Yes. ALL articles come from people or sources that are predisposed towards an opinion. That is the way things are nowadays. But complaining about reading a variety of opinions seems limiting. I obviously read the article but I still want Light Rail for Raleigh (knowing that it will probably never happen). But its good to understand the varying opinions out there and understand what those opposing your own opinion are thinking.
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Let’s focus on the bigger question here maybe. Should policy change because of this pandemic? Or do we fight our way out of this, put the pieces back together, and continue on? What’s the cost/benefits to you? (the general you, not anyone here specifically)
I would support better preparedness and resiliency. I would love for us to look at how we could have responded faster, have plans in place in healthcare and economic stimulus so supplies can be ramped up quickly and money put in pockets faster.
I feel once its over though, people will get into their new rhythm of life and perhaps not be willing to pay for that. And the debate continues.
As for transit, I understand the health debate over how transit and it’s efficient use of space makes disease spreading much more likely compared to teleworking or single-use vehicles. My gut tells me the cost of transit investments is still worth it when you look at the historical data of disease outbreaks.
If we want to accept a future where pandemics are more common and we choose that future, then ok, I can be convinced that transit is not a good investment. I’ll work towards a pandemicless future first though.
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Fair point but the Federalist and this article specifically is particularly biased and they aren’t exactly known for diving deep into the issues. Its barely even an article - just a few paragraphs of the same, tired, conservative stance against mass transit plus now Covid. Its a propaganda piece against mass transit and not any sort of meaningful hypothesis on why NYC got hit harder than the rest of the country.
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I love the suburbs. Wouldn’t live in downtown for anything. But I also love working downtown. Get the best of both worlds. Not only am I for mass transit, I am for Light Rail as I want the best mass transit that we can get. Severely disappointed in the failure in our neighboring counties as I think we will never get Light Rail now.
ahhhh … Phil you removed the post I was responding to… haha
I stand by my comments - It was removed for me.
Hopefully a lot more companies will allow and encourage more telecommuting goign forward. Decreasing need for daily commutes across the board (car or otherwise). However, IMO we should not just throw up our hands with Mass Transit. A lot of other world cities do have extensive mass transit networks, and did not experience the mass outbreak that NY did. So the correlation between mass transit it and disease outbreak is pretty weak.
And with the upcoming climate crisis, which likely will have a greater global impact then Covid-19, we will need less reliance on gas powered cars.
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Right - In my opinion the severity of the outbreak in this country vs others comes down to competence at the top (cough Trump cough cough) and quality of the health care system.
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Good article with mix of sides but includes rebuttal of arguments in previous article.
To Leo’s question, I think this article posits that transit is still essential to moving some during a pandemic and in the long run I agree with Leo that being better prepared while still rolling out plans for transit expansion is the best approach.
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One other thing, I was thinking about the people I would usually see on my bus pre-C and it did seem like some of them were sick from time to time. These folks seemed like they were just trying to make ends meet and visiting a doctor or education around things like exercise probably seem like a luxury to them. I know some people just don’t take care of themselves but I believe if we somehow took better care, at least health wise, of those less fortunate, then we’d see a reduction in those using transit that are sick as well as a range of other benefits. This isn’t directly tied to transit expansion but I think in this context they both need to work together for better outcomes for everyone.
Have to agree with @Kanatenah and @Phil here. The severity of the outbreak in NY wasn’t due to the mass transit system. It was due to lack of preparedness and experience containing such outbreaks. If you don’t prepare for a risk or even take it seriously, then the areas of society most vulnerable to that risk are where the risk will have the biggest impact when it comes to fruition.
Remember what Trump said on Jan. 22 in response to a question about whether or not he was concerned about coronavirus: "No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
If we double down on auto-dependency, as the Federalist article suggests we should, then those who are auto dependent will get slammed when the fuel supply gets cut off or interrupted (Katrina, oil embargo).
It’s hard to take the Federalist article seriously with lines like this: " Instead, the transit lobby persuaded Congress to give transit agencies $25 billion so they could continue spreading the virus to more people." 
C’mon.
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Been really interesting to watch this play out. If you were looking for a reason to go after transit then, “NYC has the most transit I know about and they have lots of Covid, so I was right!”
But if you look at NYC, their burbs (The Wake Forest’s) of NYC had the worst outbreaks. The fact that really opened my eyes was that Manhattan had way less cases per population than Staten Island which has no subways and the most car ownership of the 5 Boroughs.
