As part of its Transit Talk series with WRAL, GoTriangle talked with Raleigh, N.C., Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin about the rail line as the agency kicks off the latest round of public engagement and education for the Greater Triangle Commuter Rail Project.
Find out what people had to say during the last round and sign up to get updates as a Commuter Rail Insider at readyforrailnc.com.
Baldwin has said that seeing the project emerge from years of planning to reality is her No. 1 transportation priority. Wake and Durham counties have included the project, which is in the final study phase before governing bodies will decide next year whether to build it, in their transit plans.
Through Aug. 31, groups, agencies, organizations or nonprofits also can request a presentation about the commuter rail project.
“Planners have used community feedback every step of the way in bringing the commuter rail project along, and as we head to a decision point, it’s never been more important for people to weigh in,” GoTriangle President and CEO Charles Lattuca said. “As our region continues to attract more residents and more businesses by the day, the opportunity that the commuter rail project gives us to manage growth and create a truly regional transit network has never been more important, either.”
How rail fits in
The Greater Triangle Commuter Rail line would run up to 43 miles in the existing North Carolina Railroad corridor from West Durham through Raleigh to Garner or Clayton with stops in downtown Durham, Research Triangle Park, Morrisville, Cary, NC State and downtown Raleigh.
As Baldwin sees it, one of the biggest challenges in building the transit network the region needs to continue being a success story is getting enough people to see the need for it.
“They’re comfortable in their cars so it's really a culture change,” she said. “We've been working on rail for 20 years here, and there are a lot of stops and goes, but this time around, we're making progress. I think the big hurdle for us is helping people envision our future, what that's going to look like and how rail fits in.”
The Greater Triangle Commuter Rail line would be the backbone of a regional transit network that includes four bus rapid transit corridors in Wake County and greatly expanded bus service in Durham and Wake.
“You just don't start commuter rail, you have to build toward it,” Baldwin said. “So Raleigh Union Station, that's been open now three years. That was built for the future. It was built to accommodate Amtrak, but it was also built to accommodate high speed rail, commuter rail. That's the hub.”
Connecting people to opportunity
The Wake Transit Plan, approved by voters in 2016, has greatly increased how many areas the bus system covers and how often the buses come. The first bus rapid transit corridor along New Bern Avenue in Raleigh is in its final design stage.
“Commuter rail is what joins it all together,” Baldwin said. “And it's all built together to support that. So when we do launch commuter rail, it will be successful.”
Commuter rail is about managing growth and expanding access to opportunity.
“There are several ways that commuter rail can really help create opportunities for people,” she said. “First off, there's a lot of discussion right now about affordable housing and people being pushed out of out of Raleigh or the outskirts of Raleigh, to different parts of Wake County, Johnston County. Those are areas I think that we really need to think about connecting people to opportunity, and commuter rail does that.”
The Triangle J Council of Governments recently completed a study about affordable housing within the commuter rail corridor. Those results will be available next week.
Commuter rail also is about giving people choices.
“They don't have a choice right now,” she said. “You don't have a choice to get on commuter rail and enjoy Wi-Fi. While you're there, maybe you're getting some things done for work. That's a productive 30 minutes of your time, instead of sitting in traffic for an hour. And I think once people see the benefits, it's easy.”
Commuter rail would also expand the variety of choices people have for where they live.
“One of our major strengths is we're a region, and we have cities with different personalities,” she said. “We have urban areas, we have suburban areas, we have rural areas outside the region. So there's something for everyone. If you want to live on a farm and raise chickens and work at Apple, you can do that. If you want to be part of the inner city, you can live in Durham or Raleigh. I think that choice is part of our strength in dealing with growth.”
It’s about the environment and the future for youth.
“I think young people are really concerned about our environment,” she said. “They're concerned about carbon emissions, they're concerned about sustainability. They're concerned about the future. And I think that that is also going to be part of this choice is you're going to have a new generation, or we already have one coming up, saying this is important to me. And we need to do things differently.”
Companies as a catalyst
And it’s about getting people to jobs and helping create more jobs.
“One of the things that Amazon didn't like about our region was the lack of public transportation,” Baldwin said. “I think where we are now, companies like Apple understand that them coming here can be a catalyst for that. They can help make things happen. It can help us grow in a positive way. Training people for those jobs becomes important, and it all kind of ties in together, workforce development training, working with Wake Tech and other colleges and universities to help us train people for the jobs of the future.
“And then commuter rail helps them get there," Baldwin concluded.
