GoDurham

Early years The City of Durham assumed the operation of the local Duke Power bus system in January 1991, naming it Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA). • 1891–1902 – Durham Street Railway Co. • 1902–1913 – Durham Traction Co. • 1913–1921 – Durham Traction Co. (Cities Service Co.) • 1921–1943 – Durham Public Service Co. (Cities Service Co.) • 1930 – streetcars discontinued • After 1943 – Duke Power Company 2000s & 2010s DATA Upgrades To benefit riders and to replace aging equipment, DATA purchased 31 new Gillig Low Floors in 2002. The first bus arrived on April 16, 2003. The next day on April 17, the bus ran in revenue service on Route 7. The first bus ran through all routes, fare-free. These buses included LED destination signs, longer 40-foot buses, and automated announcements. Service Expansions In 2005, DATA collaborated and funded with Capital Area Transit (now GoRaleigh) and Triangle Transit Authority (now GoTriangle) to create a route connecting the DATA Downtown Terminal with the Brier Creek Shopping Center in Raleigh. The new route, designated 15, began in November 2005. The downtown terminal, located at Great Jones St and W Main St, was relocated to a new transportation center, named Durham Station. This also serves the GoTriangle and Greyhound Lines buses on February 22, 2009. It later served Megabus and FlixBus. The building was designed by the Freelon group. Triangle Transit merged operations with DATA in 2010. As a result, Triangle Transit (now GoTriangle) handled management, planning, and marketing for the transit company. In 2011, DATA, along with GoTriangle began the Designing Better Bus Service project, a project offering the following improvements: • Better on-time performance. • Revamped routes, with new alignments and variants. • Improved bus stops. These revamped routes debuted in two phases. Phase One, which affected routes 1 (became 1/1A/1B/1N), 6 (became 6/6B), and 11 (became 11/11B) began on September 29, 2012. Phase 2, affecting the rest of the routes began on January 9, 2013. DATA to GoDurham In 2015, as part of the GoTransit naming scheme, DATA was renamed GoDurham. Total ridership, for the fiscal year 2015 was almost 6.3 million ridership. To improve service, GoTriangle introduced GoDurham's Short-Range Transit Plan in April 2019. 2022 brought more restorations. To provide lost service to Croasdaile Crossings previously served by the 1 route, on February 1, 2022, route 6 service was extended to serve Croasdaile Crossings during weekday daytime hours. Major restorations occurred on October 28, when GoDurham restored 15-minute service, discontinuing the 5K route again, minor changes to the 11/11B routes, and restoring the 12B route, servicing RTC. 2023 saw most service return to pre-COVID levels. On February 13, full service returned on route 7. On June 24, routes 2, 8, 11/11B were restored to full frequencies and service. In October, GoDurham plans to get full service restored by early 2024. On November 11, routes 1 and 4 will have restored overnight service, Frequent Service Network on route 5 will be active on Saturdays, and 10/10B will have expanded service. Service was restored to January 2020 levels with the service changes on routes 1/6/12/12B on January 27th, 2024. Route 1 was interlined with route 6, route 6 was restored to 30 minute frequencies, and 12/12B service runs to Saturday. Service Expansions After restoring service, GoDurham started to improve existing service with the April 27th service changes, that focused that every route would see 30-minute service. This saw routes 9A/9B and 12B have overnight/Sunday hours and increased night/Sunday frequencies to 30-minutes on routes 6, 7, and 8. North Durham saw improvements on August 2024, which affected routes 1, 4, 6, and 9. Changes include Route 1 being partially extended to Riverside High School and route 4 being extended to Tom Wilkinson Road. Route 6 is extended past Duke/VA, bringing a new crosstown connection, serving Horton Road and Danube Lane, and route 9 being shortened to Duke Regional Hospital. All routes run every 30-minutes all day. East and South Durham saw improvements around August to November 2025, which affects routes 3/3B/3C, 5, 8, and 12/12B. Changes include frequency increases on routes 3 and 16 (renamed from 3B), route 5 extending to service NC-54, route 8 extending to serve NC-55, route 12 being shortened to NC-54 and Alston Avenue with route 12B being eliminated, and a new crosstown route connecting Durham Tech, NCCU, and The Village. Improvements on routes 3 and 16 will see Holloway St have a bus arrive better than 15-minutes until 7 pm weekdays, which is a first for GoDurham's history. However, this was since been on hold until further notice. == Fares & Service Hours ==

