want that to happen then that will mean more local taxes. The author of this post commuted for 20 years on I-40 to RTP via a EPA subsidized TTA van pool and believes in public transit, but not this project!