 HOME | BLOG | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | PAST ISSUES | ADVERTISING RATES | RACK LOCATIONS Like magic, bus connects Chatham to Chapel Hill By Randy Voller Detractors referred to the “Pittsboro Express” as the “magic bus” and I agree: it is magical that after over a decade of false starts and bureaucratic dead ends the citizens and business community have a transit link between the County Seat and potentially the greater Triangle. This service was a dream of well respected former Chatham County Commissioner Margaret Bryant Pollard and I am very pleased to have been a part of bringing Pittsboro, Chatham County and Chapel Hill Transit together to lay the foundation of a future transit network that potentially will serve the needs of our community well into the future. Additionally, the Pittsboro Express is the realization of service on the 15-501 corridor that was recommended by the Special Transit Advisory Commission’s (STAC) Regional Transit Vision Plan, which was issued in May of 2008. STAC was a diverse citizen group comprised of thirty-eight (38) members from the Triangle area. The Regional Transit Vision Plan recommended a “high quality, regional transit system to serve North Carolina’s Research Triangle Region by promoting closer connections between our land use transportation patterns and providing more travel choices for our growing population.” The Pittsboro Express and its cooperation with Chatham Transit meet STAC’s goal of an “enhanced region wide bus network” that will “connect communities and bring communities presently unserved by transit into a regional transit network.” Additionally, the service is in line with the guiding transit principle of Triangle Tomorrow and the Urban Land Institute, which recommends, “improving regional transit” and “matching land use decisions with transit investments.” On August 10, 2009 the Town of Pittsboro became the first community in the Triangle to support the guiding principles of Triangle Tomorrow and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The executive director of Triangle Tomorrow, Pam Wall, applauded Pittsboro leaders for “…taking the important first step to ensure our region grows in sustainable ways and preserves the high quality of life that makes our region so economically competitive.” This important service has been endorsed by the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation, Chatham Transit, the Triangle Area Rural Planning Organization, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, the Pittsboro Town Board, and Chapel Hill Transit. The first link helps calculate your cost savings; the second link is the bus schedule: Randy Voller is Mayor of Pittsboro |