Officials in Durham and Orange Counties have offered their support for a regional transit plan that will encompass bus improvements and the eventual light rail and commuter rail projects. This is an exciting time for Durham and Orange, with a potential referendum on a half-cent sales tax to fund a portion of the project possibly set for this Fall, 2011.
DURHAM — Officials of Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro unanimously endorsed this morning a plan for transit improvements and a fall referendum on a sales tax to help pay for it.
“This will mean a huge increase in the public transit services we are able to provide,” said Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton. “A huge new reach deep into our county.”
The plan calls for additional bus service in and between the three cities along with a light-rail line between UNC Hospitals and East Durham.
It also includes the Durham County portion of a passenger rail line between West Durham and the Greenfield area of Garner. That line’s construction would be dependent on Wake County participation in the regional system, said Triangle Transit Authority spokesman Brad Schulz.
– Durham-Orange transit group backs $1.4 billion improvement plan, Jim Wise, News and Observer
Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/05/11/1190912/durham-orange-transit-group-backs.html#ixzz1MB0fChqP