GoDurham is currently fare-free until June 2026. GoDurham currently runs in three service patterns. Weekday daytime hours which run from 5:30 am to 7:00 pm, weekday evening hours which runs from 7:00 pm to 12:30 am, and Sundays which runs from 6:30 am to 9:30 pm Sunday-level service is also operated during New Years, MLK Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving Day. There is no service on Christmas Day. Service operates normally on Christmas Eve; however, service ends after 7:30 pm. == Fleet ==

Color Schemes The fleet livery changed throughout the years. The first ever livery, prior to 2003, had buses utilized blue stripes over a white body. However, with the introduction of Gillig Low Floors in 2003, buses used a white body with red, yellow, and blue stripes. In 2010 with the delivery of new Gillig BRT Hybrids, a new livery was created, which featured a brighter color, arc scheme on the buses. As the result of the transition to GoDurham, the livery was changed into a gray body with blue triangles in different hues. Retrofitted buses, which are the buses before the rebranding retain the black trim. All buses delivered after 2017 lack any black trim. The slogan used for the buses was changed to Connecting the Bull City. Current fleet GoDurham's fixed-route service currently runs 58 vehicles, running on 21 routes. GoDurham currently operates Gillig Low Floor, Gillig BRT, and Gillig Low Floor Plus buses. They currently run diesel, hybrid and electric buses. As part of the clean-energy program, 20 Gillig BRT Hybrids were delivered to the city in 2009–2010. Bicycle racks are fitted to the front of all buses to increase efforts for public transit. All buses are equipped with Wi-Fi on board. USB ports were introduced with the 2018-2019 units. In 2019, GoDurham placed an order for six electric buses. Two of these buses were delivered on Earth Day 2021. The rest of the fleet arrived in 2023, to replace aging units. Further, in February 2024 it was announced that 18 more electric buses are to be received in the following two years. The 2023 Gillig electric units now feature next stop information screens. As of now, this is the current fleet as of August 2024. Retired Fleet == Routes ==

Current Routes Here is the list of routes in the current system as of March 2025. All routes depart from Durham Station. Refer to the GoDurham site for more information. Most routes run every 30 to 60 minutes. Select routes run under the Frequent Service Network program, which provides 15-minute service during daytime hours and 30 minute service during evening, Sundays, and Holidays. Former Routes == Future ==

GoDurham Better Bus Project The GoDurham Better Bus Project is a program created in 2019 by the City of Durham to plan and improve current bus stops, crosswalks, and roads to both make bus stops more comfortable for riders and to speed up GoDurham service. The 18-month plan, which has six projects plans to improve major corridor routes, more attention on both Holloway Street and Fayetteville Street bus lines. Currently, GoDurham's planned projects are shown here, expected to be planned and finished by 2026-2027: • Bus Access Project - Will allow easier access to bus stops by adding sidewalks 1/4th mile from a GoDurham bus stop. • Bus Speed and Reliability Project - Allows for the improvement of bus service by prioritizing buses in traffic, pavement markings, and better signage. • Durham Station Transit Area - This project will evaluate current streets in Downtown Durham taken by GoDurham buses and improving those streets to speed up service to/from Durham Station • Fayetteville Street Corridor - This project would allow major improvements around Fayetteville Street like enhanced bus stops, better traffic, and safer access which will increase reliability, safety, and will speed up the route. This is currently in the design phase. • Holloway Street Corridor and Village Transit Center - This project will follow the Fayetteville St Corridor goals with an additional transit center for The Village. This is currently in the design phase. • Bus Stop Balancing Study - Removes low ridership stops and modify existing stops to increase service reliability. Durham Transit Plan The Durham Transit Plan is the plan for GoDurham's long-term future bus improvements for the city by 2040. In April 2011, Durham County added a sales tax for public transit to allow this plan to happen. This plans allows for the improvement of bus stops, acquire electric vehicles, and increased service. Durham was recently awarded $10.8 million in funding, which will allow GoDurham to advance with this plan. • Improving 90 bus stops with benches and/or adding shelters. • Received 8 new electric buses with another 18 expected to arrive within two years. Funding has been approved for these services, which the changes would happen between 2024 and 2028. These changes include: • Add a crosstown route connecting NCCU, Durham Tech, and The Village Shopping Center • Improve 75 bus stops are scheduled to be improved, with 114 more being planned. • Increase frequency on route 3, 4, 9, and 10 routes to run 15-minute service weekdays and Saturdays. • Create a transportation center in The Village Shopping Center • Increased service on GoTriangle routes in Durham. Future Transit Plans These other ideas are being considered to be added in the far future. These include: • Create a transit center in North Duke Crossing [4/6] • Acquire more buses for increased service. • Extend Chapel Hill Transit's D route to Patterson Place. • Provide ideas for North Durham [4/6] and Chapel Hill Road [10/10B] Transit Corridors. == References ==