Wake County Transit Plan

The Wake County Transit Plan provides a two-pronged approach to meeting increasing transit needs as the County continues to grow:

1. Core Transit Plan: Expands local and commuter bus service and builds a rush-hour commuter rail service from Garner to Durham; provides amenities such as park-and-ride lots, sidewalks, signage and bus shelters, benches and other structures.
2. Enhanced Transit Plan: Builds light rail service from downtown Cary through downtown Raleigh, up to Millbrook Road.

The Cost

Wake County’s share of the five-year bus plan would be $138.3 million of the total $344 million cost for both capital and operating. Bus services currently receive some state and federal funding, which would cover the remainder.

Commuter rail would cost $650 million. Wake County’s share would be $330 million, and Durham would pay $320 million. Commuter rail is projected to be in place in 2019 or 2020.

Light rail is estimated to cost $1.1 billion (2011 dollars), to construct the rail line and pay for stations and park-and-ride lots. Operating costs would be $14 million per year. This portion of the Transit Plan will not be implemented without state and federal funding.

How We’d Pay For It

The revenue sources would include:

• A half-cent sales tax, which must be approved by voters. (The sales tax does not apply to food, medicine, utilities and housing.)
• Vehicle registration fees would increase by $10 per car.

See how much you’d pay in sales tax based on income and vehicle registration fees for your municipality.

Next Steps

• The plan was presented to Wake Commissioners on November 14, 2011, in a work session. No action was taken.
• County staff will meet with municipalities and work toward signing an Interlocal Agreement that establishes the governing of the Transit Plan.
• Commissioners will consider the plan again in the spring, and decide whether to adopt it and place the sales tax on the Nov. 6, 2012, ballot.
• View upcoming public meetings regarding the transit plan.

Partners

The plan was developed by:

• Wake County
• Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
• City of Raleigh Capital Area Transit
• NC State University Wolfline
• Regional Transportation Alliance
• Town of Cary C-Tran
• Triangle Transit
• Wake County Municipalities:
  • Town of Apex
  • Town of Cary
  • Town of Fuquay-Varina
  • Town of Garner
  • Town of Holly Springs
  • Town of Knightdale
  • Town of Morrisville
  • City of Raleigh
  • Town of Rolesville
  • Town of Wake Forest
  • Town of Wendell
  • Town of Zebulon

Questions? Comments?

We’d love to hear from you. Share any comments or questions with us by emailing us at tim.gardiner@wakegov.com.

To Print the Transit Plan

A PDF of the entire plan in printable format is available. Note that it is a large file (58.1 MB) and will take some time to download. It contains blank pages as spacers to print the full report two-sided. Please note that the financial spreadsheets in Appendix G are formatted at 11” x 17” so you may wish to print those separately and insert them in the booklet.

Download the entire printable version of the Wake County Transit Plan.