2025 Chapel Hill - Carrboro Candidate Transportation Questionnaire Answers
Transportation plays a central role in the daily life of Chapel Hill and Carrboro residents. How we move, whether by car, bus, bike, or on foot, shapes access to jobs, schools, parks, and community spaces. As our towns grow, questions of safety, accessibility, and sustainability continue to be important topics for both residents and local leaders.
To better understand candidate perspectives, we invited those running for local office to respond to a Candidate Transportation Questionnaire. Their responses reflect a range of ideas and priorities on issues such as infrastructure, mobility options, and long-term planning.
Our goal is to provide voters with clear information to help them compare viewpoints and make informed choices in the upcoming election.
How often do you currently walk, bike, or use public transit in Chapel Hill or Carrboro?
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Daily
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Several times a week
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I would love to be riding my bike and taking the bus more often! Currently, I ride the Go Triangle 400 route about once a week. On weekends, my kids and I bike for fun, especially down the new Elliot Road Extension to Booker Creek Basin Park for milkshakes at Cookout. When the Bolin Creek Trail was open, we would take longer rides to the Root Cellar for smoothies. Our children attend dual language elementary and middle school by bus.
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As a Northside resident living in a single-car household, I walk and use by e-bike to get to most places. This includes grocery shopping, meeting with friends, going to gatherings, and enjoing amenities in our town. I walk, bike, and/or use public transit multiple times a week, if not every day.
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I walk some days of the week—both for recreation and to get around town.
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I regularly walk multiple times a week and I occasionally bike for recreational purposes. I would like to be able to use public transit more frequently, but my work and council schedules don’t typically align with public transit schedules.
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Daily! I'm an avid cyclist, and I ride with my 1st grade daughter to Carrboro Elementary School every morning, in addition to using our cargo ebike heavily for family transit around town.
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I walk or bike daily. I use transit occasionally (roughly once per month)
If you do not use one or more of these options regularly, what barriers (such as safety, distance, or convenience) prevent you from doing so?
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N/A
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Safety — I need more practice on a bicycle.
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Our main barrier is crossing Fordham Boulevard at Willow Drive. Another barrier is confidence with sharing the road and riding after dark, along with riding in the heat of the summer.
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As an avid e-biker, I have experienced that the lack of protected bike-lanes and higher speed limits in some of our town's corridors prevent me from fully safely getting from point A to B. Our public transit is extremely convenient for me to use in Chapel Hill, and I will continue to prioritize smart development alongside transit corridors during my second term on Council.
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Convenience is the biggest barrier. Like many residents, I often have to balance work, family, and community commitments across town and across the Triangle region.
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Primary barriers are distance from work and lack of schedule alignment.
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I do use them, but there are safety improvements to make cycling more feasible for residents from 8-80, and a lot of work to be done on our community design to enable the sort of density that would allow Chapel Hill Transit to serve Carrboro even better.
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Convenience is the primary reason I don't use transit more often. A secondary barrier is that another nearby stop with more route options is on the far side of four lanes of nominally 45mph traffic with no marked pedestrian crossing or other supporting infrastructure.
What changes would make it easier or more appealing for you and residents in your district to choose these modes of transportation?
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Connecting neighborhoods to jobs, schools, shopping, and parks—so that people can walk, bike, or ride the bus as part of their daily lives—is central to our Complete Community vision. With support from a federal RAISE grant, our staff is currently conducting a feasibility study to identify priority projects and funding needs that will help bring this vision to life. As with all our initiatives, this study applies an equity lens to ensure future plans uplift underserved neighborhoods and communities.
One of the most impactful steps we can take right now is to complete the connections that allow residents to reach the places they need to go. That’s why I’m prioritizing the implementation of the programs, policies, and infrastructure improvements outlined in our Safe Routes to Schools Action Plan. Accompanying that, I am excited about our new Wheels of Wellness program which brings cycling education into our public housing neighborhoods, community centers, and schools. These efforts will make it easier and safer for children and families to travel to and from school by foot, bike, or scooter.
