Following the adoption of the Durham County Transit Annual Work Program (“Work Program”), project sponsors and/or Durham County Transit lead agency staff may need to make changes, referred to as amendments, to the scope or budget of the Work Program.

The Staff Working Group Administrator develops an annual Work Program Amendment Schedule that establishes the amendment request submission deadlines and public review periods for the upcoming fiscal year. There are three amendment cycles each fiscal year, which occurs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters.

NOTICE: The Public Comment Period for 4th Quarter Amendments to the FY2025 Durham Transit Work Program is now open. Public comments will be received from March 20, 2025 -   April 10, 2025.

The Durham County Staff Working Group Administrator received three (3) amendment requests for consideration in the FY2025 4th Quarter amendment cycle. Per the Durham County Transit Work Plan Amendment Policy, a review period of no less than 21 days is required for Major amendments.

The requested Major amendments are summarized below:

GoTriangle

1. Low Income Fare Pass (TAP – Transit Assistance Program) – The TAP program was received enthusiastically by riders. Over 12,000 individuals have benefited from the program on GoTriangle or GoRaleigh since July 2024. The TAP benefit accounts for about 40% of GoTriangle’s ridership. This level of adoption is in line with 2023 rider survey data which found that 51% of GoTriangle riders reported their income at or below $35,000. Due to the robust adoption of the TAP program, GoTriangle is seeking increased funding for the program in all three counties based on TAP ridership across each county.
   
   The proposed amendment will increase the TAP project by $146,000. GoTriangle is also proposing to reduce the budgets of two projects, the Youth GoPass and Fare Collection Improvements. These projects are proposed to be reduced by $14,000 each, for a total reduction of $28,000.
   
   FY25 Budget Impact: Increases by $118,000
   
   
2.  Paratransit Expansion - GoTriangle requests additional funding to cover year-to-date and anticipated usage of paratransit services. The growth in Paratransit utilization is consistent with the increase on Sunday and Saturday ridership on fixed route services - more than double what we saw in FY19, when the budget for Paratransit expansion services was last adjusted.
   
   FY25 Budget Impact: Increases by $40,000
   
   City of Durham
   
   
3. Direct Investment in Mobility Equity (DIME) Grant – The DIME grant enables GoDurham to remain fare-free in FY 2025 by contributing $0.10 for each low-income bus trip provided by GoDurham. 10% is approximately the farebox recovery in FY2019 (11.4%). 87% of GoDurham riders are low-income with incomes below $35,000/yr per 2022 on-board customer satisfaction survey. In the FY 2025 work program, the grant assumed 4.3 million unlinked passenger trips for the year. During the first half of fiscal year 2025, GoDurham provided 3,531,588 passenger trips and is projected to provide more than 7 million passenger trips for the year. The City of Durham requests additional DIME grant funding for this project to support the additional ridership. 
   
   FY25 Budget Impact: Increases by $240,496
   
   Overall FY25 Budget Impact: Increases by $398,496
   
   For a more in-depth examination of the FY25 Q4 amendments, please click the link below.
   
   FY25 Q4 Amendment Packet
   
   Public Comments for the FY2025 4th Quarter Amendment Requests may be sent to TransitPlan@dconc.gov. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.