United States Representatives Valerie Foushee and Deborah Ross presented GoTriangle, the Research Triangle's regional public transportation network, with a $2,000,000 Community Project Funding check last week. These funds will be allocated toward research and development of the agency's brand-new, state-of-the-art Triangle Mobility Hub, a proposed multi-modal transit center which will be located within the Research Triangle Park (RTP) campus. 

This new hub, which is slated to begin construction in 2029, will be designed to serve as an "anchor point" for transit connectivity in the Triangle. Once built, it will be able to accommodate local and express fixed-routes, micro-transit, rideshare, and other future transportation options, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), passenger rail, and the Triangle Bikeway. After much rider feedback, the agency concluded that the most important highlights of the hub should be covered boarding bays and drop-off spaces for separate modes, climate-controlled waiting areas with Wi-Fi and phone charging, priority bus access to ensure reliability, and park-and-ride spaces for passengers traveling the "last mile" via car. 

The proposed new location would be right down the road from both the current Regional Transit Center (RTC) and the former TTA Bus Terminal. That was the agency's original transfer hub before the owner of the land it sat on essentially kicked them out in 2008 for reasons unbeknownst to me, forcing them into them into their current home, the clearly rushed Regional Transit Center. Located along the railroad tracks near the intersection of Slater Road and South Miami Boulevard, the TMH will be less than a mile from the RTP and Interstate 40, providing ease of access for all riders, no matter where they're coming from, or how they're getting there. 

Currently, this project is in the very early stages of its life, but official designs and renderings will begin development in the near future, thanks to a partnership with Hoffman & Associates, the same developer responsible for delivering the Raleigh Union Station Bus Facility (RUSBus) on time and under budget. Once it opens, it will finally give GoTriangle a permanent place that they can call home, that they have total control over, from all aspects.