TTA Board Revises Scope Of Regional Rail Transit Project
Research Triangle Park, N.C. - The TTA Board of Trustees voted today to revise the scope of the Regional Rail Transit Project based on declining local revenues and rising construction costs.
The initial operating segment of the rail project with 12 stations from Ninth Street in Durham to the Government Center station in Raleigh is scheduled to open in 2008. The board’s vote will extend the opening of the four remaining stations - Duke Medical Center in Durham, and Highwoods, New Hope Church Road and Spring Forest in Raleigh - beyond 2011.
“We believe that revising the scope of the project is the best decision at this time to ensure that the Regional Rail Transit System moves forward,” TTA General Manager John Claflin told the board. “These revisions will allow us to strengthen our project and keep it competitive with the more than 184 other projects vying for federal funding.”
Claflin said the decline in a primary source of funding for the rail project and the elimination of a key source of revenue caused TTA to reexamine its financial plan. The rental car tax in Durham, Orange and Wake counties comprises TTA’s local funding source for the rail project. This revenue source has relatively remained flat since fall 2001.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently instructed TTA, and other transit properties nationwide, to remove from its financial plan a lease transaction option on the rail cars and other infrastructure. The lease option would have generated revenues or net proceeds of approximately $28 million, more than four percent of TTA’s overall budget.
Congress has yet to reauthorize the federal surface transportation bill, which has limited the FTA in approving new federal funding commitments. The delay of the bill gives TTA time to revise its project to make it a better candidate for funding when the bill is reauthorized.
TTA Board Chairman William G. Smith said the TTA board considered carefully the recommendation that was approved earlier this month by the Operations and Finance Committee.
“Changes of this nature are not atypical,” Smith said. “We have been working with the FTA since the beginning to fine tune our project for funding. As a public agency, TTA recognizes its financial responsibility to the taxpayers and that perspective has guided the board’s decision.”
Claflin emphasized that a revision to the scope does not mean that these stations are no longer a part of the Regional Transit Plan.
“Revising our scope is a tough but good business decision,” he said. “TTA’s commitment remains firm to build all 16 stations. We will continue to work with key stakeholders and the FTA to advance the remaining four stations as a future extension of the Regional Rail Transit Project’s initial operating segment.”
TTA is a regional public transportation provider, offering a wide variety of transit and vanpool services to North Carolina's greater Triangle Region and outlying counties. Bus service is available to Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, RDU International Airport, RTP and Raleigh. TTA also provides commuter resources and hosts GoTriangle.org, the online resource for the public transportation information in the Triangle. For more information, visit www.rideTTA.org or call (919) 549-9999.
