Current Transit Service in the Triangle

The Research Triangle region currently has multiple transit providers operating services built on bus and van service:

• Regional: Triangle Transit

• Municipal: Cary Transit (C-Tran), Capital Area Transit (CAT), Chapel Hill Transit and Durham Area Transit (DATA)

• University: Duke University Transit and NCSU’s Wolfline

• Durham, Orange and Wake counties each operate community paratransit transportation systems, which provide transportation for human services clients and people living outside urbanized areas

In 2005, CAT, DATA, Chapel Hill Transit and Triangle Transit combined to provide over 14.4 million passenger trips, carrying Triangle residents over 53.3 million passenger miles. These figures represent a 27% increase in passenger trips and a 56% increase in passenger miles over the year 2000. 

Rail passenger service is provided by Amtrak which operates intercity rail service within North Carolina and beyond. There are Amtrak stations open 365 days per year in Cary, Durham and Raleigh. In 2007, 181,379 passengers boarded Amtrak trains at these three Triangle stations.  Durham is served by four trains each day, including service to Charlotte, Washington DC and New York. Cary and Raleigh are served by the same trains as Durham, as well as two more trains connecting to Columbia, SC, Savannah, GA, Orlando, FL and Miami, FL. In 2006, two North Carolina trains, the Piedmont and the Carolinian, were among national leaders in train ridership growth, with 25% and 17% increases in the number of passengers, respectively. An additional mid-day roundtrip between Raleigh, Durham and Charlotte is planned to begin spring 2010 to meet increasing passenger demand

North Carolina is receiving $545 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for further development of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, a nearly 500-mile route that will allow trains to travel between Charlotte, Durham, Raleigh and Washington, D.C. at top speeds of up to 90-110 miles per hour and an average speed of 86 mph. 

Transit Service	Description	Maps & Schedules
Capital Area Transit (CAT)	Capital Area Transit provides bus service throughout the city of Raleigh.  also provides paratransit service by Accessible Raleigh Transit (ART)	VIEW SCHEDULES & MAPS System Map (pdf) R-Line Free Downtown Circulator
Cary Transit (C-Tran)	Cary Transit provides bus service throughout the town of Cary. Cary also provides paratransit service.	VIEW SCHEDULES & MAPS View System Map (pdf)
Chapel Hill Transit (CHT)	Chapel Hill Transit provides bus service throughout Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the UNC community; and an Express route from Pittsboro to UNC. also provides paratransit service by the EZ Rider Program	VIEW SCHEDULES & MAPS Real-Time Bus Locator View System Maps
Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA)	DATA provides bus service throughout the city of Durham and paratransit service through ACCESS into the County.	VIEW SCHEDULES & MAPS View System Map (pdf)
NC State University Wolfline	The Wolfline provides bus service to all three NC State University campuses and the surrounding area.	VIEW SCHEDULES AND MAPS Real-Time Bus Locator View System Map (pdf)
Triangle Transit	Triangle Transit provides regional bus service to Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, RTP, RDU, Apex, Hillsborough, Knightdale, Zebulon, Wendell, Garner and Wake Forest. TT also provides paratransit service by T-Linx	VIEW SCHEDULES & MAPS View System Map (pdf)