Chapel Hill Transit - History

History

In the early 1970s, the Public Transportation Study Committee was formed, consisting of representatives from the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and UNC. The committee then received a Federal Urban Mass Transit Administration grant to examine the suitability of a permanent transit system. Town voters approved a $350,000 bond referendum for local match for capital and a $.10/$100 valuation ad valorem tax to support transit operations. Chapel Hill Transit began operations in August 1974 as a department of the Town of Chapel Hill government. Prior to Chapel Hill Transit, the UNC Student Government operated a campus shuttle system from 1968 until 1974. The Transit Director reports to the Town Manager, who is responsible to the Town Council. A citizen advisory committee, the Transportation Board, makes recommendations to the Town Council on transportation and traffic issues. A plan adopted by the Town Council in 1977 included a set of transportation goals which specifically encourage transit over automobile use in the central areas of Chapel Hill. Although the transit system is operated by the town of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC are financial partners in the operations. System expenses are allocated based upon population. Carrboro began purchasing transit services in the fiscal year 1977-1978 with revenue sharing funds. In the fall of 1980, Carrboro approved a $.10/$100 valuation ad valorem tax to pay for transit service. In fiscal year 1980–1981 the Carrboro contract first included the EZ Rider.

In 1992, Chapel Hill Transit teamed up with the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition and Ebus, a California company that manufactures electric buses, to demonstrate a 22-passenger bus that promised cleaner air and reduced dependence on foreign fuels. This vehicle demonstration followed an earlier one arranged by the Public Transportation Division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. In the earlier demonstration, a Transteq hybrid bus was transported from daily use in Denver, Colorado, and made available for test drives on the Chapel Hill Transit lot. In February 2006, K. Stephen Spade, a former Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority employee, was hired as the transportation director for the Town of Chapel Hill. In August 2006, Chapel Hill Transit announced that their buses will be equipped with GPS tracking devices, allowing the bus riders to check the arrival time of the buses using the internet and their cell phone. The project was completed by NextBus Inc.. Fourteen bus stops would also have digitized signs showing the estimated arrival times of buses. These signs were controversial, as the cost of installing them was almost $1 million. In September 2006, Chapel Hill Transit announced plans to buy begin purchasing hybrid buses. The town planned to buy as many as nineteen new buses: three hybrids, several extra-long and the rest standard size. In October 2006, the Chapel Hill Town Council approved the purchase of sixteen new Chapel Hill Transit buses at a cost of $5.8 million from Gillig Corp. Federal grants provided about $5.2 million, and the town provided approximately $600,000 in local funds. Three of these sixteen new buses run on diesel-electric drivetrains. The rest of the buses are mostly powered by Detroit Diesel series 50 engines. The buses, delivered in July 2007, were expanded the system and replaced older buses. The town had an additional $1.7 million in federal funding which was sufficient to purchase four 60-foot Articulated buses, each with two sections that allow them to flex in the middle. All of the purchased buses were low-floor buses with interior floors at curb level.