New shuttle bus is among the changes in growing downtown Cary. Where it goes and when.
More people are coming to downtown Cary these days, and to help them get around the town has introduced a shuttle bus.
The GoCary Downtown Loop started June 1. The free shuttle operates four days a week, connecting the public parking deck at town hall with Downtown Cary Park and businesses along Chatham Street.
“It’s really for anyone that’s looking to spend time downtown and doesn’t want to have to search for parking,” said Kelly Blazey, the town’s transit director.
Finding a place to park hasn’t always been a challenge in the once sleepy center of town. The opening of the park last fall and several new restaurants and other businesses have helped bring crowds to the historic heart of a sprawling suburban town of more than 180,000 residents.
The shuttle operates on a continuous 25-minute loop from noon to 10 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.
“That’s what we’ve seen as the peak travel days to get to the park,” Blazey said. “We’ll monitor that and look for feedback to see if people would like to see it on other days of the week as well.”
The Downtown Loop uses the East Durham Road underpass under the railroad tracks, so it won’t get hung up at the downtown crossings.
The new shuttle is expected to cost the town about $465,000 a year to operate, Blazey said.
Cary joins its larger neighbor Raleigh in offering a free downtown shuttle bus. Raleigh introduced the R-Line 15 years ago and revived it this spring after a three-year hiatus brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city launched the R-Line after the opening of the new convention center to help visitors explore the downtown as well as help people who live or work there get around. R-Line ridership peaked in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012, at 296,652 passengers and had declined by more than half the last full year before the pandemic.
This story was originally published June 12, 2024 at 2:56 PM.
