Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton has published a book on transit in Orange County, just in time for Tuesday’s transit vote.
The vote will decide whether to approve a half cent sales tax, which would fund the construction of a light rail transit system Chapel Hill and Durham.
The self-published book, “Farewell Forever, Old Road to Durham: Lessons from the History of Transportation Planning in the NC Piedmont,” tells the story of the State University Railroad spur and the Cape Fear Navigation Company.
Chilton said he first became interested in local transit while investigating Carrboro’s origins for the town’s centennial last year.
“I did all of the research a couple of years ago,” he said. “But I thought now would be a good time to bring it up with the vote on Tuesday.”
On Friday, Chilton read from his book at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, where the book will be sold exclusively. Jamie Fiocco, co-owner of Flyleaf Books, said the community is interested in transit history.
“We want to give a voice to locally published authors who have something that we feel other people want to hear about,” she said.
Steve Dear, a Carrboro resident who attended the reading, commended Chilton for documenting history.
“I wish all North Carolina mayors put in the time to learn the history of their community in such detail and at the same time bring a vision for a future that improves on the past,” he said.
