If the Orange County commissioners vote at their April 2 meeting to discontinue pursuit of the 
Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit line, and Durham County commissioners do likewise (the agenda of their April 8 meeting is not yet online), the crushingly expensive light rail project will be packed away, perhaps for good.
After GoTriangle spent $137 million in taxpayer money, its board voted last Wednesday to recommend that the two counties drop the project. GoTriangle would have run out of cash by August and would need another $50 million to $70 million from the counties to keep paying its light rail bills. The FTA was skeptical that the project would meet the funding deadline set by the state.
N.C. Railroad asked for $30 million for land that GoTriangle had valued at $4 million. Duke declined to gift land along the rail line, leaving GoTriangle with the prospect of suing for eminent domain. The federal government required an additional $271 million (10% of the project’s budgeted cost) as a hedge against cost overruns.
While the loss of more than $24.5 million that Orange County taxpayers have spent on DOLRT to date is the kind of sum that should keep county commissioners awake at night, ending the project will free up revenue for other mass transit options, such as Bus Rapid Transit and bus shelters at city bus stops that would make taking the bus an option for senior citizens and those with physical disabilities.
This pause in the action also gives us the opportunity to renegotiate our relationship with GoTriangle. State legislatures set up the entity through which all transit tax revenue must be funneled. In the interlocal agreement Orange County currently has, GoTriangle makes the spending decisions. Wake County flips that model on its head by telling GoTriangle how to spend the money.
As DOLRT winds down, will there be any extra cash that could be used to make up for the $700,000 cut from Chapel Hill Transit’s allocation after the General Assembly rejiggered the funding formula?
Having local control over our transit spending would enable us to customize how to move people between towns. Will Orange County commissioners seize the opportunity?
— Nancy Oates
CitizenWill
/ April 1, 2019Nancy, thank you for the summary.
I sent the Council and Mayor an email prior to DOLRT’s cancellation asking for the monies wasted on further DOLRT preparation to be redirected to CHT programs, expanding and restoring CHT service on existing and new routes, accelerating the conversion of our buses from diesel to electric and making any trip originating in CHT’s operation area fare-free.
I also added that GoTriangle has been a very poor steward of this community’s resources and its behavior during the DOLRT debacle – lack of transparency, backroom meetings and deals, fundamental dishonesty – disqualified it from managing any more of our transit responsibilities.
Simply, GoT must go.
To maintain this community’s trust, I fully expect our Council to make that case as strongly as possible.
Plurimus
/ April 1, 2019I was surprised to hear Go Triangle was running out of money after refactoring funds form other projects. This is not the “our transit future” we were lead to believe we would get when the resolution passed.
I agree as I have in the past, thet the money would be better spent elsewhere.
I sure wish Chapel Hill would take a interest in these discussions. I know its the counties responsibility, but I feel as if the current county representation is either in over their head or is so sold on the idea that necessary healthy skepticism is just not possible.
I have been surprised that county planning transit, as well as CHT have not had a seat at the table for this major project since they are most familiar with the county requirements and needs