lasm, some of us in Durham have sense enough not to vote for stupid taxes but as you can see in 68_dodge_polara comment tooooo many Durham residents never met a tax they didn't like. Not only is Durham liberal it is ultra liberal!!!! Too many in Durham think light rail will allow them to go out their front door and catch a train to anywhere they want to go in the RTP area.. They don't seem to be able to grasp the realization that we do not have the building and population density to support the extremely expensive system and will not for many, many, many years... It will take generations of zoning and building changes to support rail systems in this area.. Dreamers just want to take our money to waste it!!!!!

"It was going to take 2.5 hours and 2 bus changes"

I have the same problem with the Durham buses. I live 4 miles from where I work and it would take 2 hours to get there by bus, after walking 1 mile on a road with no sidewalk and no shoulder to the bus stop. I could literally walk to work faster than taking the bus.

Durham residents never met a new tax they didn't like, but it never stops us from complaining about the taxes we already half to pay. After all Durham is very liberal.

"Obviously, there were more votes to add the 1/2 cent sales tax than not to add it. Is it possible a lot of people voted for the tax w/o understanding what they were doing? 1/2 cent is a lot for just ONE area of taxation." lasm

Um, no. The referendum passed 60%-40% - a clear mandate. Hard for Durham officials to be 'bad guys' when 60% of the voters approved it.

As for 1/2 a cent being a lot, how about Wake County's 1 cent tax on restaurant meals to pay for State's usually empty basketball arena and the for-profit Hurricanes hockey arena? Now that's a crock.

The article states that "Voters approved the tax, to be used for public transit projects, last year." If you are a voter living in Durham, then that was the time to voice your negative opinion of this tax. I, for one, do not live in Durham (although I have just begun to work in Durham); however, I would never have voted for this tax. Obviously, there were more votes to add the 1/2 cent sales tax than not to add it. Is it possible a lot of people voted for the tax w/o understanding what they were doing? 1/2 cent is a lot for just ONE area of taxation. Also, a lot of you are correct about the size of some of the buses-it would have seemed best to buy some smaller buses for areas with less riders. And what do you think about the Durham "officials" waiting for other counties to "up" their rate? They didn't want to be the only bad guys. What a crock all our government entities are!

Everyone complaining yet the increases passed in both of the counties it was on the ballot in and will most likely pass Wake. Guess this is the only place the minority can come and whine.

@whatelseisnew said, "Time for the HANDOUTS to end on EVERYTHING."

Really? LOL

So, are you in favor of removing these "HANDOUTS": tax breaks of any kind (including the home mortgage deduction), all Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid, $8 billion per year for oil & gas companies, agricultural subsidies, ...

I mean, you do understand that a tax break of any sort *is* a handout, right?

Might as well add another tax...People cannot afford to even pay what TAXES the have now and NC is always adding more!

If the cost were to raise for the bus users maybe the Durham gang members wouldn't use the buses as a hang out during the winter so often.

Sales tax increase is very regressive. Terrible idea.

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