We also face a unique challenge with our terrain, which can make biking difficult or less appealing for many residents. Fortunately, advances in e-bike technology offer a promising solution. We must continue to educate the public about these options and promote their use as part of a more accessible and sustainable transportation network. -
Better identified and protected bicycle lanes.
More frequent bus routes. -
Our neighbors have serious safety concerns about crossing Fordham Boulevard at Willow Drive and the Elliot Road Extension. Despite being close to the new green and shops at University Place, it doesn’t always feel safe to get there by bike or on foot. The recent damage to the Fordham Sidepath at Bolin Creek is another major barrier, especially for those of us who bike to Rainbow Soccer Fields.
Completing upgrades to the Fordham Sidepath would get more people on their bikes for soccer games. We also need to create a clear connection between the Bolin Creek Trail and the Booker Creek Trail to create a longer route on the east side of town. I would also like to see a wayfinding connection from the north end of the Booker Creek Trail to Europa Drive, creating a loop back to the east side of Fordham.
While some people are comfortable putting their bike on a bus, it would be much more accessible for riders to have a designated bike or vehicle park-and-ride near Chapel Hill Transit and Go Triangle bus stops on Franklin Street. I don’t know if the auxiliary library parking lot on Estes could be an option for this. -
As evidenced by our latest Estes Rd multi-use path, we need more multi-use paths and protected bike-lanes on our busiest roads so that bikers and walkers can travel to their destinations more safely. I also believe that investing in our greenway system to connect all of our neighborhoods and developments will make it easier for our residents to commute via bike.
Reducing car dependency has been a big priority for me during my first four years. And, I have championed affordable housing that is built along transit corridors, and close to greenway systems so that our essential workers can afford to live in the community where they work, and can commute to and from work without having to hop in a car. -
Safer biking infrastructure and more connected greenways would make the biggest difference.
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During the day I travel to work and often have meetings in the evenings that require me to move quickly between my work and other locations. Reliable, faster public transportation modes that run more frequently would allow more residents to benefit from public transit. Easier access to bus stops and safe biking spaces might also make these transportation modes easier for residents.
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Carrboro needs to remove the bottlenecks from our processes delivering bike-ped safety infrastructure. This has been a major priority of mine over my first term, and will continue to be. As longtime advocates know, the council-manager form of government and North Carolina's byzantine, car-first funding models make it really difficult for a council member to have the kind of detailed oversight and advocate for the necessary urgency for each of our projects, but I think we're pointed in the right direction. Our Safe Routes to School and Bike Route plans are priority capital plans for the next 3 years, and we're exploring strategies to rely more on town resources for design phase of projects to hopefully make them more competitive for state (and occasionally opportunistic private) funding.
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Completion of Chapel Hill Transit North-South Bus Rapid Transit (NSBRT) is the single biggest possible change to the viability of transit as a mode choice in the next ten years, and we should be very enthusiastic about it. While the focus is on North-South travel, the frequency of pickups in that corridor will make various East-West routes much more useful.
Additionally, acceleration of priority infrastructure projects (see eg. https://www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16085/Transportation-Updates-Presentation-February-2025) would promote mode shift for many residents who want to get from neighborhoods to school or downtown.
If I could wave a magic wand today, the change I would make would be to change the Strategic Mobility Formula driving the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) to give higher funding priority to pedestrian projects. I call on fellow democrats to draft legislation for that purpose that they will pass in the first week of the first session that they have control of the NC legislature.
How strongly do you support establishing a dedicated town fund to build a connected pedestrian, bike, and transit network over the next 10 years?
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Somewhat Agree
Given the vital role our Everywhere to Everywhere greenways and town-wide mobility network play in supporting our community—environmentally, economically, and socially—I believe we must accelerate our progress.
Over the past few years, the Town has made meaningful strides: we've built a strong Office of Mobility & Greenways, adopted Vision Zero policies and programs, and invested in planning and design work to position ourselves for federal and state funding. These efforts have enabled us to pursue major infrastructure projects like the Estes Drive Connectivity Plan and the Fordham side path.
Much of this work is costly and has only been possible with substantial support from state and federal sources. However, the future of that funding is uncertain, and we’re actively grappling with how to sustain momentum.
