Picture 60-foot orange buses zooming westward toward Research Triangle Park, unimpeded by traffic. If all goes according to plan, by 2035, bus rapid transit (BRT) will connect downtown Raleigh to RTP via downtown Cary, making a couple dozen stops along the way. Dedicated bus-only lanes, traffic signal prioritization, and off-board ticketing will make the trips faster than normal bus service. Western Wake commuters, rejoice.
The only losers in this scenario, arguably, are the residents of Morrisville—a densely-packed town where traffic is becoming a quality of life issue—who won’t have easy access to BRT because the planned route mostly circumvents their town. The Morrisville Town Council grappled with this disappointing reality at its work session last week.
“It’s bringing people from out of Morrisville through to RTP instead of benefiting the Morrisville population,” council member Vicki Scroggins-Johnson lamented…