Council hears FY26 transit plan: fare‑free through June and first steps on Central Durham BRT

Sean Egan, Director of Transportation, briefed the council on transit highlights of the FY26 proposed budget and the early planning steps for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in central Durham.

Why it matters: transit is one of the council’s priorities. Staff told council they recommend continuing fare‑free GoDurham and Access service through June of FY26 but flagged that the transit fund’s available fund balance will be substantially drawn down after FY26 unless new revenue is available or expenses are reduced.

Key points from the transit presentation: • Fare‑free service: staff recommended maintaining fare‑free bus and paratransit service through June FY26. Transportation staff said recent federal COVID relief funding helped create a buffer that allows fare‑free operations in the short term, but the transit fund will need new revenue or reduced costs after FY26 unless council adopts a higher dedicated transit tax allocation. • Transit fund modeling: staff proposed keeping the transit tax rate at the revenue‑neutral rate (2.4¢, per the presentation) for FY26. Staff cautioned that fund balance will be substantially reduced after FY26 under those assumptions and that future options include a higher dedicated tax rate to sustain fare‑free service into later years. • Service expansions: several service improvements funded by the Durham County Transit Plan were described — examples included improved frequency on key routes, a new crosstown connection and micro‑transit adjustments. Staff noted ridership growth during service expansions and said October 2024 posted a record month of system trips compared with historic months (staff cited a gross collection / ridership figure used for trend illustration). • BRT planning: staff described the Central Durham BRT as the first corridor to advance; NCDOT’s regional FAST 2 study recommended this leg and staff said level‑1 and level‑2 feasibility analyses are underway to identify preferred alignments and screen for federal FTA “small starts” criteria. The FY26 work program includes funding for three project staff positions and consultant support — staff said those BRT positions would be 100% funded by Durham County transit plan funds. • Operational improvements: staff reported deployment of transit signal priority at 13 intersections in Fayetteville Street testing and initial operations to improve on‑time performance; staff said TSP led to measurable improvements during testing.

Council response and follow‑up: several council members expressed support for continuing fare‑free service. Staff said they will return with multiyear options (rate increases or other revenue sources) for sustaining fare‑free operations and will provide additional detail on BRT alignment choices as the FTA criteria analysis develops.