Apex Planning Board recommends town council accept transit prioritization study, endorses phased route and service improvements

The Apex Planning Board on a recommendation vote moved the Transit Prioritization Study forward to town council, endorsing a package of near-term service improvements, new fixed-route concepts and a set of supportive projects aimed at expanding local public transit over the next several years.

Katie Schwing, transit planner in the town planning department, described the staff-led study as a project to develop priorities for improvements and expansion to local public transit over an approximately five-year timeframe. She said the study produced two recommendation sets: fixed-route service concepts and a group of supporting projects and investigations to improve access and operations.

Among the fixed-route recommendations, staff proposed implementing already-funded changes to Go Apex Route 1 (increase frequency from hourly to every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday, add Sunday hourly service and make bus-stop improvements), tweak downtown routing so downtown is served in both directions, and add a short Chapel Ridge Road loop to reach apartments under construction. Staff also recommended developing a new Pine Plaza'Pleasant Park fixed route (a three-year development process) and studying a Viridian East Village 30-minute route to serve new mixed-use development and the proposed Wake Tech campus; Schwing said some items could begin as early as FY28 and others around FY29.

Schwing described supportive recommendations including backing a Phase 1 downtown mobility hub near Salem and Moore Streets (a transfer area, not a passenger rail station), coordinating transit with the comprehensive plan update (Peak Plan 2055), studying options to serve seniors and people with disabilities beyond the federally required Go Apex door-to-door service area, improving pedestrian and bicycle access to transit, and investigating transit signal prioritization to improve bus travel times.

On operational questions, Schwing said GoCary is the service operator and that the GoCary app is the fastest way to push real-time updates to riders; she reported ridership has been roughly 1,000'1,200 riders per month (about 50 riders per day), noted the system experienced mechanical issues over the summer that reduced trips, and said a replacement bus was imminent. "Most of the people who responded to the onboard survey said they were regular riders who are riding it to access work," Schwing said, while acknowledging online-survey respondents also included people who are not yet riders.

Board member Jeff moved and Mary seconded a motion recommending town council accept the study; the board voted in favor and the recommendation carried. The study, if accepted by council, would be used to guide implementation steps and any proposed transit-plan-map amendments would come to council with public hearings.