Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines 89.9 Chadbourn
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Orange County Voters Consider Sales Tax Increase For Transportation

Orange County voters will decide whether to support a tax increase for public transportation on Election Day. The measure is part of a regional plan to improve transit across the Triangle.

Voters in Orange County will choose whether to vote for a half-cent sales tax increase on November sixth. If they approve the measure, the tax would generate about five million dollars a year for new buses and improved service, an Amtrak station in Hillsborough and a proposed light rail connection from UNC to downtown Durham.

The Orange County measure is one piece of the puzzle to improve public transportation across the region. Durham County voters approved a similar sales tax increase last year. But earlier this year in Wake County, commissioners declined to put a half-cent sales tax increase before voters this November. Long-range transit planners hope to have sales tax measures approved in all three counties as part of a master plan to allow residents to travel throughout the Triangle easily and efficiently on public transit.

Jessica Jones covers both the legislature in Raleigh and politics across the state. Before her current assignment, Jessica was given the responsibility to open up WUNC's first Greensboro Bureau at the Triad Stage in 2009. She's a seasoned public radio reporter who's covered everything from education to immigration, and she's a regular contributor to NPR's news programs. Jessica started her career in journalism in Egypt, where she freelanced for international print and radio outlets. After stints in Washington, D.C. with Voice of America and NPR, Jessica joined the staff of WUNC in 1999. She is a graduate of Yale University.
More Stories