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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 05-24-22; 12-3 - Information Item - Memorandum - Draft FY23 Orange Transit Work Program 1 ORANGE COU f T NORTH CAROLINA MEMORANDUM TO: Board of County Commissioners Bonnie Hammersley, Orange County Manager Travis Myren, Orange County Deputy Manager FROM: Tom Ten Eyck, Transportation/Land Use Planner CC: Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning Supervisor Nishith Trivedi, Interim Director, Orange County Transportation Services DATE: May 17, 2022 SUBJECT: Draft FY23 Orange Transit Work Program ATTACHMENT(S): DCHC MPO Staff Working Group Administrator Memo; Public Comment Sheet as of 5/17/22 BACKGROUND: Each year, the Staff Working Group (SWG) reviews projects included in the Orange County Transit Plan and recommends a specific, annual Work Plan to implement those projects. Like the Capital Investment Plan (CIP), the Orange County Transit Plan serves as the long-range framework for transit investments while the annual Work Plan identifies the specific projects and funding amounts budgeted for those projects in the upcoming fiscal year. The SWG is composed of staff from each of the three parties to the Interlocal Implementation Agreement (ILA)—Orange County, GoTriangle, and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO)—who work with transit providers, municipalities, and counties to incorporate the region's transit needs. The FY23 Orange County Work Program was released by DCHC MPO for a 21-day public comment on April 19, 2022; the public comment period formally ended on May 10, 2022, though the website is still taking comments as of May 17, 2022. Please see the memo (Attachment 1) from the SWG Administrator, Aaron Cain, which provides an overview of the process for FY23. Attachment 2 provides a page of public comments that were received between April 19, 2022 and May 17, 2022. With the formal conclusion of the public comment period, subsequent Work Plan adjustments are underway, and the SWG will soon make a recommendation to the GoTriangle Board of Trustees, which administers the Transit Tax District Funds and adopts the Work Plan as a part of the GoTriangle Annual Budget. While this is the process for the FY23 Work Plan, it is anticipated that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)will become more involved in the Work Plan approval process as a function of the revised ILA. This determination will be finalized in the updated Governance Study. Please communicate any feedback or questions to Tom Ten Eyck, Transportation/Land Use Planner (tteneyck(o)_orangecountync.gov) by close of business on Monday, May 23, 2022. Comments may also be recorded directly on the 2022 Orange County Go Forward website. Attachment 1 DURHAM CHAPEL HILL C2RR60P0 DURHAM • CHAPEL HILL • CARRBORO I METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION DCHCI METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION 101 City Hall Plaza•Durham,NC 27701•Phone(919)560-4366•dchcmpo.org PLANNING TOMORROWS TRANSPORTATION May 4, 2022 To: Orange County Board of Commissioners From: Aaron Cain, Staff Working Group Administrator, Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO Re: Draft FY23 Orange Transit Work Program Summary. As part of the appropriations process for the Orange Transit Plan, an annual Work Program is developed which produces a budget and selects projects for funding for the upcoming year. The FY23 Orange Work Program was released for public comment on April 19, 2022; public comment will be taken until May 10, 2022. The comments received as of May 3, 2022 are attached. Per the Interlocal Implementation Agreement (ILA), only the GoTriangle Board of Trustees approves the annual work programs. Prior to a final review by the Orange Staff Working Group (SWG), governing boards are given an opportunity to provide comment on the work programs. MPO staff welcomes comments from the Orange County Board of Commissioners until May 25, 2022. Background. Each year, the SWG develops an annual Work Program that includes a selection of projects to be funded for the next fiscal year, a budget for those projects, and a description of each project. The SWG is made up of staff from each of the three parties to the ILA: Orange County, GoTriangle, and the DCHC MPO. The SWG works with all of the transit providers, municipalities, and counties to incorporate the region's transit needs while remaining within budget constraints in the drafting of the Work Program. On April 14, 2022, the Orange SWG authorized the release of the draft FY23 Work Program for public comment. The documents were released to the public on April 19, 2022, and were available for public comment through May 10, 2022, in accordance with the DCHC MPO Public Involvement Plan (PIP). The draft Work Program is attached for your review. The SWG will address the comments received from the public and boards and adjust the FY23 Work Program accordingly. The SWG will then forward a recommended work programs to the GoTriangle Board of Trustees for approval. The ILA states that the work program is approved by the GoTriangle Board of Trustees as part of the adoption of their FY23 budget. Recommended Action. Provide input on the FY23 work programs by May 25, 2022. Contact. Aaron Cain, Planning Manager, DCHC MPO, 919-560-4366 x36443, aaron.cain(o)_durhamnc.gov Attachments. Work Program Public Comments dated May 17, 2022 MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS:Chatham County,City of Durham,Durham County,GoTriangle, NC Department of Transportation,Orange County,Town of Carrboro,Town of Chapel Hill,Town of Hillsborough Attachment 2 3 FY23 Orange Annual Transit Work Program Public Comments as of 5/17/22 There is no choice of 0 on number of cars available the household. Do better!