COMMUNITY NEWS
By Gregory DL Morris
Correspondent
CHAPEL HILL–Our area is getting new transportation options, from local to global. Early in the new year, Chapel Hill Transit will implement a significant realignment and expansion, including new and revised bus routes and greater frequency. Amtrak has just added a new Chicago-to-Miami train that will serve several nearby cities. Several airlines are adding international routes from Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU).
In February 2025 Avelo Airlines will add service to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ); and Montego Bay, Jamaica (MBJ) with two flights a week. In April BermudAir will begin service to its eponymous island (BDA), and in June WestJet will begin direct flights to Calgary, Alberta (YYC).
https://www.rdu.com/airline-information/airline-destinations/
Among new domestic routes, Breeze began service to Sarasota, Florida (SRQ) in November, and will begin service to Daytona Beach (DAB) in February.
Avelo has two of the four new international destinations being added at RDU in 2025. Photo courtesy of Avelo Airlines.
“We established a base at RDU because it is a decent-sized metro area with about 2 million people and growing,” Trevor Yealy, Avelo’s head of commercial for Avelo, told TLR. “In determining new routes we look for latent demand in the data from the Department of Transportation: Where do people want to fly? Where are there high volumes without direct flights? We also work closely with the airport authority. Historically, there has not been a lot of Caribbean service out of RDU.”
https://www.aveloair.com/destinations#route-map
Because of all the attention lavished on cars in this state, North Carolina has good train service within and beyond. There are five daily departures between Raleigh and Charlotte, with stops at Cary and Durham. Other long-distance trains serve cities in the eastern and western parts of the state. The newest service, the Floridian, connected Raleigh and Cary with Southern Pines and Hamlet when service started in November. From a connecting Amtrak train, passengers can take Thruway service buses to nine additional destinations in North Carolina, including Morehead City, Wilmington, and now serving New Bern.
https://www.ncbytrain.org/Pages/default.aspx
Amtrak’s new Floridian service between Chicago and Miami will serve Raleigh, Cary, Southern Pines, and Hamlet. Photo courtesy of Amtrak.
Closer to home, Chapel Hill Transit will soon be adding one entirely new route, and restoring full pre-pandemic service on five others, among other changes to be implemented Monday, January 6, 2025.
The new route will have the designation “C” and will connect Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and the UNC campus. The C route travels south from the Pittsboro Credit Union to S. Columbia St., turns right on Culbreth Rd., left on Smith Level Rd., right on Rock Haven Rd., right on BPW Club Rd., left on Smith Level Rd., right on NC 54, and then toward campus on S. Columbia St. The schedule features 30-minute trip frequencies.
https://www.townofchapelhill.org/home/showpublisheddocument/56724/638690001988200000
Full service will be restored on the A, CL, CW, J, and N routes. A stop has been added to the NS route, the HS route will be shortened, and the CCX route will return to Chapel Hill Transit operations after temporarily being operated by Carolina Livery. The schedule will be adjusted on the Senior Shuttle.
Gregory DL Morris is a business journalist and historian who reports regularly for TLR.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press
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