Chapel Hill Transit celebrated its 45-year anniversary on Wednesday. Local and regional leaders came together to speak about the past and future of the system.
Speakers included U.S. Rep. David Price, who represents Orange County, Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger, Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle, UNC vice chancellor Jonathan Pruitt and the man of the hour, former Chapel Hill Mayor Howard Lee.
Lee, who started the transit system during his mayorship, spoke about its original inspirations.
"One is the University’s interest in wanting to provide opportunities for students to move around the campus and to move around the community,” he said. “The second was that we were really choking ourselves to death by not having enough parking for students."
The former mayor also compared the evolution of the transit system to the evolution of modern automobiles.
“We had a very crude bus system that ran in a very limited area,” he said. “But to look at the system today, and what it is, it’s absolutely amazing with the kind of buses that are being driven around the community and serving the citizens.”
Chapel Hill partners with the Town of Carrboro to fund Chapel Hill Transit, and Board of Aldermen member Damon Seils said the town is happy to be a partner.
“Carrboro today is spending almost $2 million in its annual operating budget in the Chapel Hill Transit, which is the biggest item in our budget every year,” he said. “Which is pretty impressive for a small town like ours.”
The speakers focussed on the successes of the transit system, which flourished in an area that many felt was incompatible with a transit system, Price said.
