Public forum tackles Triangle transit

RALEIGH, N.C. — A public forum opened Thursday night to examine Wake County and the Triangle’s need for the development in of mass transportation.

At North Carolina State University’s McKimmon Center, the forum focused on transit’s role in planning for quality growth in other cities, including Charlotte. The recent proposal for regional transit in the Triangle was on the table, according to organizers.

In March, the 38-member Special Transit Advisory Commission said a combination of buses, rail systems and "circulators" is needed to help meet the Triangle's growing transportation needs and to help the region compete for new industry and better jobs.

It would likely be in place by 2035, when an estimated additional 1 million people are expected to have moved to the area. That would bring the population to about 2.5 million people.

Among its key recommendations is an enhanced bus network throughout the Triangle that includes express service to and from Raleigh-Durham International Airport and rush-hour-only bus service to outlying communities.

The group also recommended rail service from Chapel Hill to north Raleigh utilizing diesel rail cars and Light Rail Transit that would provide transportation alternatives in some of the most congested corridors of the Triangle.