Northern Wake County commuters who work in downtown Raleigh will have a new way to get there when a rush-hour express bus starts rolling from Wake Forest to Raleigh on July 7.

On workday mornings and afternoons, three hourly buses will run between a park-and-ride lot in downtown Wake Forest and Moore Square in downtown Raleigh, stopping along the way at Triangle Town Center in North Raleigh.

At midday, a bus will provide hourly trips between Wake Forest and Triangle Town Center, with connections there to Capital Area Transit routes.

A new circulator bus, also starting July 7, will make hourly orbits through inner Wake Forest and parts of Wakefield. The loop includes Wake Forest's east end neighborhoods, library and government offices, Wakefield Commons, Capital Boulevard shopping centers, and the Wake Forest high school and seminary.

The new bus service will be provided jointly by Triangle Transit -- whose trustees approved the new routes Wednesday -- and CAT and the town of Wake Forest.

Fares are $2.50 for the express from Wake Forest to downtown Raleigh and $2 for Wake Forest to Triangle Town Center. The Wake Forest-Wakefield circulator will run free of charge for the first six months and with a $1 fare starting in January.