Now that Triangle Transit trustees and the Durham City Council have endorsed the basic idea, they want to hear what the public thinks about their plan to have Triangle Transit take over management, planning and marketing for Durham's transit service, DATA.

Two public information sessions are planned at DATA's Durham Station transit center, 515 W. Pettigrew Street: 2-6pm Tuesday, May 4, and 2-6pm Friday, May 14.

Hoping not to alarm DATA riders and drivers, officials have refused to mention any changes they might have in mind for the future, except for one: a plan to reshape routes on U.S. 15-501 between Chapel Hill and Durham, now shared by the two bus agencies and Chapel Hill Transit. Those changes were proposed to take effect in August, but they've been postponed for now.

There is general talk about improving efficiency, reducing overlaps and coordinating the work of DATA and Triangle Transit. But there is a promise that no changes would be made in the first year under Triangle Transit management, tentatively scheduled to start Oct. 1.

DATA riders and workers should be able to hold public officials to these terms, as spelled out today in a DATA news release: ... [MORE]

Three regional transit agencies proposed changes today to reduce duplication in their bus routes and provide more options for riders on the U.S. 15-501 corridor between Durham and Chapel Hill, and to launch direct bus service between the airport and downtown Raleigh.

The proposed changes, to take effect in August, include: ... [MORE]

President Obama’s Federal Transit Administration has reversed a strict cost-effectiveness standard, instituted under the Bush administration, that helped kill Triangle Transit’s light-rail plan in 2006.

Now, when the feds review competing funding proposals for big transit projects, they’ll give more weight to “livability” values. Measuring more than improved commuter travel times and the cost of providing this improvement, the FTA also will look for environmental, community and economic benefits.

"We're going to free our flagship transit capital program from long-standing requirements that have allowed us only to green-light projects that meet very narrow cost and performance criteria," Ray LaHood, Obama’s transportation secretary, told a Washington audience last week.

"Instead, as we evaluate major transit projects going forward, we'll consider all the factors that help communities reduce their carbon footprint, spur economic activity and relieve congestion."

He listed six criteria for federal New Starts transit project funding:

• Economic development
• Mobility improvements
• Environmental benefits
• Operating efficiencies
• Cost effectiveness
• Land use

Now with less restrictive federal standards, more cities should be able to qualify for federal funding. A new rail transit question is: Will there be enough federal money to go around? ... [MORE]

View Knightdale-Raleigh Express - AM only in a larger map

Triangle Transit will launch a rush-hour express bus Monday to connect Knightdale with WakeMed and downtown Raleigh.

The Knightdale-Raleigh Express will make three trips each way on weekdays between 6 and 9 a.m. and between 4 and 7 p.m.

The inbound morning run starts in Knightdale at Village Park Drive at Rex Healthcare, then stops nearby at the Duke Medical Plaza park-and-ride lot.

Stops in Raleigh include WakeMed, Wilmington Street at Edenton street downtown, and the Moore Square Transit Center, where riders can transfer to other Triangle Transit and Capital Area Transit buses.

Riders will travel for free for the first five weeks, through Feb. 5. The regular fare will be $2.50 one-way or $5 round-trip, with discount fares and passes available. Some Raleigh employers provide free or reduced-cost transit passes for workers.

It’s the third commuter express bus launched since 2008 to link Raleigh with outlying towns. The Wake Forest-Raleigh Express started in July 2008, followed in October by the Zebulon/Wendell-Raleigh Express.

The Wi-Fi is free for 60 days, but only on two buses.

Triangle Transit invites riders to bring their laptops and try out the free Internet service on selected routes, starting Monday. Details here.

It's on the Raleigh-Chapel Hill Express Routes 500 and 550, bus 2903, on certain morning runs and on the Raleigh-Durham Express Routes 600 and 650, also bus 2903, on certain afternoon runs.

And on RTP-NCSU-Raleigh Route 105, bus 2838, on certain morning and afternoon runs.

The deal involves Verizon Wireless and RCS Wireless Technology. Let me know how you like it.

View Zebulon/Wendell-Raleigh Express (ZWX) in a larger map x

The long-awaited rush-hour express bus between Raleigh and the eastern Wake towns of Wendell and Zebulon will start rolling Monday, Oct. 26.

Using Capital Area Transit buses, the Zebulon/Wendell-Raleigh Express primarily will serve commuters who work in downtown Raleigh and East Raleigh, running weekdays 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.

Morning buses leave a Zebulon park-and-ride lot at 5:55, 6:55 and 7:55 a.m., to arrive an hour later at Moore Square in downtown Raleigh.

Along the way they stop at a Wendell park-and-ride lot, in East Raleigh near WakeMed and Wake County Human Services, and at four state government complex stops. There are three afternoon buses making the reverse trip, leaving Moore Square at 4:10, 5:10 and 6:10 p.m.

The eastern Wake park-and-ride locations are ... [MORE]

Ray LaHood, the US transportation secretary, announced  approval today of more federal stimulus funds for transit improvements in the Triangle:

$4 million for Raleigh to help start building a bus operations and maintenance center for Capital Area Transit, and

$900,000 for Triangle Transit to buy a van and three 40-foot buses.

Raleigh and Triangle Transit were among the recipients of additional stimulus grants announced in July. 

Try Transit Week starts Monday, and local transit operators will do everything they can to lure passengers onto their buses.

Triangle Transit will have prize drawings all week in a Go Triangle Scavenger Hunt with prize clues distributed to GoTriangle followers on Twitter and Triangle Transit Facebook fans. Prizes include gift cards, mp3 players and Carolina Panthers tickets.

Durham Area Transit Authority, Triangle Transit, Capital Area Transit and Cary’s C-Tran are pitching in to pitch these offers:

Tuesday: Rack & Ride Day. Bike riders ride the bus, with their bikes on the rack, for free.

Wednesday: Stuff the Buses for the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina. Bring canned food to donate when you ride the bus.

Thursday: Ride for free, all buses, Triangle-wide.

Friday: Operations Appreciation Day. Say thanks to your bus driver and fill out comment cards.

Triangle Transit says it cut costs as it carried more than 1 million riders for the fiscal year that ended June 30, breaking that mark for the first time.

The rider count of 1.14 million was 19.4 percent higher than the previous year's, increasing even as gas prices declined during most of the year. While operating hours increased by 8 percent, operating costs fell 5 percent.

The use of discounted passes for government employees, students and other frequent riders now accounts for more than 60 percent of boardings, but the portion of costs covered by farebox revenues increased from 11 percent to 13 percent.

Why was that bright green Triangle Transit bus traveling east on Interstate 40 -- through the middle of Tennessee?

N&O reporter Mandy Locke did a doubletake when she spotted the familiar-looking bus in an unfamiliar place last weekend on her way to the Nashville airport.

Brad Schulz of Triangle Transit says Locke saw one of TT's new 40-foot buses en route to the Triangle from their manufacturer, Gillig, in Hayward, California.

That's how new buses are delivered: somebody drives them across the country. It's about 2,800 miles from the Gillig factory to the Triangle Transit garage.

TT bought 23 30-foot Gillig buses last year to replace some of its antique Thomas buses (made not so far away in High Point). The agency is taking delivery this month on 12 40-footers, at around $330,000 apiece, that will go into operation in the next few weeks.

Besides being 10 feet longer and holding more riders, the new 40-footers also will have cushier seats.

Riders had complained that the seats on the 30-footers were "kind of rough on the rump," Schulz said. "We'll make sure we have more padding on all the new ones."