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Busses are great but safer bike lanes with barriers should be a top priority for our"Bicycle Friendly" town. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These improvements are all good and needed. Rural Orange county needs more services, especially to the senior center, shopping and medical appointments ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A monorail system throughout the triangle is a must! Like what Houston has.The counties and state keep building condos,townhouses, chatham park etc. and you don't have the roadways to accommodate. Alleviation of roadway congestion should be on the top of the list! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There should be a category for number of bikes used for transportation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We want to see high-speed commuter rail and dedicated bus lanes! We need buses that don't get delayed due to car traffic. Very excited to see the North-South Bus Rapid Transit project in Chapel Hill. More projects like this will make it possible to live car-free! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very excited to see increased frequency of some of the key bus routes in town. A wonderful next step would be improving connectivity of routes, and updates to the bus shelters- many of the bus stops in Chapel Hill are not accessible for people with disabilities or other mobility...See More ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plan looks reasonable. I like that frequency is increasing on some routes, making public transit more practical. I think there is unmet need in the more rural areas to help people age in place. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very pleased with what I see. Would love to see a rail component. No complaints.Just make sure you have enough people in place. Don't over promise. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am excited about the Plan.The resources requested to move things forward look reasonable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRT and intercity connection routes are essential to making transit a more viable transportation option for more people. I'd love to see plans for how Chapel Hill/Carrboro can leverage connectivity with the upcoming Hillsborough Amtrak station -- I've long felt our area is inconveniently cut-off from the cross-state rail route. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A bicycle friendly path from the northern transition area into downtown carborro should be a high priority. Right now we're fairly disconnected unless you have a car ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I see that a regional transit center for buses is being built in Durham, and a train station is being built in Hillsborough. It seems like there are no plans to add any kind of regional transit center in Chapel Hill that could be a nexus for buses etc. that go to other places in the Triangle. As it stands, buses such as the CRX stop at seemingly random places, and it is not easy to connect to those stops. Please PLEASE start planning some kind of regional bus transit center in Chapel Hill, either at 140 with corresponding bus connections to other parts of town, or more preferably downtown. It feels like the rest of the Triangle is growing up and Chapel Hill is being passed by. Also, there is not good way to get from North Chapel Hill to East Chapel Hill, or to Carrboro.As it stands, I would need to take a bus down MLK to downtown, and connect to another bus going where I want. We can only afford one car, so this is a real problem for us; only one member of the household can commute on any given day without having to spend far too long on the bus. One of us works near the Wegmans, and we have calculated that it takes an hour to get from MLK 4 over there, so we just don't wind up taking the bus. We really want to not have a car, but we need one just to survive in this town. Chapel Hill has stated that they want BRT going up and down MLK, but this NEEDS to come with an accompanying East-West route that is not only along Franklin street, otherwise we will still be driving everywhere. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a need to decrease car dependency further and allow for safer use of alternatives. Better protection/separation of bike lanes could have a significant impact on these moving forward. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The plan for busses and rail are great. I would love to see road dieting in favor of protected bike lanes along high traffic areas (Franklin St, MLK, 15-501, and Raleigh Rd). Pedestrianization of the main Franklin St block would discourage downtown gridlock and allow for a safer experience downtown.These changes would help for the future integration with the Triangle Bikeway Project and encourage/allow alternatives to transportation by car. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was a time years decades ago when rural Orange had bus service. Now you see people without cars walking or riding scooters miles into town. Reliable and accessible public transit for rural residents would decrease parking and traffic pressures on downtown areas and make the trip possible and safe for those who cannot drive. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I live in the corporate limits of Carrboro. We had regular CH Transit bus service on a daily basis before the pandemic hit. We now have only a couple of runs a day to our area of town (Old Hillsborough/McDougle school area). I would like to know when or if we are ever going to get regular bus service back in our area. We are paying a transportation tax subsidy but getting nothing in return.