Burlington City Council approved the proposed development of an urban transit system, which will include a route through Elon.

The Burlington-Graham Metropolitan Planning Organization (BGMPO) developed a list of candidate transportation projects, including the transit system, which were discussed, evaluated and voted on Tuesday, June 17.

Routes

According to bgmpo.org, the Public Transportation will have a "Hub and Spoke" design, with downtown Burlington serving as the central hub for several outreaching destinations.

The transit will consist of four routes going through the cities of Burlington, Mebane, Elon and Gibsonville with estimated 30 minute travel times.

The new transit will coordinate with the Elon BioBus, PART (Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation), TTA (Research Triangle Public Transit Authority) and ACTA (Alamance County Transportation Authority).

Expenses and Revenue

The system start-up expenses total $2.7 million; including six buses at $400,000 each, $160,000 for signs, shelter and equipment and $140,000 for planning/administrative and marketing costs, according to bgmpo.org.

The first four years have an annual operation budget starting at $1.45 million for the first year and going to $1.6 million for the fourth year.

Local funding, state funding and transit passengers will help pay for the first year's expenses, but forty-seven percent of the cost will be covered by federal funding. There will also be a $620,000 total annual operating cost allocation from estimated annual motor vehicle taxes, according to www.bgmpo.org.

More detailed information concerning routes, financing and transit governance can be found here.

Upcoming Dates

The BGMPO is still inviting all public comments on the list of proposed projects, including the proposed transit system. The public comment will close on August 8, 2014, and after review of the NC Department of Transportation scoring and all public comments, a final list will be adopted at the August 19th TAC (Transportation Advisory Committee) meeting.

For those interested, the TCC (Technical Coordinating Committee) and TAC will meet in the Burlington Planning Department Conference Room, 425 South Lexington Avenue, Burlington, NC on August 19, at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.