Chapel Hill Mayor: "Tough Decisions" Coming on Transit System Sustainability

Chapel Hill town leaders are being forced to get creative when looking at options to maintain transit services that are offered.

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt says the town is faced with a very clear problem.

“We need to come up with and develop a financial sustainability system for our transit system,” he says.

The solution to that problem, however, may not be as cut and dry.

At the last Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, a town-hired firm delivered the expected news that the state’s second-largest transit system, as it stands, is not sustainable in the long-term picture.

That firm listed five options to bridge the gap to a solution: passing a tax to raise money for area transit, reducing services, charging a bus fare, choosing an option other than purchasing buses outright, and the bus system partners – the Town of Chapel Hill, Town of Carrboro, and UNC – all contributing more funding.

Addressing these issues, Mayor Kleinschmidt says charging a fare for buses may have a negative impact.

“Fare-free buses don’t work for every community,” he says. “But it works really well here, because of the unique partnership we have with the Town of Carrboro and the university – particularly the student body.”

Kleinschmidt adds charging a fare would reduce ridership, which would eliminate the town’s eligibility for certain grants.

In terms of the partners in the transit system, the mayor says UNC has already been forced to make tough decisions.

“The university has already done some good work,” he says. “It doesn’t come without some tension. They’ve started charging people to park in park-and-ride [lots].”

Mayor Kleinschmidt says the student body may decide to increase their transit fee that is built into tuition. A fee the mayor says – to his knowledge – hasn’t been voted on since it was originally approved in 2000.

Kleinschmidt says the town’s tough decisions may involve reevaluating taxes.

“A couple of years ago we adjusted our transit tax rate,” he says. “That may need to happen again.”

But the mayor says he has always been proud of innovative paths town leaders and residents have navigated to find a solution.

With the transit system, that path may be looking at new options for purchasing buses.

“There are lease options,” Mayor Kleinschmidt says. “But we’ve not used them in the past. We’ve just purchased our buses, outright.”

All of the options that were suggested by the firm analyzing the system are still on the table with the town council. And the council has asked that the firm analyze each option further to help find a financial solution for the long-term viability of the transit system.

Chapel Hill Mayor: “Tough Decisions” Coming on Transit System Sustainability

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