Light-rail lovers may be disappointed, but fiscal realists seem more likely to approve of a simple decision by Wake County Manager David Cooke to separate the region's ambitious bus-and-train plan into two packages: "core transit" and "extended transit" (see today's Road Worrier column, with reader discussion).

Wake commissioners had a good chat about this at a meeting in Raleigh Monday. Tonight in Chapel Hill, the Orange County commissioners will follow suit. Both counties are considering whether to hold a half-cent sales tax referendum in November 2012, like the one approved by Durham voters last week.

Wake can afford to promise voters that a proposed half-cent sales tax would make possible a big "core transit" package, Cooke said. Bus service would nearly double in five years, and Wake and Durham could get new rush-hour commuter trains rolling within eight years.

Light rail? Not so much. ... [MORE]

The latest proposal for a light-rail route through downtown Raleigh would veer into the central business district with service for commuters in the state government complex.

But it wouldn't go south of Morgan Street or east of Wilmington Street. Transit planners say each of the routes still in consideration is a combination of benefits and shortcomings (see today's Road Worrier column with reader comments).

The Raleigh City Council plans a 90-minute workshop session Aug. 1 at 5:30 p.m. with its Passenger Rail Task Force, which recommended the new route known (sorry!) as the D6A Hybrid.  Then at 7 p.m., a public hearing to receive citizen comments.

The city announcement says only the D6A-Hybrid route will be discussed at the Aug. 1 workshop and hearing.  But Eric Lamb, the city transportation planning director, who favors a different route, says all options will be on the Aug. 1 agenda.

Read more about transit route options at ourtransitfuture.com.

A 25-year plan to beef up bus service and launch rail transit service for Durham County won approval by two regional boards today, clearing the way for a key vote expected next Monday.

The Durham County commissioners are expected to decide Monday whether to schedule a referendum in October on a proposed half-cent increase in the local sales tax. It would generate an estimated $17.3 million a year to pay most of the local share of capital costs for proposed new buses, a light rail line from Chapel Hill to Durham, and a commuter train service from Durham through Research Triangle Park to Cary, Raleigh and Garner. (See June 13 story with details, map and reader comments.) ... [MORE]

Commuter trains and light-rail trains eventually -- and lots more buses right away. That's the heart of newly detailed 25-year plans for building up public transportation across the Triangle. (See today's story with reader comments.)

You can learn more and express your opinion at public information sessions planned in Orange and Durham counties this week, and a public hearing in Durham tonight.

Wake County's plan is running a few months behind, but it will share the emphasis laid out in the new Orange and Durham transit finance plans: If voters approve a half-cent transit sales tax, they will see a quick increase in service with more frequent buses, new bus routes to outlying towns, more service to major job centers, longer bus hours on evenings and weekends, and nicer bus stop amenities. ... [MORE]

Five public information sessions are planned over the next two weeks to outline new financial plans for proposed bus, light rail and commuter rail transit improvements in Orange and Durham counties.

The Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization will sponsor the meetings to discuss project plans and outline proposals to pay for them with a combination of state and federal funds and revenues from  a proposed half-cent local sales tax.

The meetings will be held:

- June 7, 4-6:30 p.m., Southwest Library, 3605 Shannon Road, Durham.
- June 8, 4-7 p.m., Holton Career and Resource Center Senior Room, 401 N. Driver St., Durham.
- June 14, 4-7 p.m., Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill.
- June 15, 3-6 p.m., North Regional Library, 221 Milton Road, Durham.
- June 16, 4-7 p.m., Orange County Library, 137 W. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough.

If county commissioners agree, voters in both counties will be asked to approve the transit sales tax in a referendum this fall or next year.

The draft plans and more details will be posted online.
 

The developer behind Raleigh's North Hills wants to install a transit system within the development that would shuttle people around in elevated, battery-powered vehicles.

Kane Realty announced Tuesday that it is partnering with ULTra PRT on a feasibility study to see if the company's transit system could be used in North Hills.

PRT, or Personal Rapid Transit, uses 4-person vehicles on elevated tracks to transport people short distances. Users would be able to take the cars, on demand, to the station of
their choice within North Hills.

The system would address an issue that North Hills is likely to face as it continues to expand: How to conveniently and efficiently get people across Six Forks Road and to areas east where Kane hopes to expand in the future.
 

Senate Republican leaders said today they want to spend much more money on bridge repair and highway maintenance -- and to slash state spending for transit and turnpike projects.

But, while both the House and Senate budgets would reduce other taxes in several areas, Senate leaders said they had not decided whether to take action to prevent a sharp increase in the state gas tax scheduled to take effect in July.

The Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee today received, but was not allowed to vote on, a proposed two-year transportation budget (see documents attached to this post) that would make some big changes in budget proposals offered by Gov. Bev Perdue and the House of Representatives.

The Senate would:

• Kill the $660 million Mid-Currituck Bridge toll project for the Currituck Outer Banks and the $870 million Garden Parkway in Gaston and Mecklenburg counties. [Update: See 5/25/11 story.]... [MORE]

Jim Westmoreland, a former Greensboro transportation director who became NCDOT's deputy secretary for transit in 2009, is leaving government work for a private sector job.

Jim Trogdon, NCDOT's chief operating officer, temporariy will manage the department's ferry, public transportation, rail, aviation and bicyle and pedestrian branches until Westmoreland's successor is named.

“I think I speak for the entire department when I say that we are sad to see Jim go, but we wish him the best,” Transportation Secretary Gene Conti said. “His passion for transit is undeniable and he will truly be missed.”

Westmoreland held engineering jobs with NCDOT from 1991 to 1996 before serving for 13 years as Greensboro's transportation director. He was not immediately available for comment.

Most Triangle voters are still willing to pay a half-penny sales tax for better bus and rail transit service – but support for the transit tax in Wake County has weakened – according the third yearly poll commissioned by a pro-transit business lobby.

The yes vote was 57 percent for Wake, Durham and Orange counties combined. That’s down from 58 percent in 2010 but still higher than the 53 percent yes vote in 2009.

It probably didn’t hurt, from the standpoint of transit boosters, that gas prices were soaring above $3.50 a gallon as Ohio-based Fallon Research quizzed 904 registered voters between March 6 and March 9.

When the specter of even higher pump prices was raised, 23 percent of poll respondents said $4 gas would make them more likely to favor a transit tax. And 31 percent said the same for – eek! – $5 gas.

The poll was commissioned by the Regional Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit Triangle business group, which lobbies for transit and other transportation improvements. ... [MORE]

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]