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DURHAM -- Wading into transit planning for the first time since the General Assembly gave them a key role in the field, County Commissioners said Monday that they're interested in seeing plans that would quickly yield benefits for commuters.
Twin prods on that point came from commissioners Joe Bowser and Ellen Reckhow, who said there are things Triangle Transit can do that would help in the short term and build a regional system in the long run.
After listening to officials talk about transit for two decades, "our citizens are chomping at the bit and would like to see us have service on line sooner rather than later," Reckhow said.
She and Bowser agreed that among other things, officials should look at whether Triangle Transit and the N.C. Railroad Co. can work together to provide commuter-rail service to bedroom communities in places like Johnston County.
Had planners focused on the idea early on, such a service could very well be "running right now," Bowser said.
Reckhow added that Triangle Transit should use the data available from travel-habit surveys of employees at major companies to see what kind of demand there might be for service in outlying areas.
A group of UNC planning students "looking [at the agency's behest for] low-hanging fruit for expanding bus service" used the survey data recently to identify just such an opportunity in Wake County, she said.
The commissioners' comments followed a briefing from city Transportation Manager Mark Ahrendsen.
The board's chairman, Michael Page, said earlier this summer he wanted the board to begin getting up to speed about transit issues in response to the General Assembly passage of major finance legislation.
The bill allows counties to levy a voter-approved sales-tax surcharge of a half-cent on every dollar's worth of goods, save for food, to fund transit programs.
Legislators assigned county commissions in Durham, Wake and Orange the job of deciding the timing of the referendum, and said they have to approve plans for using the money.
Transit planning to date has been shaped more by city governments, two inter-governmental planning groups and a citizen panel that last year recommended a major expansion of bus service along with the establishment of rail links between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
Monday's discussion didn't focus much on the timing issues surrounding a referendum. Transit advocates had assumed the tax surcharge would be put to a vote next year, but now worry the political and economic climate will dictate a delay.
Officials for now have to focus on drafting plans commissioners in Durham and the other two counties can get "excited about," Triangle Transit General Manager David King said.
As for when the political and economic situation will be most favorable, "we'll know it when we see it," he said.
