INTER-NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
Making Better Neighborhoods
http://www.rtpnet.org/durhminc
Minutes of Meeting of May 23, 2000
Police Department Community Services Room
Al Stone |
Duke Homestead |
Carrie Mowry |
Colony Park |
Cheryl Sweeney |
Northgate Park |
Dale Stouch |
Placid Valley |
Ed Harrison |
Cross-County |
Erick Larson |
TLNA |
Harry Dawley |
Trinity Park |
Jennifer Albright |
TLNA |
John Dagenhart |
Trinity Park |
Johnea D. Kelley |
Duke Park |
Lee Noel |
The Valley |
Mike Shiflett |
Watts Hospital/Hillandale |
Norm Krause |
Hope Valley |
Pat Carstensen |
Cross County |
Rosemarie Kitchin |
Grove Park |
Sandy Ogburn |
Five Oaks |
Tad Howard |
Carpenter-Fletcher |
John Dagenhart called the meeting to order at 7:10.
Treasurer Norm Krause reported that nineteen neighborhoods have paid dues so far this year. The INC bank balance stands at $1061.
The minutes for February, March and April were approved
John Dagenhart reported that the county noise ordnance was revised and strengthened in November 1999. Police are no longer required to wait until after 11 pm or to obtain a noise meter before enforcing the ordnance. John also remarked that there are openings on most of the city and county boards and commissions.
Featured Speaker: James Ritchie, General Manager of the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA).
Jim summarized the organization's history and outlined its current plans for regional rail.
· Van sharing: After its founding in 1989 the TTA took over the van sharing program from the Junior Chamber of Commerce. They have increased the number of vans leased from 15 to about 50. Today the vans carry more passenger miles than any of the local bus systems. Van drivers are volunteers, and the van program is breaking even.
· Triangle buses: The TTA began operating a bus service between Durham, Raleigh & RTP in 1993. Today the routes carry about 2600 persons daily. Buses leave every half hour at peak times and hourly for the rest of the weekday daylight hours. In September 2001 the TTA plans to double the number of buses on main routes and to double their frequency, to every 15 minutes at peak hours. Increasingly, however, buses at peak hours are simply stuck in traffic. The only way to make schedules predictable is with rail.
· Regional rail: The Triangle has sufficient population along the projected rail line to support regional rail: 120,000 in Raleigh, 100,000 in RTP and 65,000-70,000 in Durham. (These are the predicted numbers for 2003.) Current plans call for using self-propelled diesel rail cars. These will be organized into a cross between light rail - slow speeds and many stops - and commuter rail - high speed and few stops. The TTA plans a 35-mile line between Raleigh & Durham, with 16 stations. The cars will average about 30 mph and have a maximum speed of about 60 mph. From Durham it will take 10-12 minutes to reach RTP and 35-40 minutes to get to Raleigh. The proposed line will handle 18,000-25,000 riders at peak times. By comparison, highways can handle about 2000 cars per hour. The cost will be about $600,000,000. The federal government will pay for half of this and the state government for a quarter, leaving the remaining quarter to be raised locally. The 5% tax on rental cars, which raises 7.5 million a year and is earmarked for regional rail, will cover all the local share of the project during its first phase.
For more information on the Triangle Transit Authority, see their Web site at http://www.rideTTA.org/.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:57
AAS
6/27/00