DURHAM, N.C. — The president and CEO of the transit system for the Raleigh-Durham area has resigned because the commuter rail system he was hired to develop has been postponed indefinitely.
The Raleigh News & Observer reports the board of directors of transit agency GoTriangle accepted the resignation of Charles Lattuca on Wednesday. Lattuca joined GoTriangle in spring 2020 from the Maryland Department of Transportation; his experience there with development of the light rail Purple Line was considered a plus as GoTriangle planned a commuter rail line connecting Durham, Raleigh, and Garner, N.C.
But after the agency completed a feasibility study for a 43-mile, 15-station commuter line, the federal government indicated it would not help fund the system, saying the population along the route was insufficient to ensure it would succeed. Faced with finding all local funding for the estimated $3 billion project, the project was tabled, leaving Lattuca in charge of an agency that primarily runs a regional bus system.
“As you know, I came here to help build a regional commuter rail system,” Lattuca wrote in a letter to the board earlier this month, as reported by the News & Observer. “Unfortunately, that initiative proved to be too costly an investment for this region. Regardless, I trust that I am leaving the agency better off and on a stronger path for improving regional transit in the Triangle.”
Lattuca will receive a severance package including 75% of his $258,253 annual salary. GoTriangle General Counsel Byron Smith has been named interim president and CEO, but the 67-year-old Smith says he will not seek the position full time. The board must now develloop a new job description and begin seeking a permanent replacement.
