Triangle Transit Authority

The Research Triangle Regional Public Transportation Authority which is known by the name Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) provides regional bus service to The Triangle region of North Carolina in the counties of Wake, Durham and Orange.

History

The 1989 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly enabled the creation of the Research Triangle Regional Public Transportation Authority (Triangle Transit Authority) as a regional public transportation authority serving Durham, Orange and Wake counties. The new unit of local government was chartered by the North Carolina Secretary of State on December 1 1989.

In 1991, the General Assembly, subject to County approvals, authorized the TTA to levy a vehicle registration tax of up to $5 per registration. This tag tax finances the regional bus operations, ridesharing program and planning program.

In 1997, the General Assembly, subject to County approvals, authorized the TTA to levy a rental vehicle tax of up to 5% of gross receipts. This tax, effective January 1, 1998, will finance the Regional Rail Transit System, scheduled to begin operation in 2008.

The TTA was created to plan, finance, organize, and operate a public transportation system for the Research Triangle area. It has three main program areas:

Regional Bus Service
Rideshare Service
Regional Transit Planning

TTA is governed by a 13 member Board of Trustees. Ten members are appointed by the region's principal municipalities and counties and three members are appointed by the North Carolina Secretary of Transportation.

Bus service

Triangle Transit Authority runs regular fixed-route bus service between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, interfacing with their municipal bus systems. TTA's main transfer center is located in the Research Triangle Park, where TTA runs several shuttle routes throughout the day. During morning and evening rush hour, TTA runs routes serving Apex, Cary, and Garner. TTA restored service to Hillsborough at the beginning of 2006, in cooperation with Orange County Transportation, after discontinuing previous Hillsborough service in 2002.

Regional rail

TTA plans to begin construction on a $800 million, 25-mile regional rail line in early 2006. The first phase of the rail line will operate with diesel multiple unit vehicles, and will extend from downtown Durham through the Research Triangle Park, Cary, through downtown Raleigh and end in north Raleigh. Twelve stops are scheduled to open in late 2009, while the remaining four will begin operation in 2011 or later, due to budgetary constraints.

Planned stops on the Phase I of the rail system are:

Duke Medical Center - Duke University, West Campus (to open 2011 or later)
Ninth Street - Duke University, East Campus
Downtown Durham
Alston Avenue - North Carolina Central University
Research Triangle Park, North - IBM campus
Research Triangle Park, South - Triangle Metro Center, connection to Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Northwest Cary - Morrisville
Downtown Cary
West Raleigh
State Fairgrounds - Carter-Finley Stadium, RBC Center
North Carolina State University, Main Campus - eventual rail connection to NCSU's Centennial Campus
Downtown Raleigh
State Government Center
Highwoods (to open 2011 or later)
New Hope Church Road (to open 2011 or later)
Spring Forest (to open 2011 or later)

Phase II is expected to include fixed-guideway extensions to Raleigh-Durham International Airport and to Chapel Hill.

Long term extensions of the rail system may include Hillsborough, northern Durham County, southern Wake County (including Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Garner), Wake Forest, and eastern Wake County (including Knightdale, Wendell, and Zebulon).

Funding

The regional rail line was allocated $20 million from the federal government in the 2005 budget proposed by President Bush.

Metropolitan Raleigh-Durham Transit Systems

Capital Area Transit (Raleigh)

1881-1894 - Raleigh Street Railway
1894-1908 - Raleigh Electric Co.
1908-1921 - Carolina Power & Light Co.
1921-1925 - Carolina Power & Light Co. (Electric Bond & Shares Co.)
1925-1946 - Carolina Power & Light Co. (National Power & Light Co.)
1930s - streetcars discontinued
1946-1950 - Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L).
1950-1958 - White Transportation Co.
After 1958 - Raleigh City Coach Lines (City Coach Lines, Inc.)

Chapel Hill Transit

Chapel Hill Transit operates public transportation services within the cities of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in area of the southeast corner of Orange County, North Carolina. Chapel Hill and Carrboro are contiguous municipalities. Chapel Hill Transit began operations in August, 1974. The total ridership, including fixed route, EZ Rider and Shared Ride Feeder service, for fiscal year ending June 30, 2004 was 5,092,656.

Durham Area Transit Authority

The City of Durham assumed the operation of the local Duke Power bus system in 1991, naming it Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA).

1891-1902 - Durham Street Railway Co.
1902-1913 - Durham Traction Co.
1913-1921 - Durham Traction Co. (Cities Service Co.)
1921-1943 - Durham Public Service Co. (Cities Service Co.)
1930 - streetcars discontinued
After 1943 - Duke Power Company

External links

Transportation in Raleigh, North Carolina | U.S. regional rail systems | The Triangle, North Carolina

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