In his exit interview, longtime Board of Transportation member Doug Galyon says North Carolina will “have to see some major changes in funding mechanisms for DOT.”
With that in mind, I can’t help but note the irony here:
During his tenure, Galyon took satisfaction from another trend that is positive even though it cuts into DOT revenues from the fuel tax — the increasing number of people using public transportation.
He was instrumental in helping to start what is now the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation, a commuter-oriented service spanning Guilford and nine other counties.
He also played a key role in the restoration of Greensboro’s downtown transit terminal used now by the Greensboro Transit Authority, PART, and other bus and rail services. The building was named the J. Douglas Galyon Depot in his honor several years back.
But all these initiatives cost money. And a key step toward continuing to improve any of them is figuring out a viable source of revenue, not tied to the ups and downs of a particular fuel or technology.
I’m glad the N&R noted that those “initiatives” cost money. The Galyon Depot, by the way, cost $31 million and sits empty a good bit of the day, while PART sucks up millions in taxpayers’ money.
An now we need “new funding mechanisms.”