Looking ahead, we need to keep our pipeline of shovel-ready projects full to remain competitive for any available funding. This means investing in project design and making sure we can meet the local match. At the same time, we need to rethink how we prioritize and fund projects—exploring new approaches and solutions. One area I strongly support is investing in smaller, quick-build initiatives and pilot programs, including tactical urbanism. These can deliver visible, impactful improvements more rapidly.
Our Safe Routes to School Action Plan is a great example. It includes demonstration projects for each of our 14 CHCCS schools, offering a clear and actionable starting point for this kind of work. -
Agree
The Town Council has expressed and demonstrated a commitment to the such a network with our Complete Communities framework. Creating a fund to support the network seems logical. -
Agree
I am fully committed to the goal of seeing our town's transit network completed within the next 10 years. I will advocate for this goal as a council member and I will listen to the Town Manager and staff to identify the most effective strategies to achieve it, which may include a dedicated town fund.
Building this network has been a priority of mine since 2015, when I served on the Parks, Greenways, and Recreation Commission. As chair, I brought our commission and the Transportation and Connectivity Advisory Board together to find ways to accelerate construction. At the time, I championed a "mile a year" goal to highlight the urgency needed, as a slower pace would take decades—a timeline we simply can't afford. Each year, costs increase while vital sections of our network remain incomplete. We need to act with more urgency. -
Agree
As the Federal government continues to decrease funding for local infrastructure, it is up to our Town to fill that void. I do believe bike, pedestrian, and our public transit infrastructure will be key in our fight against climate change over the next ten years, and deserves dedicated funding accordingly.
If granted a second term, I will work diligently to continue to balance our tax base by increasing our commercial activity. I want our dedicated funds for bike/ped infrastructure to come from businesses, and not just property taxes. -
Neutral
Safer biking infrastructure and more connected greenways would make the biggest difference. Establishing a dedicated fund would require either raising additional revenue or redirecting existing funds, both of which come with trade-offs.
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Somewhat Agree
I strongly support funding transportation networks. However, in the current environment where local government budgets increasingly bear costs previously funded by federal and state governments (i.e. housing access, and Tropical storm Chantal cleanup), providing basic needs for Carrboro residents is the highest priority. Our public works facility was underwater during the tropical storm, and we experienced extensive damage to vehicles and other equipment that we will have to allocate funding to replace.
I will continue to advocate for sustainable federal and state funding to support pedestrian, bike and transit networks and as local funding is available will continue to consider how we can allocate funding to meet these needs. -
Somewhat Agree
This is a great idea, and I think we should move forward with it, but it's going to be a consistent challenge to prioritize this against capital priorities like stormwater and renewable energy infrastructure with our very modest budgets.
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Agree
The town has over more than a decade depended on a lagging funding model where applications are sent for Strategic Transportation Prioritization (SPOT) scoring and score poorly, then sometimes changes are made and a future cycle allows for progress. A dedicated funding source that can be allocated to concept planning and design phases for projects can radically improve the chance of scoring well for matching funds, and simultaneously improve the chance of staying closer to budget projections. Project after project across many jurisdictions demonstrates that spending money on design up front ends up reducing time and budget slip, which reduces total spend.
Even if spending local money on design funds were not good value for money, which it is, it would be morally correct to do so. Climate change means we cannot wait on state or national leaders to take action. Climate action is a foundational value of our 2022 Carrboro Connects Comprehensive Plan, and our budget is how we express those values.
Will you commit to prioritizing transportation projects that increase transportation options to jobs, schools, healthcare, and groceries through sustainable transportation, especially for residents with low incomes, people of color, and people with disabilities?
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Yes
This is something I have supported throughout my time on Council as evidenced by my championing the Complete Community vision and support for the NS-BRT project, Shaping our Future plan, Vision Zero initiatives, and more. -
Yes, I would.
Transportation projects should promote/offer multi-modal means to move about Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and beyond as we are able to expand. That includes routes that travel to low-income areas and readily connect to other parts within the system. At present, we had to reduce the coverage of routes due to a reduction in staffing. This is one of the reasons that I supported the Town Manager's Budget: to stave off a greater loss in staffing as Chapel Hill does not pay as well as many neighboring municipalities. -
Yes
I would envision a three-pronged approach.
