Chapel Hill Transit receives grant for new buses

Chapel Hill Transit has received a federal grant to replace three of the 43 buses in its fleet that are more than 12 years old.

The Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization awarded Chapel Hill Transit more than $1 million, which will be used to purchase new buses. The Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is the regional organization responsible for transportation planning for the western part of the Research Triangle area in North Carolina.

“The MPO has an interest in making sure all transit agency service systems are in good repair,” said Ellen Beckman, transportation planner with the MPO. “We’re pleased that Chapel Hill Transit chose to use the funds in this way.”

Chapel Hill Transit has the largest fleet of buses in the Durham and Orange County area, with 121 vehicles.

Chapel Hill Transit and other public transit services across the country have been struggling to find the money to provide solid public transit for the past decade.

“We receive funds on an annual basis,” Beckman said. “I would expect we would continue to support and direct some of these funds toward the transit agencies.”

Brian Litchfield, director of Chapel Hill Transit, said the system’s struggle to maintain and replace older buses is not unusual for transit systems or public services in general.

“Resources are incredibly tight all around, and that’s something we’ll continue to work with our partners,” he said.

Daniel Rodriguez, a professor in UNC’s Department of City & Regional Planning, said federal government funding in transit has been pretty flat, while local and state participation have both increased.

“Local participation has increased almost 7 percent and the state participation has increased to 10 percent,” Rodriguez said.

“The local and state governments are realizing that some of the infrastructure needs maintenance and replacement. It’s much more cost effective in the long run.”

Federal law states that heavy-duty buses should be replaced every 12 years, because around this time the buses become very difficult and expensive to maintain.

“We have a very good maintenance program and all of our buses do meet all of the safety standards,” Litchfield said.

“We wouldn’t operate any bus that didn’t meet those standards.”

Rodriguez said replacing old vehicles is important.

“There’s a need to replace vehicles that are aging, vehicles that might not be used for service or ones with vehicle failures,” he said.

While the three new replacement buses will make an impact, there is still much room for improvement.

“We have 43 buses which are more than 12 years old,” Litchfield said. “Three is a nice start, and it’s good to have grant funding, but we still have another 40 to be replaced.”

Once buses are purchased from a vendor, Litchfield said it can take up to two years for those buses to be delivered.

Rodriguez said the town’s buses are a critical service because they connect the University with the rest of the town.

“In Chapel Hill it’s seen as a key strategy to keep the University running,” he said. “There would be so much congestion and there would be so much more parking expenses.”

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