The City of Raleigh is pleased to announce the Wake Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): New Bern Avenue project received $35 million in funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on December 17. Funding is provided through the FTA’s Capital Investment Grants (CIG) Program. Projects accepted into the CIG Program must go through a multi-year, multi-step process to be eligible for consideration to receive program funds.
This allocation is a key step in the process of bringing BRT to the community. The City of Raleigh will continue advancing design for the BRT New Bern Avenue project including coordination with the FTA to demonstrate readiness to receive a construction grant agreement under the CIG Program. The New Bern Avenue corridor will complete 60 percent design in the first quarter of calendar year 2021.
BRT is a high-capacity bus-based transit system that delivers fast and efficient service that may include dedicated lanes, busways, traffic signal priority, off-board fare collection, elevated platforms and enhanced stations.
GoRaleigh proposes to implement BRT along the 5.1-mile corridor of New Bern Avenue connecting the Raleigh central business district with the WakeMed Raleigh Campus and New Hope Road. The project includes construction of approximately 3.3 miles of new dedicated transit infrastructure improvements between GoRaleigh Station in downtown Raleigh and the WakeMed Campus at Sunnybrook Road, and approximately 1.8 miles of service in general traffic lanes between Sunnybrook Road and New Hope Road. The project also includes transit signal priority at signalized intersections throughout the 5.1-mile corridor and ten weather-protected BRT stations. All BRT stations will be designed to include BRT specific branding, off-board fare payment, level boarding platforms, real-time bus arrival information, schedule and route information, and universal ADA accessibility. The terminus at New Hope Road will serve a proposed Park and Ride and transfer facility that is a separately funded project.
BRT also supports the City’s Strategic Plan to develop an equitable and accessible citywide transportation network for pedestrians, cyclists, automobiles and transit that is linked to regional municipalities, rail and air hubs.
There are many important partners helping to make BRT a reality for our region, including the Wake County Transit Planning Advisory Committee, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, GoTriangle, the Wake County Board of Commissioners, North Carolina Congressional leaders, Raleigh City Council and of course the FTA.