{"id":18930,"date":"2013-03-28T08:35:52","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T12:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=18930"},"modified":"2013-03-28T16:03:18","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T20:03:18","slug":"transit-advocates-wont-push-for-wake-tax-in-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/transit\/2013\/03\/28\/transit-advocates-wont-push-for-wake-tax-in-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Transit Advocates Won\u2019t Push for Wake Tax in 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORRECTION APPENDED: The original story indicated the North Carolina DOT would begin major road work on I-440 next year. The work is set to begin this fall.<\/em><\/p>\n

Proponents of a half-cent sales tax to pay for increased bus service and commuter rail in Wake County said recently they will no longer push for the tax to be added as a referendum on the fall 2013 ballot.<\/p>\n

Tappan Vickery, with WakeUp Wake County<\/a> and the Capital Area Friends of Transit<\/a>, said the organization will wait until at least 2014 to ask again for a ballot referendum.<\/p>\n

The news may come as a surprise to some transit advocates, who have followed the passing of similar sales tax referendums in both Durham and Orange counties. Triangle Transit will begin collecting taxes in those two counties April 1; the first bus improvements are expected in early 2014.<\/p>\n

Vickery said the change in tactics is due to the political climate in Wake County, where the majority of County Commissioners refuse to consider the tax despite the urging of CAFT and several city and town mayors.<\/p>\n

Some Commissioners argue<\/a> the proposed transit plan is flawed and too expensive. Meanwhile, Commissioners are also working with the Wake County School Board to put a school bond referendum<\/a> on the fall ballot, leaving transit proponents with what Vickery calls a \u201chard reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCounty Commissioners hold the sole authority to schedule this referendum and that no amount of pressure from the municipalities or the public will sway them from their current commitment to education, the school bond,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a result, we were making it worse by pushing for something they were not going to budge on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Phil Matthews, who has previously voted against discussing the transit plan, said delaying the referendum push is a good idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we have a school bond, that\u2019d probably be too many bonds for the voting public to have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Matthews said Commissioners will begin to discuss transit this year, likely in May, and include outside voices to examine the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know they thought we put it on the back burner. It just wasn\u2019t as high up on the priorities as the school bond,\u201d he said. \u201cWe still need a lot more information. We\u2019re about numbers, realistic numbers, not speculative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brad Schulz, spokesman for Triangle Transit<\/a>, said Wake\u2019s financial participation doesn\u2019t relate to the Durham and Orange projects. However, it does mean that commuter rail between Durham and Wake counties will not move forward.<\/p>\n

\"Wake<\/a>

<\/p>

A vision of commuter rail between Wake and Durham counties.<\/p><\/div>\n

Triangle Transit has also submitted a plan to the Federal Transit Administration for light rail between Durham and Orange counties. That project won\u2019t be operational for about 12 years.<\/p>\n

Vickery said she hopes 2014 will present a better situation for transit advocates. This fall, the North Carolina Department of Transportation will begin a rebuild<\/a> of an 11-mile stretch of Interstate 440 between U.S. 1 and U.S. 64\/264.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Transit Terms<\/strong><\/center>
\nCommuter rail – A regular rail line, like an Amtrak train, that provides regional service, such as from Raleigh to Durham.<\/p>\n

Light rail – A subway\/metro style rail typically using electricity that offers transit within a city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt is a great hope that we will see progress in 2014, particularly because the I-440 construction is literally going to stop traffic,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be so expansive; I don\u2019t think anyone has a clue how that\u2019s going to affect public and political pressure. With that reality in front of us, we hope the Commissioners will consider moving forward in 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

David King with Triangle Transit said he\u2019s still hopeful that Commissioners will consider the referendum this year, but said it\u2019s not his place to press it forward. The deadline to put the referendum on the Oct. 8 ballot is 90 days prior.<\/p>\n

Every year that passes is another year longer before a strong transit network is in place, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime is of the essence. We are sounding an alarm to a fire that will be burning in 2020. But that\u2019s tomorrow, so should we be worried about tomorrow today? Of course we should,\u201d he said. \u201cWe would be in a better position to absorb the growth we\u2019re all talking about \u2014 and which nobody seems to deny is coming \u2014 in a more graceful and efficient way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four Commission seats will be up for election in 2014, those held by Matthews, Joe Bryan, Tony Gurley and Paul Coble, all of whom have blocked the tax referendum discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame to lose two years,\u201d King said. \u201cI think two because I don\u2019t think it\u2019s very likely this issue will be move forward at the same time as some of our County Commissioners are running for re-election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Betty Lou Ward, a transit proponent, said she doesn\u2019t like the idea of waiting another year or two. Still, she said it\u2019s \u201cobvious it isn\u2019t happening anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous that Durham County, Orange County put it on the ballot, passed it. All the people in the county agree and we still haven\u2019t put in our agenda to discuss,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to put it on the agenda and discuss it. We need to give Wake County an opportunity to look at see what\u2019s there as opposed to having someone tell them what\u2019s there and what\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Vickery said she and others will focus on educating people about the tax and what it will do. Opponents often focus on light rail, something that isn\u2019t even part of the initial plan, she said, and may never happen. The proposed transit plan\u2019s initial focus is on bus service \u2014 something not available in all 12 of Wake\u2019s cities and towns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public doesn\u2019t know difference between light and commuter [rail] or that light is not even part of the main plan,\u201d she said. \u201cDoubling of the bus and the commuter rail meet our immediate needs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Representatives with Capital Area Friends of Transit said they will not continue to push to place a half-cent sales tax referendum on the fall 2013 ballot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24025,"featured_media":9523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,23,14],"tags":[743,1203,1201,1202,450,1865],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24025"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}