Het Patel, Assistant Director of Transportation, Go Raleigh

Invest: sat down with Het Patel, assistant director of transportation at Go Raleigh, to discuss how the region is scaling service, aligning transit with growth, and improving the rider experience. “A major priority for me is the overall customer and user experience,” Patel said.

What changes over the past year, internal or external, have impacted your operations, and in what ways?

One of the biggest shifts in the last year has been a heightened focus on safety and security across the transit industry. It is increasingly important for customers and operators to feel safe while we are getting people from point A to point B.

There is not one solution that solves safety and security challenges by itself. You have to work from multiple angles, respond to existing conditions appropriately, and stay consistent over time, while still providing safe and reliable service. 

As Raleigh grows, demand for reliable, accessible transit is rising. How is this shaping your long-term planning priorities?

A major driver for public transportation improvements in Wake County has been the half-cent sales tax that passed in 2016. That local funding has accelerated enhancements and expanded what we can offer on both service improvements and capital infrastructure improvements.

Since 2024, we have expanded high-frequency bus service from about 40 miles to 117 miles, nearly tripling the amount of 15-minute service across Raleigh and surrounding Wake County municipalities. The goal is convenience and reliability. If a bus is running every 15 minutes, riders do not have to plan for their trip the same way. They can show up and know the next bus should be arriving soon, ideally within the next five to 10 minutes.

Beyond moving people from A to B, what role is Go Raleigh playing in supporting broader regional goals around workforce mobility?

Workforce mobility is central to how we plan. In long-range planning, we look at socioeconomic data and identify high-activity nodes that are growing across the city and county. Then we focus on connecting those nodes through high-frequency service and major investments like Bus Rapid Transit, so that growth areas, employment centers, and neighborhoods are linked in a way that supports daily life.

Those connections matter because they link more people to more job areas and employment sectors. A key challenge, especially in suburban and outlying areas, is first-mile and last-mile access. If riders cannot safely or easily reach a stop, the service is not truly accessible. That is why we prioritize sidewalk and other capital projects that close gaps, improve safety, and help people reliably get to transit.

How are infrastructure upgrades and service expansions being aligned with projected population growth and land use changes?

We are fortunate to be in a region experiencing sustained growth, supported by the universities, Research Triangle Park, and the broader tech ecosystem. Our long-range plans focus on understanding where growth is going, where existing services already connect, and where gaps remain.

As we program new services over the next 10 years, we prioritize routes that connect key activity nodes and strengthen the overall network. Regionally, there is also alignment as counties pursue complementary transit plans and priorities, with the broader goal of making public transportation a seamless and reliable option for commuting, errands, and everyday trips, not a last resort.

What challenges are you facing in advancing sustainability goals while maintaining affordability and operational efficiency?

Even with strong funding sources, there will always be more demand for service and capital improvements. Large projects can be especially challenging because costs rise over time, whether due to inflation, market conditions, or the realities of delivering construction in busy urban areas. The longer it takes to implement certain projects, the more expensive they can become.

That is why balance matters. We try to keep momentum by improving conditions through smaller projects where we can, while continuing to advance major initiatives that take longer to deliver. The goal is to avoid stalling progress while we work through longer timelines.

On sustainability, one initiative we are proud of is our partnership with Raleigh Water. Raleigh Water completed construction of a biowaste renewable energy plant that converts biowaste into natural gas, and we are using that renewable natural gas to fuel buses. About 75 of our vehicles are fueled by renewable natural gas, functioning as near-zero emissions. Out of approximately 120 vehicles, about 75 to 80 are compressed natural gas buses, meaning a large majority of our fleet is now operating on renewable energy sources.

In what ways are partnerships with other agencies strengthening regional coordination and service integration?

GoRaleigh is one of several transit providers in the region, alongside GoCary, GoDurham, GoTriangle, and Chapel Hill Transit. Coordination is essential, especially around transfer opportunities and how schedules align at key hubs, because long waits between systems undermine the rider experience.

Partnerships also matter for delivery. Some of our bus rapid transit corridors extend into neighboring municipalities, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation owns and maintains many corridors we operate within. Strong working relationships, clear communication, and shared lessons learned are critical as we move projects through design, review, and implementation, and as we coordinate how services fit together across city and county lines.

What ridership trends are you observing right now, and how are you rethinking service?

Post-pandemic, travel patterns have shifted. We do not see the same sharp morning and evening peaks as before. Instead, the afternoon peak is longer, with more sustained activity regardless of traditional work hours.

That shift has pushed us toward more consistent all-day service, rather than concentrating resources only in peak windows. Ridership has bounced back strongly on major arterial corridors, while some crosstown routes remain closer to pandemic-era levels, reflecting continued changes in work patterns and how people travel.

Looking ahead, what are your key goals and priorities for Go Raleigh over the next two to three years?

A major priority for me is the overall customer and user experience, and we see technology as a big lever to make service easier and more convenient. A key initiative we are working on is implementing true tap-to-pay, including credit card and phone-based options. We already have mobile ticketing and other fare tools, but our current hardware and software are not set up well for full tap-to-pay, and we are working to implement it over the next year.

Reliability is the other core focus. Riders need to be able to count on buses, especially for work trips. If you are late by more than five to 10 minutes in certain environments, that can become a challenge, and we take that seriously. We are looking at where service is missing performance metrics, what is driving those issues, and how we can improve outcomes through operations, technology, and targeted investments.

More broadly, transportation, land use, and economic development are connected. Transit only creates value if people use it, and the business community needs to understand it as an amenity that supports employees and strengthens the labor market. That is why we continue building partnerships and working with groups like the Regional Transportation Alliance to help inform the community about bus rapid transit projects and operational improvements that are underway.