Federal budget includes $138.3 million for rapid bus line to connect UNC campus, hospitals, Franklin Street
Chapel Hill is set to receive $138.3 million in federal funding to construct its first bus rapid transit line. It's expected to improve existing bus routes and reduce traffic congestion.
Posted — UpdatedThe federal funding would cover most of the $197 million cost of the town’s first bus rapid transit [BRT] line.
There are 17 stations planned along the 8.2-mile route, which will include stops in downtown Chapel Hill along Franklin Street, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s campus and at the hospitals.
UNC students are currently on spring break, but there is typically traffic congestion along North Carolina Highway 86 toward the university’s campus.
“There’s a lot of vehicles and people who move through that corridor,” said Chapel Hill Transit Director Brian Litchfield.
Litchfield said turning the corridor into the town's first BRT line has been more than a decade in the making.
“With our BRT project, buses will be able to move faster, be more efficient and be running every six minutes or more during most hours of the day,” Litchfield said.
The north-south BRT line will run down MLK Jr. Boulevard between park-and-ride lots at Eubanks Road off Interstate 40 and Southern Village.
“Maybe folks that don’t ride the bus today but with the BRT in place, maybe they will,” Litchfield said. “There’s already a lot of ridership in that corridor.”
It’s expected to cost $6.72 million to operate the line each year after its launch in 2029.
Lauren Southwell said she hops on the NS Route bus from the park-and-ride lot to get to her job at a lab on the UNC campus.
“It’s a really great system, especially because parking is really hard to get on campus,” Southwell said.
Southwell said she’s glad to hear the BRT is moving forward.
“Just having a more frequent, faster way to get to work would be really ideal,” she said.
If Congress approves the funding, construction could start in 2026 with the BRT up and running in 2029.
In Raleigh, the Triangle’s first BRT line is under construction along New Bern Avenue.
Related Topics
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.