Planning & Transportation

This fall, the Orange County Commissioners are scheduled to approve a new Comprehensive Plan; the first such vote in nearly thirty years! If you work, live or own land in Orange County, the Plan affects you; it sets a vision for how the county will develop over the next 20 years. Please take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the future of Orange County by voicing your interests and concerns to the Orange County Planning Board and County Commissioners.

Once adopted, the new Comprehensive Plan will begin to impact decisions about our tax base, the kind of jobs and housing created in the county, where new development will occur, what that development will look like, and how we will move about the county.

I see that the BOCC has decided to rename OPT as The Orange Bus, with resultant web-site and advertising changes as well as painting all their vehicles OP-orange. As a side-note, perhaps OP should think about taking out some advertising on the buses. Commissioner Barry Jacobs was against the idea, according to OrangeChat, calling it "too precious" and saying that he thought OPT was just fine. C'mon Commissioner Jacobs, this is a web 2.0 world! I am totally in favor of OPT becoming The Orange Bus. First off, how many of you knew what OPT was the first time you heard the acronym? How many of you know what OPT actually does? But, The Orange Bus, that's easy to understand and by playing on the county name it becomes catchy.

This does raise a question in my mind though and that is, what changes will be made on the website to make it a better tool for potential customers. As it stands right now, I think most people have no idea what OPT does unless they are already using it. How will the website make this information more accessible? I had the opportunity just this morning to tell a coworker moving to Hillsborough about the Hill-to-Hill route - she had no idea that it existed and was very excited about the possibility of not driving every day. How will The Orange Bus get this information out to the public?

Nearly two years after BUB's inception, Blue Urban Bikes and the ReCYCLEry have received recognition at RTP Headquarter's 2008 luncheon and award ceremony celebrating the achievements of the year's transportation demand management (TDM) programs, including the Durham County Trip Reduction Ordinance and TDM Programs in RTP, Durham, Orange and Wake Counties.

There are 8 BUB Hubs now, from Eastgate to the MLK YMCA and into Carrboro. Discussions are ongoing with Wellspring, 3 campus locations, and hopefully in Meadowmont. Rumor has it that a possible partnership with gotriangle could target bus stops. Thanks to the determination, effort and foresight of just a couple people at the outset, SURGE, and the community at large, the program survives and is looking better than ever.