News

BRT moves forward in Raleigh 

BRT in North Carolina achieved a significant milestone this week. The City of Raleigh held a bid opening this past Friday afternoon for the initial section of BRT along New Bern Avenue — the first BRT project in the city, region, and Carolinas. There were four bids received and opened for this initial construction segment between Downtown Raleigh and Poole Rd., and they have an apparent low bidder.

The City will be reviewing the bids for responsiveness over the next few days, and they hope to award a contract as soon as this coming Tuesday, July 1 at the next City Council meeting. Assuming approval by Council next week, construction activities for this initial section (which includes paving, sidewalk, and utility work) would commence later this summer, and take up to 30 months to complete. The bid packages for the remaining segments of New Bern Avenue BRT will be released in the coming weeks.

I was pleased to attend the bid opening on Friday afternoon at the City of Raleigh municipal building. Congratulations to the City for receiving multiple bids, and thank you to all contractors who bid on this section or considered doing so. This is a very important time for bus rapid transit and buses resembling trains in the metropolitan Triangle  …  because we are now getting very close to Building Roads for Transit in our market and creating the momentum to accelerate our regional BRT network. The regional business community will be highlighting BRT and enhanced regional transit at our annual RTA brunch event later this summer on August 8.

A rapid survey to take about faster intercity rail across North Carolina

As I noted in a previous blog, NCDOT supported passenger rail is a viable intercity transportation solution in North Carolina thanks to the work of the Department and key partners, and it is only getting better. From receiving a significant federal grant to improve the Raleigh to Greensboro segment, to celebrating the largest federal grant in NCDOT history for any mode of transportation to advance the future Raleigh-Wake Forest-Richmond higher speed linkage, intercity passenger rail is thriving in our state.

Of course, even good things can be improved. NCDOT recognizes this and is asking for riders for feedback. “We’re excited to discuss new service options between Raleigh and Charlotte,” said NCDOT Rail Division Director Jason Orthner. “Hearing from members of the community… how they use the service and what improvements they would like to see is an important part of that planning and the service’s success.”

Please click on this link to take the survey — the response deadline is this coming Monday, June 30, 2025. Thank you in advance for considering this; please feel free to forward to your associates. Let me know if you have questions.

Let’s get moving,

Joe Milazzo II, PE
RTA executive director