Offer online meetings to ensure residents can access information and participate from home, eliminating the need for transportation or childcare, and accommodate those facing mobility challenges.
Partner with congregations and non-profits who have established, trusted relationships within the community to reach a wider audience.
Conduct in-person outreach. This includes door-to-door canvassing, visiting parks and recreation facilities, and setting up tables at community events to meet residents where they are. -
Yes
As a resident of a the historically Black Northside neighborhood, I have been able to start getting my community on bikes, and walking to their daily activities/amenities. A big part of getting myself and my neighbors used to a car-free lifestyle is showing them that it is possible and safe. During my first four years, we introduced a lot of programming and most recently, an e-bike lending library program in partnership with two of our bike stores. I do all of my work with a lens towards equity. And, I will continue to prioritize educating and making multi-modal transit more affordable and easily accessible for residents of all backgrounds.
Historically, Chapel Hill has relied on boards and commissions to get public opinion that informs important decisions. However, these boards and commissions have been not accessible by all residents who work long hours, who live in neighborhoods where such opportunities are advertised, or feel like participating in local government isn't for them.
In my experience, there is a better model for ensuring equitable access through power resident engagement--working groups. I will establish a specific working group comprising people with disabilities, regular transit-users, bikers, and walkers, residents with low incomes, and residents who work in Chapel Hill, but can't afford to live here. This working group will ensure that we understand all the barriers to using multi-modal transit, and can address those challenges for everyone.
And, I have lived experience. My family is a single-car household. We walk and bike to get to most of our places, and I live in a neighborhood that has been historically sidelined during important decision-making. I know what it's like to not be included, and will continue to fight for families like mine on Council. -
Yes
Expanding sustainable transportation options that connect residents to jobs, schools, healthcare, and groceries is a core equity issue.
As a Council Member, I will prioritize projects that expand sidewalks, greenways, and transit routes in ways that close these gaps.
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Yes
It’s important to begin with actively listening and engaging historically underserved groups through community meetings, focus groups, and surveys to understand their unique transportation challenges and needs. Based on this input, we would then plan infrastructure and services that are affordable for various income levels, compliant with ADA standards, and ensure they are consistent and reliable and that there is funding which continues to support this infrastructure. Also, partnering with non-profits, advocacy groups, and social service providers who work closely with marginalized communities could also help to guide and co-create solutions that are sustainable.
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Yes
In Carrboro, so much of this answer is about our Land Use Ordinance, and my absolute highest priority over my next term is to codify a community design that 1)allows a much more economically diverse range of people find homes in Carrboro and 2)allows them to have access to necessities without a car. We've always been good partners in funding Chapel Hill Transit, and we'll continue to be aggressive about looking for ways to add density that can unlock more regular service, along with budgetary commitments needed for that expansion.
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I do commit to increasing transportation options.
Through my work on Carrboro Town Council and the Transportation Partners Public Transit Committee, I will advocate for adjusting our budget timeline to align with transportation priorities that increase transportation options to jobs, schools, healthcare, and groceries. Additionally, I have and will continue to attend meetings at which DOT engineers for our region discuss projects that impact Carrboro, and I have and will continue to communicate both with them and with our state and federal representatives about priority projects that will have a high impact for lower income residents and neighborhoods with a higher density of people of color. A good example here is my advocacy for and follow-up on BL-0044, a project to add pedestrian-activated signalized crossing infrastructure to three intersections along NC HWY 54.
Do you support a zero-emission public transit system by 2035 and a net-zero transportation system by 2050?
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Yes, aspirationally
Continue to support land use policies aimed at creating housing and jobs along our transit corridors.
Continue to invest in transportation infrastructure that makes it easy for Chapel Hill residents, workers, and visitors to get places without needing a car.
Work to leverage federal and other outside funds to make town investments go further.
Work with local developers to make sure that new development is advancing our goals and plans.
