2023 Municipal Elections

Make your voice heard and use transit to get there by voting in the 2023 Municipal Elections.

The Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, November 7. Early voting began on October 19 and will continue until November 4.

GoDurham Transit is FARE FREE until 2024

The City of Durham's budget has been approved and includes fare-free transit until June 2024, expansion of GoDurham routes in North Durham, and fleet modernization with zero emissions buses. We also have funding to hire new staff to support Vision Zero and Mobility Services.

New Train Schedules

There are new trains and schedules to help increase sustainable travel. Travel by train for events at DPAC, Durham Bulls Stadium, or a neighboring city.

2023 NC Year of the Trail

The largest statewide celebration of North Carolina's trails and outdoor recreation has begun. To kickstart the celebration, Mayor O'Neal declared a proclamation to announce 2023, the Year of the Trail in Durham. Each month Durham Parks and Rec (DPR) will highlight a trail and provide Durham residents with a trail focus self-guided activity.

Residents are encouraged to visit the monthly Trail Spotlight and complete a self-guided activity and photo challenge for a chance to win a DPR Play More Pack!

Bull E-Bike Pilot Nominated for three Cleantech Innovation Awards

The City's Bull E-Bike Program was nominated for

Equity in Cleantech, Cleantech Impact in Transportation, and Cleantech Impact in Local Government at this year's Cleantech Innovation Awards.

The awards are supported by the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster and were established to recognize cleantech initiatives, projects, and innovations from companies, organizations, and government agencies that have contributed to the growing cleantech ecosystem in North Carolina. 

Director of Transportation Participated in Walk and Roll to School Day

On Wednesday, October 4, Director of Transportation Sean Egan joined students and parents for a walktrain at Lakewood Elementary School. The event is a part of the Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) and teaches students and parents road safety in a sustainable and fun way.

Department of Transportation Staff Led Bike Tours for NC American Planning Association Visit

This month our staff led two e-bike tours across Durham to showcase recent/future multimodal transportation projects. 

The first tour was called Multimodal Transportation in the Bull City E-Bike Tour. The tour featured 8.5 miles across 11 stops led by Hannah Reynolds (Biking and Pedestrian Planner), Pete Nicholas (Transportation Engineer), and Eric Simpson (Construction Manager).

The second tour was called Reconnecting Communities in East Durham. This had six participants and was a walking and e-bike tour

led by Evian Patterson (Assistant Director of Transportation) and Niles Barnes (Deputy Director of East Coast Greenway Alliance). Emma Vinella- Brusher (Mobility Services Planner) and Jenny Green (Mobility Services Planning Manager) assisted with e-bike logistics.

Bull E-Bike Pilot Implementation Guide is Now Available

Now that the pilot has concluded, you can learn the impact by reading the Executive Summary and Implementation Guide.

Celebrating National Pedestrian Safety Month

This month, our department shared essential updates on completed and upcoming projects to improve Durham's walkability.



Sign and Signal Shop Installed New Biking and Pedestrian Infrastructure across Durham

This month, our department's sign and signal shop has been busy installing new safety equipment for cyclists and pedestrians across the City.

Biking Improvements Include:

• Bike Buffers and Narrowed Travel Lanes on Washington Street

Engineering staff and the pavement marking team identified an opportunity to install a bike buffer (a striped space between the bike lane and vehicle lane) to enhance the bike lane and to narrow the travel lanes (a treatment to slow vehicle travel speeds). 

Pedestrian Improvements Include:

• Flexposts and a pedestrian crossing at EK Powe Elementary School
• Re-striping the intersection to create a shorter pedestrian crossing

These efforts will improve intersection sight lines, enhance sign visibility, and eliminate avoidable pedestrian/vehicle conflicts in the intersection.

Changes to CMAQ Bike Lanes

Fayetteville Street has been removed from the CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) bike lanes construction contract, reducing the total project mileage from approximately 8 miles to 7.5 miles of streets with new bike lanes. Work on the remaining portions of the CMAQ bike lanes project is expected to begin in Fall 2023 and be completed in Spring 2024.

Neighborhood Bike Routes Signage Installed

Eight miles of bike lanes and buffers will be installed on existing Durham roads.

Work is underway to add pavement markings for Neighborhood Bike Routes. Signage has been installed across the City.

In addition, construction for the Neighborhood Bike Routes will create seven miles of bike

routes along some of the downtown area’s low-traffic roads. This project will connect residents to downtown and other biking facilities safely.

Durham Hosts Rail Response Work Group

On Thursday, September 7, Mayor O'Neal, Director of Transportation Sean Egan, and additional staff hosted public officials from across the state to learn about intercity passenger rail opportunities. 

The Rail Response Workgroup is an initiative of the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition. The group travels across the state to explore and understand opportunities for the Intercity Passenger Rail.

Using funding from the 2021 Federal Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill, North Carolina can compete for groundbreaking federal funding to supply financing for rail projects statewide.

Bike Ped Improvements Discussed on CityLife Series

Our Transportation Planning Manager, Erin Convery, and Bike Durham's Executive Director, John Tallmadge, discussed Durham's biking and pedestrian infrastructure on the CityLife TV show. The segment is shown below. The discussion highlighted key projects to make our streets safe and interconnected.

Year in Review