January 3, 2012 - 8:48am
North Carolina’s first modern toll road, the Triangle Expressway (“Tri-Ex”), begins collecting tolls today, Tuesday, January 3, on its first phase north of NC 540. The Toll 147 section of Tri-Ex, which opened to traffic in early December, extends highway 147 south more than three additional miles and creates a new signal-free connection between I-40 in Durham County with NC 540 in Wake County.
The Toll 147 turnpike freeway creates a new north-south connection through Research Triangle Park that avoids travel on I-40 and provides access to both Hopson Road and Davis Drive. Parallel connector roads between Hopson and Davis will serve as new, toll-free linkages for local RTP motorists.
November 17, 2011 - 2:24am
The Regional Transportation Alliance business leadership group held its 10th annual meeting on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at the Embassy Suites Raleigh/Durham/Research Triangle in Cary. The event included recognitions for outgoing RDU Airport Director John Brantley, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, Durham Mayor Bill Bell, and long-term investors in the RTA.
The celebration also included presentations on both the State of Mobility 2011 as well as a look to the future of transportation in our market, and remarks from incoming RDU Airport Director Michael Landguth. You can download the entire presentation deck from the event here.
October 11, 2011 - 2:28pm
Enhanced transit options in Durham and throughout the region will be increasingly important to our success and quality of life as we continue to grow. The RTA has formally issued a statement of support of the fall 2011 Durham transit referendum and enthusiastically supports the vision and leadership of Durham – the central county in our region – to move transit forward by authorizing a referendum on a half-cent sales tax for transit investment.
October 10, 2011 - 2:15pm
The RTA Steering Committee has endorsed the City of Raleigh’s transportation bond referendum proposal that is on the ballot for this Tuesday, October 11. We encourage all Raleigh residents to vote for the bond proposal and supportseveral projects that will improve the transportation network in the capital city.
May 10, 2011 - 11:59pm
All three through lanes are now open in both directions -- six lanes total -- for the I-40 Cary/Raleigh widening project. This means that the project has achieved substantial completion, and that represents welcome relief for travelers on the most traveled freeway in our area, and the culmination of a four-year long effort of NCDOT, the Capital Area MPO, and the RTA to advance improvements on this corridor.
May 10, 2011 - 9:02am
Richmond-Raleigh high speed rail line receives $4 million from the Federal Railroad Administration to complete its environmental study and update ridership and revenue estimates.
April 28, 2011 - 8:14am
Rising fuel prices have increased usage and support of public transportation in record numbers as of March 2011, according to Triangle Transit, our area's regional transit agency.
March 22, 2011 - 8:23am
Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) received a new accolade from Frommer's Travel Guides. The 42nd Street Oyster Bar restaurant in Terminal 2 was named one of the “Top 10 Airport Restaurants” list in the country!
March 15, 2011 - 11:29pm
The RTA business leadership group released the results of its annual transit poll on Tuesday, March 15. This is the third RTA poll since the approval of long-range transit plans by our region’s two metropolitan planning organizations for transportation in 2009. Area chambers of commerce provided significant funding for this cooperative poll on public transit.
March 8, 2011 - 10:58pm
At a packed 2011 RTA Transportation Breakfast on March 8, 2011, Durham, Orange, and Wake county leaders provided their perspectives on where our region stands on enhancing transit options for the continued improvement of our region’s economic vitality and quality of life.
February 24, 2011 - 1:21pm
The mayors of Durham, Richmond, Raleigh, and Norfolk -- and the chamber executives serving those communities -- jointly signed a one-page letter to President Obama, urging him to fund the Richmond-Petersburg-Raleigh high speed rail corridor via new or reallocated high speed rail funding. The Raleigh, NC - Richmond, VA linkage will save more than 90 minutes of travel time (and more than 30 miles) compared to the existing ~ 200 mile rail routing.
A one-page summary of the business case for the Raleigh-Richmond portion of the Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) corridor notes that SEHSR revenues are expected to exceed operating expenses, providing the basis for operation without any public operating subsidy. The Raleigh-Richmond-Washington-New York corridor received a score of 19.02 using the America 2050 methodology, which is among the highest scores in the United States.
January 8, 2011 - 8:00am
The Regional Transportation Alliance and fellow regional business organizations from Richmond and Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia presented a unified resolution supporting the advancement of higher speed rail in the southern mid-Atlantic region to the VA-NC High Speed Rail Compact legislative committee at their January 7, 2011 meeting in Richmond.
December 3, 2010 - 12:00pm
Business community representatives from the Richmond and Hampton Roads regions of Virginia and the Research Triangle region of North Carolina came together this week to discuss the importance of expanding intercity rail service in the southern Mid-Atlantic area, including the development of higher speed rail. Williams Mullen, a Southeastern based law firm with offices in all three regions, hosted the meeting at their Richmond headquarters on December 1st.
November 17, 2010 - 6:25pm
The RTA State of Mobility 2010 event held on Wednesday, November 17 at Embassy Suites in Cary and attended by more than 200 friends of transportation featured an interactive transit discussion as well as updates on recent transportation successes, upcoming priorities, and the state of transportation in our region.
November 1, 2010 - 11:59pm
September 9, 2010 - 11:59pm
Nearly 70 elected, transportation, and business leaders heard presentations about transit circulators at the RTA Solutions Forum 14 on September 9, 2010. Circulators were a primary recommendation by the Special Transit Advisory Commission (STAC) and are the "third leg" in the bus-rail-circulators transit stool.
August 25, 2010 - 11:57pm
Delta Air Lines announced a significant domestic service expansion at Raleigh-Durham International Airport starting in November 2010. There will be a total of 14 new frequencies at RDU . This increase in Delta service represents a 4% increase in overall seat capacity for RDU and represents a 20% increase in seats added by Delta.
