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Authorize Town Manager to Submit a Funding Request for the North South Bus Rapid Transit Project through the Orange County Transit Plan.
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Staff:
Department:
Brian Litchfield, Director
Transit
Overview: Request for funding for North South Bus Rapid Transit Project through Orange County Transit Plan.
Recommendation(s):
That the Council authorize the Town Manager to submit a funding request for the North South Bus Rapid Transit Project through the Orange County Transit Plan to GoTriangle.
Decision Points:
* The Council adopted an updated Locally Preferred Alterative (LPA) for the North South Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project on January 16, 2019 and is currently in the 30% design and environmental phase.
* The Town of Chapel Hill plans to submit the project for rating in the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Small Starts in September of 2019. This will allow the project to continue to move forward in the federal process and likely reduce the time between planning and implementation.
* Based on current cost estimates, the North South BRT project needs $28M in non-federal match funds. The North South BRT project requires non-federal match beyond the $6.1M currently allocated in the Orange County Transit Plan. Having at least 50% ($14M) of the non-federal match identified would greatly benefit the project in the FTA rating process.
* The Interlocal Implementation Agreement that governs the Orange County Transit Plan requires any change in funding to be requested through GoTriangle.
Key Issues:
* With the discontinuation of the Durham Orange Light Rail (D-O LRT) project, there are financial resources within the Orange County Transit Plan that could be allocated to projects such as North South BRT.
* The Town is also pursuing non-federal match funding from the State though the SPOT 6.0 process.
* A formal request from the Town is needed to initiate the process for considering additional funding for the North South BRT project.
Fiscal Imp...
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