New park-and-ride lots, bus stations planned for Raleigh in $114 million transit plan
New buses and shelters, more park-and-ride lots and new bus transfer stations in North Hills and East Raleigh are among the projects that Wake County’s transit agencies want to tackle in the coming year.
GoRaleigh, GoTriangle and GoCary propose to spend $114.2 million to improve bus service in the fiscal year that begins July 1. They’re asking for the public’s feedback on their ideas at goforwardnc.org/wake/get-involved/ by Feb. 29.
More than half of that money, about $67 million, would go toward design, land and vehicle acquisition and construction of Raleigh’s first bus rapid transit, or BRT, line along New Bern Avenue. BRT allows buses to move in their own reserved lanes, stopping at stations with covered, elevated platforms where passengers buy their tickets before boarding.
The New Bern Avenue line, the first of four planned BRT routes radiating from downtown, would extend east to New Hope Road and is scheduled to begin operating in 2023. BRT, as well as improvements to other bus service and a planned commuter rail line from Garner to Durham, are part of the Wake Transit Plan that voters endorsed when they approved a half-cent sales tax for transit in 2016.
The Wake transit tax is expected to generate $99.3 million in the coming year; most of the rest of the planned $114.2 million will come from rental car taxes and fees, according to GoTriangle.
Much of the rest of the proposed transit spending next year would go to improve existing bus service. It includes:
▪ $9.5 million to replace 15 diesel GoRaleigh buses with five electric ones and 10 that run on compressed natural gas.
▪ $3.2 million to build a transfer station on New Bern Avenue, near New Hope Road and the end of the planned BRT line. The station would have a park-and-ride lot with up to 100 parking spaces, depending on the site.
▪ $2.5 million to buy land and design a Midtown transfer station near the North Hills development and the Beltline. The transit center will allow riders to access east-west routes without having to go downtown.
▪ $2.4 million to build two 100-space park-and-ride lots for GoTriangle riders. One would be in West Raleigh for routes that serve downtown, N.C. State University, Raleigh-Durham International Airport and the western Triangle. The other would be in North Raleigh for commuters that use the North Raleigh Express to get to and from Research Triangle Park.
▪ $2.1 million by all three transit agencies to improve existing bus stops.
▪ $17.6 million to build an operations and maintenance center for GoCary buses on Towerview Court, off James Jackson Avenue.
The transit agencies also plan to increase the frequency of some existing bus routes in the coming year, to make them more convenient and try to attract more riders. They include the GoRaleigh 6 between downtown, Crabtree Valley Mall and Pleasant Valley, and the GoRaleigh 21 to Caraleigh. GoTriangle’s Route 305, between downtown Raleigh and Lake Pine Plaza in Apex, would begin operating all day, rather than only during peak commuting times.
In a written statement, Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert said the town would welcome the improved bus service.
The investment in GoTriangle Route 305 will provide a practical transit option for workers of all professions and schedules to travel between Apex and Raleigh and help to connect western Wake County to the region,” Gilbert said. “We are eager to see the opportunities this investment will create.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 3:05 PM with the headline "New park-and-ride lots, bus stations planned for Raleigh in $114 million transit plan."