Continue partnerships with our neighbors (GoTriangle, GoDurham) to make it easy, affordable, and accessible for people to use transit regionally. And, work with Chatham to open up service options to the south as they grow. -
That's a great aspiration; however, the investment (buses and infrastructure) to accomplish that within 10 years is beyond the Town's ability. This is especially the case with the federal government funding. Federal funding is how we have been adding the electric buses to our fleet. It is cost prohibitive, otherwise. We might be able to achieve a net-zero transportation system by 2050.
As Chair of the Chapel Hill Transit Partners Board and as a Council Member of the Town of Chapel Hill, I will support the growth of zero-emission vehicles and the development of a facility(ies) to house, maintain, and refuel them.
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Yes. This is broadly consistent with Chapel Hill’s Climate Action and Response Plan, which calls for 100% electrification of the Town’s buses and support vehicles by around 2040 and net-zero emissions across all municipal operations by 2050.
I will advocate that all new buses the Town acquires, such as those replacing older vehicles, are electric as a part of our agreed upon goals in the Climate Action Plan. A net-zero transportation system will require a variety of measures, as outlined in the Climate Action Plan. Two of my long-held priorities, increasing investment in bike and pedestrian infrastructure and building densely on transit corridors, will be crucial to meeting this goal.
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Yes
1. Increasing access to e-bikes for our community to prohibit cost barriers for our residents with low-incomes
2. Continue investing in our Bus Rapid Transit network to increase convenient public transit in our community
3. Continue to prioritize smart development along transit corridors to naturally encourage a car-free lifestyle
4. Work with our regional partners to continue championing inter-regional transit networks
5. Continue to invest in our electric buses so that they can service more routes more often as the technology improves -
Yes
We need to design our land use policies—through the LUMO rewrite and the Complete Community framework—so that more residents can live closer to jobs, schools, and services. Reducing the need to drive is just as critical as greening the vehicles we rely on.
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Yes
In Carrboro, some of this work is already in motion and I will continue to support the following goals: Investing in electric buses and vehicles, expanding and upgrading our existing charging infrastructure, promoting active transportation modes like biking and walking, integrating our land use planning with sustainable transit to reduce car dependency and making sure that any transitions are equitable, affordable, and accessible to all residents.
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I do, but as I know SHIFT knows, these targets are functionally impossible and difficult for Carrboro to make headway on, given our relatively small contribution to CHT compared to UNC and Chapel hill, and the asininity of NC laws, particularly the State Transportation Improvement Program. I hope my record of consistent advocacy demonstrates my seriousness in working toward these goals, but calibrating the success of framing and urgency around goals like this is an ongoing dialogue I'd love to have with SHIFT.
Continued advocacy for non-vehicular infrastructure in Carrboro will probably yield the highest return on my efforts—our bike plan and safe routs to school action plan could make our streets and network quite a bit more accessible. I am increasingly vexed by the lack of power members of our Transportation Planing Organization have, and I'm starting to talk to other community leaders about opportunities to organize statewide against STIP and toward a more forward-thinking DOT; that law and our state's car-first approach don't just hurt Carrboro and hamstring statewide climate resilence, they also prevent small communities across the state from delivering the quality of life residents want and the economic benefit of equitable and enjoyable community design. We'll also finalize Carrboro's new Land Use Ordinance, with a heavy prioritization toward dense and affordable construciton along transit corridors, which should put more residents who don't depend on cars in our network, bringing a host of benefits—increased usage, advocacy, and empowerment for people getting around without cars.
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Supporting faster mode shift to buses is a higher priority for me than zero-emission transit, but I will bring up that goal for discussion at the next Transit Partners meeting.
The most recent Chapel Hill and Carrboro budgets both increased allocation for Chapel Hill Transit, but not by enough to fund the additional charging and maintenance infrastructure at the bus yard that would meet the above timeline. We have been unfortunately delayed by multiple factors, not least the battery safety issue (since resolved) with one of the electric bus vendors. In the next four years, I will fight for progress that people can walk, roll, or pedal on, and I will shout from the rooftop of the new Drakeford Library Complex that our Chapel Hill Transit system is already great, and everybody should be enthusiastic about making it even better by funding it at a level that makes it a convenient choice for even more of Carrboro.
