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North-South Bus Rapid Transit Update.
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Staff:
Department:
Brian Litchfield, Director
Transit
Matt Cecil, Transit Development Manager
Overview: The North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) project was initiated in January 2014 as one of the results of the Chapel Hill 2020 Comprehensive Plan. Chapel Hill Transit managed the study with guidance from a Policy Committee, Technical Committee, Transit Partners Committee and a substantial public involvement process. During its January 16, 2019 Council Meeting, the Council adopted an updated Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for the NSBRT project and asked staff to conduct a traffic analysis to evaluate converting or constructing dedicated bus-only lanes between Eubanks Road and North Street along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The LPA is the transitway alternative that the project sponsor (Town of Chapel Hill) and stakeholders prefer and expect to be competitive and achieve support at the federal level. The LPA is a general description of the type of transit that will be used (mode), running way (curb running, median, dedicated lane, mixed traffic, etc.) and the location (alignment and termini). The LPA definition is general; subsequent engineering and planning will develop the LPA design specifics and additional elements of the project, including station locations.
We must identify an LPA to get federal funding. The selection of an LPA tells the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) which alternative the local agency (Chapel Hill Transit) expects to be the most broadly supported at the local, regional, and federal levels. Chapel Hill Transit plans to pursue federal funding for the NSBRT project through the FTA Small Starts program.
The FTA reviewed the January 16, 2019 LPA and then notified Chapel Hill Transit that a final LPA, defining construct or convert for the section of the corridor between Eubanks Road and North Street, needed to be adopted in order for the project to move forward in the fed...
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