The really interesting comparison that some really good books will be written about is NYC to San Fran. First case on the same day and SF really got ahead of this thing while NYC did not and lots of people have died as a result.
Both has lots of Mass Transit.
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Here is the latest info on the Triangle Bikeway
Triangle Bikeway Implementation Study
The Capital Area MPO, in cooperation with the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO are planning in FY 2020 to conduct an Implementation Study for a regional bicycle connection from Raleigh to the Park Center site at Research Triangle Park in Durham County via a separated greenway type facility generally following the I-40 corridor; and a Feasibility Study between the Park Center site and US 15-501 in Chapel Hill; which will also address bicycle/pedestrian facility gaps along NC 54 in Durham County. The Implementation Study will build upon feasibility study work completed by Wake County. The purpose of this bikeway is to serve commuters between Raleigh, Durham, Cary, RTP and Morrisville; and connect with existing and extensions of a planned facility in the City and County of Durham, which ultimately connects to US 15-501 in the Town of Chapel Hill. An RFP for this study was advertised between June 26 and July 26, 2019. Candidate interviews have occurred, and negotiations have been finalized with the consultant team of McAdams; leading to a “Notice to Proceed” as of the end of March 2020. The consultant staff have used this time to work on website development and preparing case studies associated with regional bikeway projects that have been done nationwide.
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Glad this is moving forward - thanks for keeping us updated!
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As a Chapel Hill resident, I haven’t physically seen how Raleigh is doing transit-wise, lately. But with Phase 1 reopening of our long road to recovery starting tomorrow, I was thinking about what we (as a region) need to be doing better to make sure we come out of this pandemic better than we started. Then I ran into this article:
In Chapel Hill, a lot of people have very much stopped commuting to work (or really going anywhere), and are driving when possible for the few trips they have to make. But the essential workers who are still helping us keep the world go 'round are relying on transit. People in my side of the Triangle understand these are the people who truly need transit help from the Town -as well as how it’s a great starting point to make public transit better for everyone else, too, starting this summer.
I think we can take that for granted in my side of the Triangle, but how’s Raleigh on this front? City Council meeting records make it sound like Raleigh’s not seeing the opportunities hidden between the lines, unless I missed something…
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They aren’t focused on that right now, there trying to save the city.
It will be interesting to see the positive longer-term impacts of this event and how long they last. An example related to your post is how many people will work remotely now that they have figured out how to do it better and now that many companies were forced to see that it can work. I already worked from home on Fridays and, although my employer doesn’t know it, I plan to remain working remotely on Mondays as well. Will others take the same approach? Will there be enough doing that to make an impact?
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Ah, I am telling…Lol 
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I just want to say thank you for writing you comment, as I was reading, it made me re-think of how and where Transit is going in the future here in Raleigh. Again, not many people own a Car to get to Work or to school, to the Airport to catch their flight. You have service workers that work in Shops, stores, restaurants,barber shops and salons, auto parts stores, etc. They may or may not own cars to get to work. Here in Raleigh folks that may travel to Durham or Chapel Hill or Cary to get to these jobs by Public Transit, is in my view, Vital. myself included, which is why I posted the title piece. I’m not an expert of transit in any means, just that I have used mass transit for much of my life now and it has not only got me to point A to B, but it has made my life a little better, and my wallet too ( $$$ ) as far as cost. I do own a Car but I choose at times not to use my car and take the goraleigh buses to get around, shop, meet a friend for lunch. I do believe that GoRaleigh/GoTriangle are making strives and an effort to provide a service to the region,shouldn’t we do the same in riding the buses. GoRaleigh/GoTrianlge is an essential service that we can not afford to get rid of, it is a need, a much needed and invested service for everyone.
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Hey folks, GoTriangle is trying new things to get feedback on the various transit projects being planned for 2021, in Wake, Orange, and Durham counties. The shut down has caused a drop in sales tax revenues to pay for projects so they are in re-plan mode. The link attached has surveys about each of those. Also, there are presentations and surveys on changes in service planned by Wake and Durham counties, Wake Park and Ride plans and a Regional Transit Center Study. BEST PART: For a limited time GoTriangle will donate 50 meals to the Food Bank for every survey taken! This is a great way to give your opinion and give to the community most in need at this time. Take all the surveys which interest you and pass this along to everyone you know! http://goforwardnc.org/give-feedback/
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Nice opinion piece published in the N&O today. Says the DOT should stop wasting money on billion-dollar highway expansions that might save commuters a few minutes, and focus instead on projects that strengthen communities, such as better bike lanes and bus service.
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