Развитие общественного транспорта в регионе Research Triangle: история и перспективы.

The Research Triangle Regional Public Transportation Authority, known as GoTriangle (previously Triangle Transit and Triangle Transit Authority or TTA), provides regional bus service to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina in Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. The GoTriangle name was adopted in 2015 as part of the consolidated GoTransit branding scheme for the Triangle. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

The 1989 session of the North Carolina General Assembly enabled the creation of the Triangle Transit Authority as a regional public transportation authority serving Durham, Orange, and Wake counties. The new unit of local government was chartered by the NC Secretary of State on December 1, 1989. 1991 – the NC General Assembly, subject to County approvals, authorized Triangle Transit to levy a vehicle registration tax of up to $5 per registration. This tag tax finances the regional bus operations, vanpooling program, and planning program. 1992 – the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) completed the Triangle Fixed Guideway Study, after securing a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to study long range regional public transportation for the three county Triangle region (Durham, Orange, and Wake). Feb 1995 – TTA Board of Trustees adopted the Preliminary Recommendations for a Regional Transit Plan, after evaluating several alternatives and received feedback from land use and transportation professionals, elected officials and the public. In January 2003, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a Record of Decision (ROD), confirming that all required analyses, mitigation, and public involvement objectives had been met. Ten members are appointed by the region's principal municipalities and counties and three members are appointed by the North Carolina Secretary of Transportation. Planning for a regional transit system began in the early 1990s under the guidance of the Triangle Transit Authority. In 1992, the Triangle Fixed Guideway Study was completed after securing a grant from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to study long range regional public transportation for the three county Triangle region (Durham, Orange, and Wake). The study examined regional economic growth opportunities and identified potential locations for growth, corridors that could connect these growth areas, and changes in land use that would need to take place to support transit. Recommendations from the plan were adopted by the TTA Board of Trustees in 1995, and were incorporated into the region's long range transportation plans. The 17.7 mile light rail service connects the UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill to NCCU in Durham, serving major locations in the two regions. The Environmental Impact Analysis for the Durham Orange LRT project, from 2012 to 2016 with environmental monitoring, delineation of the potential project boundaries and alignment, and agency communication and coordination. In July 2017, GoTriangle received approval from the Federal Transit Administration to proceed from initial “Project Development” to “New Starts Engineering,” which means GoTriangle will work closely with FTA over the next few years to finalize the project design. Entry into the engineering phase means our region will be on track to receive over $1 billion in federal investment, which accounts for 50 percent of the total project funding, which is funded by state funding and sale taxes.

GoTriangle is a regional bus service, offering a wide variety of transit and vanpool services around the Research Triangle. Operating service around the major cities of Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, and Apex. GoTriangle is a supporting agency of the Special Transit Advisory Commission's work to plan for the region's transit future. The STAC completed its work in May 2008 and has provided its recommendations to the area's two planning organizations: Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) and Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO).

GoTriangle's operates a fleet of Gillig Low Floor buses for its fixed route service. They also operate paratransit buses for their ACCESS program. All buses have bike racks on, which can support up to two bikes. This is to improve public transit usage for the system. All buses are Wi Fi enabled, either built in or retrofitted for any model before 2017.

During the three phases of the company, they went through three livery changes. The first one, used by TTA until 2007, utilized a white, dark green, and black body with a single stripe in the white body. The second one, used when it was rebranded to Triangle Transit, used a more vibrant livery. It uses a yellow green body with orange, white, and blue waves on the body. When the company revamped itself to GoTriangle, it used the same livery as the other GoTransit operators around them. They used a gray base, with hues of green triangles around the back. Despite the switchover to GoTriangle, some buses operating that were made before 2012 retains the old Triangle Transit livery. The top stripe displays their new motto, Connecting all points of the Triangle.

GoRaleigh is the transit agency serving Raleigh. Service operates from 4:30am–12:00am Monday Saturdays, and roughly 5:00am–11:00pm during Sundays. They currently run 35 routes, separated into local routes, 'L' Circulator routes, and 'X' Express routes. Most routes serve GoRaleigh Station, which is located near Moore Square. The terminal also serves GoTriangle's 100 and 300 routes at all times and GoTriangle's 105, 301, 305, CRX, and DRX routes during peak hours only.

GoDurham is the transit system serving Durham. Service runs from 5:30 am–12:30 am during Mondays Saturdays, and from 6:30 am–9:30 pm during Sundays. They operate 21 bus routes. Almost all routes serve Durham Station, located near the Amtrak station. The terminal serves GoTriangle's 400 and 700 routes at all times and GoTriangle's 405, DRX, and ODX routes during peak hours only.

Chapel Hill Transit is the transit system serving Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Service operates from 5 am to 1:15 am during weekdays, 8 am to 6:30 pm during Saturdays, and from 10:30 am to 11:30 pm during Sundays. They currently operate 20 routes, including express routes. They serve the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, serving as a major transfer hub for all routes. The terminal serves GoTriangle's 400 and 800 routes at all times and GoTriangle's 405, 420, 805, and CRX routes during peak hours only. Chapel Hill is building an 8.2 mile Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with a projected cost of $125 million to commence passenger service in 2020 with annual operating cost of $3.4 million.

GoCary is the transit system serving Cary and operates GoApex, which serves Apex. Service runs between 6 am to 10 pm between Mondays Saturdays and 7 am to 9 pm. They operate 8 routes. They also service GoApex, which only runs one route. They also offer paratransit services. All GoCary routes serve Cary Station, while GoApex Route 1 serves Downtown Apex. GoTriangle's 300 route serves Cary Station at all times and GoTriangle's 310 route during weekdays. Downtown Apex is served by GoTriangle's 305 and 311 routes during peak hours only.

Orange Public Transportation is a transit program serving Hillsborough, Outer Chapel Hill, and Carrboro. They offer fixed route bus service and paratransit services. They currently run three fixed route circulator routes. All routes serve Downtown Hillsborough. This area is served by GoTriangle's 405, 420, and ODX routes during peak hours only.

GoTriangle was planning a 17.7 mile (28 km) light rail line between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Durham, traveling through Duke University and paralleling the North Carolina Railroad alignment through Durham and proceeding to North Carolina Central University (NCCU). The original project was estimated at $1.4 billion (in 2011). The final project was estimated to cost $2.5 billion (year of expenditure) or $141 million per mile with an annual operating cost of $28.7 million. The line would have had a connection to Amtrak via its station in Durham. A final environmental impact statement was released by GoTriangle in February 2016, projecting 23,020 daily trips in 2040. The line was projected to begin construction in 2020 and be complete by 2028 but ultimately was discontinued in April 2019.

After the failure of the Durham–Orange Light Rail project, GoTriangle began studying the possibility of instating a commuter rail service which would serve Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Research Triangle Park, and Garner, possibly as far as Clayton. In 2023, the Federal Transit Administration revealed that it would not be providing funds for rail construction, citing the downturn in transit utilization following the COVID 19 pandemic. Officials indicated that bus rapid transit projects would be encouraged to proceed for providing transit in the area.