The Wake County commissioners have given up on the prospect of a referendum this year on a half-cent sales tax to pay for beefed-up bus and rail transit service.

Orange and Durham leaders say they still might consider holding their votes in November. But it will be May 2012, at the earliest, before Wake voters are asked to consider a transit tax hike.

Transportation planners in Wake are running out of time to map detailed bus routes and train plans that would need several levels of approval – by county commissioners and 12 town boards – before voters could be asked to pay for them.

And David Cooke, the Wake County manager, said voters might not want to consider a new transit tax when state and local governments are preparing to slash spending.

“In the public’s mind, it’s a tough sell on why – if you’re in a position to cut service or lay off employees – to have a conversation about adding a new revenue stream so you can do something new,” Cooke said. ... [MORE]

The buses are running today on slippery Triangle streets, but local transit operators say riders should expect lots of delays and detours (details below).

Check gotriangle.org online for updates on local transit service, and for links to real-time bus locator maps for CAT (www.RaleighRides.org), Chapel Hill Transit and NCSU's Wolfline. Or call 919-485-7433.

Raleigh's CAT says it is operating all routes, but its drivers are unable to reach ... [MORE]

Redefine Travel and N.C. State Wolftrails have taken a creative approach to celebrate World Car-Free Week in a rather unusual location — just look for the Triangle Transit bus in the N.C. State Brickyard on Wednesday.

Tomorrow is not only the first day of fall - it's World Car Free Day as well.

The public comment period closed Friday for NCDOT's draft environmental impact statement on the Raleigh-to-Richmond leg of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor.

Below are links to the comment filed, along with two illustrations, by Triangle Transit.

Here are links to the full comments from Raleigh, Norfolk Southern, and the town of Wake Forest.

Documents:

Triangle residents are invited to community meetings Sept. 14-23 to learn about and give their evaluation of 16 bus and rail transit corridors proposed for future development in Wake, Durham and Orange counties.

Triangle Transit will host the meetings, which run 4-7p.m. with formal presentations at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 14: Raleigh. Chavis Community Center, 505 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. ... [MORE]

Triangle Transit, which buses commuters between towns and cities in three counties, will expand its reach in October to take charge of Durham’s urban bus system.

A three-year contract approved Wednesday by Triangle Transit trustees and Monday by the city council will make the agency responsible for planning, marketing and management of DATA, the Durham Area Transit Authority.

DATA will still be the city’s bus service, with the Durham City Council paying its bills and retaining ownership of buses and bus stops. Triangle Transit will propose annual budgets and recommend improvements in bus service, but the city council will make the decisions. ... [MORE]

One thing Triangle Transit had to give up in 2006, when it was forced to shelve a three-county rail transit plan, was a $19.6 million federal grant that had been earmarked for the project in a congressional appropriations bill.

It is the largest of $120 million in so-called “disappearmarks” listed today in a report from the Washington-based Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan open-government advocacy group.

David King, Triangle Transit’s general manager, says the local agency could have made good use of that money now, as it develops a new regional transit plan that will be discussed in a series of public meetings that start next week. ...

Triangle Transit will hold six public meetings to brief Triangle residents on plans for long-term bus and rail transit improvements across the region, and to gather public comments.

The meetings are scheduled for 5:30 to 8 p.m. in:

- Raleigh, June 28, at the Raleigh Convention Center
- Durham, June 30, in the Durham Public Library auditorium
- Cary, July 6, in the town hall atrium
- Chapel Hill, July 7, in the town hall
- Knightdale, July 14, in the town hall
- Apex, July 15, in the Halle Center for the Cultural Arts

The meetings are part of an analysis of transit alternatives required by the Federal Transit Administration.

View RTC - Moore Square via RDU Airport in a larger map

Triangle Transit will start direct bus service from downtown Raleigh to Raleigh-Durham International Airport in August.

The RDU bus service will be offered Monday through Saturday (day corrected 5/28/10) from Moore Square and N.C. State University to RDU, then continue to the regional transit center on Slater Road near Research Triangle Park. The buses will run every 30 minutes during the day, and hourly in the evening and on Saturday.

The Raleigh-RDU service was approved Wednesday by Triangle Transit trustees along with other schedule and route changes that will take effect Aug. 16. The three-county agency is simplifying its schedule with a plan to replace several routes based in Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh with fewer routes. ... [MORE]