Title
Commuter Rail Transit (CRT) Project Sponsor Designation
Bret Martin, MPO Staff
Body
The TPAC-commissioned core technical team (CTT) for the fixed guideway corridors major investment study (MIS) is pressing forward on its high-level, regional-scale evaluation of operations and station area alternatives for the commuter rail transit (CRT) component of the study. The CTT is currently in the process of transitioning from an evaluation of national peers, travel demand, and existing conditions along the corridor toward the development of system performance standards/targets, an evaluation framework, and the identification and evaluation of initial CRT operating and station area alternatives. To keep the study of the CRT corridor moving forward to support implementation of a project within the corridor by FY 2027 (the horizon year of the Wake Transit Plan), it is appropriate for the CAMPO Executive Board to begin the process of designating a project sponsor. The project sponsor would take on the responsibility of further developing a viable project, interfacing with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for any federal grants being pursued, and managing engineering, right-of-way acquisition, construction, or any other subsequent phases of project implementation toward an end of effectuating and operating CRT service. In effect, project sponsors absorb an ownership or lead role over certain phases of a project’s execution to ultimately bring the project to fruition.
CAMPO staff has received a memo from the contracted consultant for the fixed guideway corridors major investment study that recommends through supporting justification that GoTriangle be designated as the project sponsor for any viable CRT projects with independent utility that may be delineated within the MIS study corridor. This memo is provided as Attachment A. The high-level points of support outlined in the memo for GoTriangle to serve in this capacity include:
1) An existing organizational structure exhibiting an appropriate configuration to support the necessary technical capacity to implement the project;
2) The ability to leverage existing resources for a similar major capital transit project (i.e., Durham-Orange Light Rail);
3) Existing familiarity with and relationship with major partners that would be involved in project implementation (i.e., North Carolina Railroad, DCHC MPO, CAMPO, FTA, NCDOT, and impacted local government jurisdictions); and
4) Existing presence as a multi-jurisdictional transit provider with a board composed of regional representation.
CAMPO has been assigned as the lead agency responsible for administering the process of designating project sponsors for Wake County Transit Plan projects, and the CAMPO Executive Board has been designated as the appropriate authority for effectuating project sponsor designations for the plan’s CRT project. At the October 17th Executive Board meeting, the Board took unanimous action to invite GoTriangle to serve as project sponsor for any CRT projects with independent utility that may be delineated within the MIS study corridor from Garner to western Durham (Attachment B). The GoTriangle Board of Trustees responded to the CAMPO Executive Board on October 24, 2018, with a unanimous vote, to accept the project sponsor designation.
With the invitation from the CAMPO Executive Board for GoTriangle to serve as project sponsor for a CRT project, it was understood by the Board that a viable CRT project corridor or preliminary locally preferred alternative with logical termini, independent utility, and regional mobility benefits will need to be delineated from the MIS study corridor from Garner to western Durham before a final project sponsor designation can be finalized. It was also understood by the Executive Board that GoTriangle will develop a high-level project management plan detailing technical capacity for implementation of a CRT project and how it will transition from the high-level alternatives analyses associated with the MIS to undertaking project development activities (Attachment C).
Requested Action: Action Consider designating GoTriangle as project sponsor for any CRT projects with independent utility, subject to the guidance of the FTA, that may be delineated within the MIS study corridor from Garner to western Durham.