Burlington updates Link Transit: ridership gains, grant match hike and a $17.1M facilities bid
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Summary
City transit staff reported major ridership growth, new institutional partnerships and a revised NCDOT 5310 paratransit grant requiring a 50% local match; staff said the difference is budgeted. They also sought council approval to pursue a $17.138 million federal build grant for a new operations and maintenance facility and transfer hub.
Transformation Director Mike Nunn and Transit Manager John Yandro gave the Burlington City Council a status update on Link Transit on Feb. 16.
Yandro said Link recorded roughly 162,000 passenger trips in the last reported year, a notable rise versus 2016, and described expanded service partnerships with Elon University, Alamance Community College and neighboring municipalities that reduce the city's general-fund share of operations. Staff said three bus shelters with ADA sidewalk work were installed in 2025 and five more shelters are planned in 2026. Yandro added the fleet was largely renewed in 2024 with two electric vans and five diesel buses and noted Link Paratransit recently launched a scheduling app to book rides.
On federal funding, staff said the city originally proposed using 5310 paratransit operating funds with a 20% local match but NCDOT has required a 50% local match for the current round. The total 5310 request for paratransit operating support was presented as $594,182; staff said the increased local-match amount ($178,255) is already budgeted in the transit fund and no additional general-fund request will be required. Staff scheduled a revised public hearing to allow public comment on that change and said they will place the revised grant items on the consent calendar at the next council meeting.
Yandro also reviewed a proposed Build Grant application to fund an operations and maintenance facility and a transfer hub. The draft request would seek about $17,138,000 for land, construction and design; staff noted that, because Burlington is designated as a rural system for the program, the proposal could be eligible for very high federal coverage and would not require the local-match dollars the 5310 program now requires if awarded. Staff said the prior bus-and-bus-facilities application had been "highly recommended" but did not make the final cut, and that much of the prior application language will be reused in the Build Grant.
Council members pressed staff on headways and the proposed network redesign. Yandro said the long-term plan is to move most routes from 90-minute headways to 60-minute headways (orange-route exceptions would operate every 120 minutes) within existing service hours and budget; the green route is being evaluated for an on-demand service called Link Plus. Discussion centered on whether partners (Alamance County, ACC and other jurisdictions) or private employers could subsidize additional vehicles to shorten the orange-route headway, and staff said they will continue partner outreach. Staff asked for council direction to pursue the Build Grant and to include the Title VI program update on the consent agenda for formal filing with the Federal Transit Administration.
Next steps: staff will hold the re-advertised public hearing on the 5310 change, return to council with final Build Grant application materials if requested, and place the Title VI program and related transit consent items on the consent calendar for the next council meeting.
