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.