Poll: Support remains strong for public transit in Orange, Wake counties

Support for public transit remains strong for the third year in a row in Orange and Wake counties, where voters appear to support a half-cent sales tax to improve transportation.

Posted 11:23 p.m. May 15, 2012 — Updated 11:25 p.m. May 15, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. — Support for public transit remains strong for the third year in a row in Orange and Wake counties, where voters appear to support a half-cent sales tax to improve transportation.

That's according to a poll released Tuesday by the Regional Transit Alliance, a group of local engineers and city and business leaders working to relieve traffic congestion in the Triangle.

Nearly 60 percent of Orange County voters support a sales tax. Support dropped slightly in Wake County but numbers remain above 50 percent, the group said.

Of those polled, nearly 50 percent in Orange County said they use public transit occasionally, while more than 75 percent of voters in Wake County said they never use the service.

Less experience with transit was a factor in the Wake County numbers, said Paul Fallon, of Fallon Research and Communications Inc., which conducted the poll.

"In Wake County, support has remained positive but has not grown to the level where a clear consensus has developed," Regional Transit Alliance Chairman Clymer Cease said in a news release. "The RTA encourages the county to continue informing the community about the benefits of transit and to evaluate the proposed transit plans through sustained, broad outreach. Wake County continues to grow rapidly and the benefits of transit will only increase over time."

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