The future of bus service in Durham and the Triangle

Warning: this post gets a little geeky, even for my standards

In last week’s post, I reviewed the state of bus service here in the Triangle with a specific focus on my adopted home of Durham. Although Durham’s bus service punches above its weight for a city of its size when measuring ridership and frequency of routes, it has a long way to go when it comes to providing adequate bus stop facilities.

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Let’s start with the good that is to come for Durham’s bus service. Over the next few years, GoDurham will launch crosstown routes connecting Duke University Hospital to Duke Regional Hospital and the soon-to-be-built Village Transit Hub in East Durham to NCCU’s campus. They’re also prioritizing increases to 15-minute frequencies on Routes 4 and 9, both of which serve the Braggtown neighborhood just north of downtown.

GoTriangle is also eyeing expansions, more specifically an enhanced Route 700 that pairs with the Route 100 (Raleigh to RDU Airport to RTP). Route 100x would run every 15 minutes and combine the two routes to improve connection between the two major centers. Route 400 would also increase in frequency between Durham and Chapel Hill. More details about GoDurham and GoTriangle’s upcoming transit expansions can be found here.

Despite these future and possible service changes, GoDurham and GoTriangle both are falling behind the recent transit developments in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Earlier this year, Raleigh began construction on its first of four bus rapid transit (BRT) lines. BRT is oftentimes run as a high-capacity bus line separated from car traffic; it blends the convenience and efficiency of a light rail with the comparatively low cost of a bus service. 

Raleigh’s BRT line will have many features typical of the service, including dedicated lanes, priority traffic signaling at intersections, platform stations, and other measures to increase efficiency. See below for the final concept and rendering from the City of Raleigh:

Chapel Hill was also recently awarded grant funding for its North-South BRT (NSBRT) line, connecting the northern edge of town to Franklin Street campus. Running at 8.2 miles with mostly dedicated lanes, the Town of Chapel Hill has released this map and rendering detailing the route and its stations:

Durham currently has no plans for a BRT route. The closest its transit plan mentions to such an idea is constructing bus-only lanes along Holloway Street and Fayetteville Street where the 3 bus and 5 bus run, two of GoDurham’s most frequent routes. 

As for where a potential Durham BRT route, and a Triangle-wide network, could run, see the concept I’ve put together below:

Although these maps are by no means anything fancy (I’m just a guy with an iPad and a dream), I wanted to provide a high-level concept of how GoDurham and GoTriangle signing on for BRT could radically shape our region. 

Let’s start here in Durham. GoDurham’s Rapid Transit Line would run from Duke Regional Hospital, along Roxboro Street to downtown, around the Downtown Loop to Fayetteville Street, and Southpoint. It would operate similarly to Chapel Hill’s BRT line; dotted lines indicate where the bus would have to share traffic due to the width of the road. I opted for this route because it consists of the 5 bus along with the 4/9 bus corridor that serves N. Roxboro Street, which GoDurham has listed as a priority corridor for high-frequency service.

GoTriangle’s network would essentially be the conversion of existing routes to BRT. Routes 400/405 would operate as the Blue Line between Chapel Hill and Durham, while the planned Route 100x between Raleigh and Durham would run as the Silver Line, and Route 800/805 connecting Chapel Hill to RTP would be the Orange Line. It would integrate the existing plans and this conceptual Rapid Transit Line in Durham to create a cohesive BRT network across the region. The conversion of the 400/405 to BRT could also give way to the expansion of existing local routes in Durham (Route 10) and Chapel Hill (Route D) to further improve interconnectivity between the two cities.

My thought would be that systemwide— the GoTriangle routes, Wake BRT, the NSBRT line in Chapel Hill, and the GoDurham Rapid Transit Line— buses would operate at 7-minute headways during peak hours on weekdays, 12-minute headways off-peak hours on weekdays & Saturdays, and 15-minute headways on Sundays. This flexibility accounts for rush hour during commuting times and events happening in downtown Durham, Chapel Hill, or Raleigh that folks can use the BRT to get to and from.

Also a prominent element of this concept is the ample connection to the airport. With this network, all three major centers of the Triangle would be just one BRT ride away, seeing as high as 7-minute frequencies. This level of convenience is a strong departure from the current bus service to and from RDU, which only runs every 30 minutes and requires one if not two transfers.

I’ve also put together a concept including the proposed GoTriangle commuter rail:

See below for an updated map as of August 2024 with expanded commuter rail and BRT routes:

This concept is even less viable than a Triangle-wide BRT network considering it was announced last year that the commuter rail proposal would fail to receive any federal funding. However, I thought I’d include a version with the rail line as it was a cornerstone of the Triangle’s transportation policy for several years leading up to last year.

The main goal this network achieves is connecting Raleigh to RTP and Durham more directly and through Cary. However, the service provided by the BRT alone is quite sufficient in connecting Durham, RTP, and Raleigh. A low-cost alternative that would include a connection to Cary could be a GoCary BRT line that runs frequently between downtown Cary’s station and RTP. Another option includes extending the planned BRT route connecting Raleigh and Cary to RTP. Both are viable options as Cary’s downtown continues to densify.

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BRT is a low-cost, high-reward strategy to better improve transit in our region. It would be exciting to see anything like this concept implemented in Durham and the Triangle; it would enable folks to live freer lives without the burden of multiple car payments, multiple insurance payments, multiple tank fill-ups, and multiple maintenance bills. Instead, our downtown spaces can devote more space to not clogged congestion but convenient transit options, not parking but people.

Feel free to drop a comment about how improved transit in the Triangle could benefit your everyday life!