Project Updates
Orange County Transit Plan: Project Update (4-6-2022)
The Orange County Transit Plan Update is entering the final stages of development! Following an extremely successful second phase of community outreach and engagement, the consulting team and Orange County staff are ready to finalize and document the projects, concepts, and implementation plan that together represent the Transit Plan Update. The project’s remaining milestones include:
Project update presentations to:
- Orange County Board of County Commissioners (4/26/22)
- GoTriangle Board of Trustees (4/27/22)
- Chapel Hill Town Council (5/4/22)
- Hillsborough Town Commission (5/9/22)
- Carrboro Town Board (5/10/22)
Final Policy Steering Committee Meeting on May 20, 2022 at 8 AM to review and discuss the draft Transit Plan Update documentation
The Orange County Transit Plan Update Final Documentation will be submitted to Orange County staff by 6/30/22.
Orange County Staff will take the Orange County Transit Plan Update to the Board of County Commissioners, Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO Board, and GoTriangle Board of Trustees in the fall of 2022 for review, public comment, approval, and adoption.
Orange County Transit Plan: Project Update (2-16-2022)
The Orange County Transit Plan team hosted two virtual focus groups on 2-8-22 and 2-16-22 to gather feedback on an initial set of proposed projects for Orange County’s Transit Plan Update. Recordings of each session can be viewed below.
Orange County Transit Plan: Project Update (2-4-2022)
On January 14, 2022, the project consulting team presented a set of proposed projects to the Policy Steering Committee (PSC) to bring to the public for review and feedback. These projects have been discussed and reviewed with the Orange County Transit Team, transit service providers, and key stakeholders including UNC. Throughout the month of February, the project team will be conducting outreach and engagement to gather feedback from residents and commuters on the proposed projects and a conceptual transit vision for the county. Engagement opportunities include two virtual stakeholder focus groups, an online survey, and pop-up, in-person surveys at key locations near transit service. The gathered feedback will be used to refine the recommended projects that will be included in the draft transit plan update, anticipated to be complete in late March. We look forward to your comments on the proposed projects!
Orange County Transit Plan: Project Update (11-08-2021)
On November 5, 2021, the project consulting team facilitated a work session with Orange County and Orange County Public Transportation (OCPT) staff. The goals of this two-hour session were to:
- Review aggregated feedback on conceptual transit scenarios from service providers and stakeholders
- Discuss key findings (points of consensus, elements requiring discussion)
- Review and discuss:
- Projects and priorities to advance to the draft recommended network and plan
- Aspirations and unfunded priorities to reflect on the conceptual transit vision map
- Values-based measures of effectiveness to assess the draft transit network.
To provide ample time for service providers and key stakeholders to review draft plan elements, and to avoid the difficulty of scheduling meetings during the holidays, the next PSC work session will be held in early January 2022 and the next phase of public engagement will launch in February 2022. To learn more, the following resources are available for review:
Work Session Agenda and Summary Notes
Work Session Presentation Materials
Orange County Transit Plan: Project Update (10-2021)
In response to feedback received during the Orange County Transit Plan Update Policy Steering Committee (PSC) Retreat held on July 24, 2021, and subsequent staff discussions, modifications have been made to the plan of work, to achieve the following outcomes:
- Take feedback from transit providers and stakeholders and create a draft Recommended Transit Network and Plan to allocate Orange County’s collected transit tax revenues
- Assess the draft Recommended Transit Network and Plan using measures of effectiveness reflecting the PSC’s stated values defined at the retreat (equity; environmental sustainability; economic prosperity; affordable/attainable quality of life; multimodal transportation access for all)
- Identify aspirational projects and future transit emphasis corridors on a Conceptual Vision Map that will be included in Orange County’s Transit Plan Update
- Facilitate ongoing engagement with the PSC, service providers and the public to confirm—and ultimately adopt—the FINAL Recommended Network and Plan and Conceptual Vision Map.
Transit Agency Staff Feedback and Next Steps:
The project team is synthesizing the feedback it has received from transit service providers and UNC on a set of conceptual transit scenarios. The synthesis identifies areas of agreement and disagreement, identifies elements requiring additional discussion, and provides recommendations. A draft Recommended Transit Network and Plan, reflecting shorter-term investments of transit tax revenues and a conceptual vision map reflecting longer-term aspirational projects, will be provided to service providers and stakeholders (GoTriangle, DCHC MPO, UNC, Durham County, Chapel Hill Transit, and Orange County Public Transportation) for review and feedback in early December 2021. Transit service providers and stakeholders will then provide feedback on service and capital investment recommendations. Based on this feedback , revisions may be made to the draft plan and conceptual vision map. Following service provider review, a PSC work session will be held to review the draft network and plan, providing the PSC with a dedicated opportunity for discussion and feedback before the draft plan goes out for public review (December 2021-January 2022).
Policy Steering Committee Work Sessions:
Three in-person (if possible) PSC work sessions (2-hours each) will be held between December 2021 and late February 2022. The goals of the meetings are to review recommendations, findings, and next steps in preparation for the second phase of public outreach and to build towards consensus for final plan recommendations. Below are the timeframes for the three remaining PSC Work Sessions:
- PSC Work Session 1: mid-December 2021 (Review draft network and plan/conceptual vision)
- PSC Work Session 2: end of January 2022 (Update on public engagement and recommendations for revisions to draft plan and network)
- PSC Work Session 3: late February 2022 (Review nearly-final plan and implementation schedule).
Wave 2 Public Engagement:
The next phase of engagement will begin in mid-December of this year with the launch of an online public survey. Engagement will span between December 2021 and January 2022, to accommodate a suite of public outreach tools and capture feedback from the general public as well as large institutions that utilize the transit network. Some engagement will be quick and in-person, such as “pop-up” mini-surveys at bus stop locations not captured during phase one of public engagement; others will be more in-depth, such as focus groups. Two (2) virtual focus group discussions are anticipated to be held in January 2022 (once students return to campus) to gather feedback on the draft network and conceptual vision from key stakeholders such as regional planning organizations, advocacy groups, and large employers.
The project schedule aligns with Durham’s outlook and timetable for the Durham County Transit Plan Update. Durham is currently working on developing a preferred transit scenario, and staff anticipates collecting feedback from the public in January 2022. The project team will be coordinating with Durham to ensure the two County plans align as much as possible.
Orange County Transit Plan Policy Steering Committee (PSC) Retreat
The Orange County Transit Plan PSC met on Saturday, July 24th, 2021. A recording of the proceedings and meeting materials can be found here.
Orange County Transit Summit
On October 1st, 2020, over 50 participants virtually convened for the first of two Transit Summits. The purpose of this first Transit Summit was to:
- Identify community goals/priorities related to transit
- Manage expectations (what can/can’t a transit plan accomplish?)
- Establish shared understanding of transit systems, transit system users, budgeting/available funding (including potential impacts of COVID), and how choices/values impact service
- Clearly connect feedback received to plan development and
- Promote transit services that are already available, that people may not be aware of (particularly rural, dispersed, and/or transit dependent populations).
Materials from the summit are available below including a recording of the summit (English or Spanish), presentation materials, and a meeting summary (including a participant list, poll results, chat log, and Q& A).