August 16, 2010 - 9:00am
NCDOT is creating a second exit lane from I-540 West to I-40 West in Research Triangle Park. The project is moving quickly, with substantial completion expected by December 2010.
August 11, 2010 - 9:02am
NCDOT offers the free 511 service to travelers providing updated travel time info, traffic, and weather.
July 29, 2010 - 6:31pm
The East End Connector – the Triangle Connector to I-85 – is now slated to begin construction by 2014, according to the draft Urban Loop Prioritization Process Schedule (link).
July 29, 2010 - 8:48am
The vision for US 64 continues to advance in our region. Within the past month, a series of recommendations that incorporated resolutions by the RTA and the Cary and Apex chambers have been unanimously supported by both the Cary and Apex town councils.
June 21, 2010 - 3:00pm
Governor Perdue introduced the concept of a North Carolina Mobility Fund this spring with the immediate goal of improving the I-85/US 52 freeway at the Yadkin River bridge and the longer-term objective of providing a new source of revenue for critical transportation projects of statewide significance.
June 14, 2010 - 7:00pm
On Tuesday, June 15th, 2010, the I-40 Regional Partnership -- a cooperative initiative of the NC Department of Transportation, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, Triangle Transit, and the Regional Transportation Alliance -- focuses on the potential for operating buses on the shoulder of Interstate 40 during peak periods.
For more information about the June 15th meeting and the I-40 Regional Partnership, please visit letsgetmoving.org/i40.
May 18, 2010 - 10:26am
Starting Tuesday, June 1, 2010, NC 540 Davis Drive exit 67 will be permanately closed due to the construction of the Triangle Expressway turnpike project. NCDOT is encouraging motorists traveling on 540 to use either the N.C. 55 (Exit 66) or N.C. 54 (Exit 69) exits to access Davis Drive.
For additional information on the Triangle Expressway project, click here.
April 19, 2010 - 10:06am
RDU updates for the Paris flight and Midwest Airlines returns with non-stop service to Milwaukee.
April 13, 2010 - 9:30am
The chairs of the three local area county commissions: Tony Gurley, Chair, Wake County; Michael Page, Chair, Durham County; and Valerie Foushee, Chair, Orange County, described how each of their counties are developing initial implementation plans for regional transit at the 2010 RTA Transportation Breakfast. 
Nearly 200 elected, transportation, and business leaders gathered at the Research Triangle Park headquarters to learn about the advancement of potential transit offerings throughout the Triangle.
April 1, 2010 - 8:30am
Midwest Airlines returns with non-stop service to Milwaukee beginning April 1, 2010. The airline now operates twice daily service between the RDU & Milwaukee (MKE). Previously, Midwest offered service at RDU in 2007-08 and from 1998-2001.
March 26, 2010 - 8:30am
From RTA 1-minute news -- March 26, 2010
The 2010 SmartCommute Challenge will soon start throughout the Triangle! The challenge will take place April 15 through May 15, 2010. Plan to start on tax day making your commute less taxing-- pledge to ride the bus, bike, walk, vanpool, carpool, or work from home at least...
March 23, 2010 - 8:30am
Highlights:
>> Continued support for rail and expanded bus services throughout all three counties
>> Promising support for sales tax in all three counties
>> Respondents report that transit will benefit their quality of life
March 19, 2010 - 8:29am
Non-stop service to the West Coast returns to RDU this June. Delta Airlines is commencing a 6 day a week (except Saturday) service to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). These flights will depart RDU at 7:45am and arrive in Los Angeles around 10am. The departing flights from LAX will be of the overnight "red-eye" variety, leaving around 10pm and arriving the next day at RDU at 6am. Flights begin June 10th and you can buy your tickets to Hollywood starting Saturday. This non-stop service flight was previously in our market from June 2006-January 2008.
March 16, 2010 - 10:05am
If you missed the UNC-TV program "Blueprint North Carolina: Planning for the Future" that aired on February 9, 2010, the video is now posted on their Web site. The program was 27 minutes long; however, the portion with RTA speakers was less than 4 minutes in duration. See below for specifics.
March 3, 2010 - 8:30am
If you missed the UNC-TV program "Blueprint North Carolina: Planning for the Future" that aired on February 9, 2010, the video is now posted on their Web site. The program was 27 minutes long; however, the portion with RTA speakers was less than 4 minutes in duration. See below for specifics.
March 1, 2010 - 8:31am
Non-stop service to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) was announced in November 2008 for both Raleigh-Durham (RDU) and Pittsburgh (PIT), with flights expected to commence in June 2009. RDU's flight was subsequently delayed indefinitely. 
Pittsburgh's flight did begin in 2009 but has not met revenue targets. The Pittsburgh region and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...
March 1, 2010 - 8:30am
A Crabtree Valley area study open house will be held tonight, Monday, March 1st at 7pm in Raleigh Laurel Hills Community Center, 3808 Edwards Mill Rd. Preliminary recommendations will be highlighted, including potential transportation needs for urban transformation of the area.
January 4, 2010 - 8:30am
Join the Regional Transportation Alliance for our Annual Transportation Breakfast. Area elected officials will highlight the ongoing process for advancing a regional transit system, offering insights into key indicators and trends that impact our mobility, economy, and quality of life.
December 9, 2009 - 2:00pm
The Regional Transportation Alliance business leadership group celebrated the organization's tenth anniversary on Wednesday, December 9, 2009. More than 150 business, transportation, and elected leaders heard from RTA chair Rick Weddle of The Research Triangle Park, Founding chair Smedes York of York Properties, and RTA Executive Director Joe Milazzo II, PE who provided the annual State of Mobility presentation.
