Research Triangle

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Coordinates: 35°53′N 78°47′W / 35.88°N 78.79°W / 35.88; -78.79

Location of the Raleigh–Durham–Cary CSA and its components:   Durham–Chapel Hill Metropolitan Statistical Area   Raleigh–Cary Metropolitan Statistical Area   Dunn Micropolitan Statistical Area

The Research Triangle, commonly referred to as simply "The Triangle", is a region in the Piedmont of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by North Carolina State University, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill respectively. The eight-county region, officially named the Raleigh–Durham–Chapel Hill CSA, comprises the Raleigh–Cary and Durham–Chapel Hill metropolitan areas and the Dunn Micropolitan Statistical Area. A 2012 Census Estimate put the population at 1,998,808. The Raleigh–Durham television market includes a broader 23-county area which includes Fayetteville, and has a population of 2,726,000 persons.

The "Triangle" name was cemented in the public consciousness in the 1950s with the creation of Research Triangle Park, home to numerous high-tech companies and enterprises. Although the name is now used to refer to the geographic region, "The Triangle" originally referred to the universities, whose research facilities, and the educated workforce they provide, have historically served as a major attraction for businesses located in the region. The region should not be confused with "The Triad", which is a North Carolina region adjacent to and directly west of the Triangle comprising Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point, among other cities. Most of the Triangle is represented by, and closely associated with, the second, fourth and thirteenth congressional districts.

Counties

Counties contained in the Research Triangle.   Three core counties: Wake, Durham, Orange   Raleigh–Durham–Cary Combined Statistical Area, per the U.S. Census Bureau   Other counties sometimes included in the Research Triangle

Depending on which definition of the Research Triangle region is used, as few as three or as many as 13 counties are included as part of the region. All of these counties when included hold a population of over 2,167,000 people.

Chatham ‡¶ Durham *‡¶ Franklin ‡¶ Granville ¶ Harnett ‡¶ Johnston ‡¶ Lee ¶ Moore ¶ Orange *‡¶ Person ‡¶ Vance ¶ Wake *‡¶ Warren ¶

Raleigh–Durham–Cary Combined Statistical Area Population (Census 2010) 1,749,525

Chatham County, NC (63,505) Durham County, NC (267,587) Franklin County, NC (60,619) Harnett County, NC (114,678) Johnston County, NC (168,878) Orange County, NC (133,801) Person County, NC (39,464) Wake County, NC (900,993)

Cities

Raleigh, the growing capital of North Carolina.

The Triangle region, as defined for statistical purposes as the Raleigh–Durham–Cary CSA, comprises 8 counties, although the U.S. Census Bureau divided the region into two metropolitan statistical areas and one micropolitan area in 2003. The Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area comprises Wake, Franklin and Johnston Counties; the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area comprises Durham, Orange, Chatham and Person counties; the Dunn micropolitan area comprises Harnett County. Some local media define the region as Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville. Fayetteville, North Carolina, is over 50 miles (80 km) from Raleigh but is in the designated market area.

Anchor cities Raleigh, 404,892 Durham, 228,330 Primary towns Cary (town), 135,234 Chapel Hill (town), 57,233 Suburbs with more than 10,000 inhabitants Apex Carrboro Clayton Fuquay-Varina Garner Holly Springs Mebane Morrisville Sanford Smithfield Wake Forest Suburbs with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants Angier Bahama Bear Creek Bennett Benson Bonlee Bonsal Buies Creek Bunn Butner Bynum Carbonton Centerville Cleveland Coats Corinth Dunn Efland Erwin Fearrington Village Feltonville Four Oaks Franklinton Friendship Goldston Gorman Gulf Haywood Hillsborough Hurdle Mills Kenly Knightdale Lillington Lizard Lick Louisburg Micro Moncure New Hill Pine Level Pittsboro Princeton Rolesville Rougemont Saxapahaw Selma Siler City Silk Hope Wendell West Smithfield Timberlake Wilson's Mills Youngsville Zebulon Nearby cities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants Creedmoor Oxford Roxboro

Education

Public secondary education in the Triangle is similar to that of the majority of the state of North Carolina, in which there are county-wide school systems (the exception is Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools within Orange County but apart from Orange County Schools). The Wake County Public School System, which includes the cities of Raleigh and Cary, is the largest school system in the state of North Carolina and the 18th largest in the United States, officially recording an enrollment of 139,599 students on the 20th day of the 2009-10 school year. Other larger systems in the region include Durham Public Schools (about 33,000 students) and rapidly growing Johnston County Schools (about 31,000 students).

Institutions of higher education Duke Chapel at Duke University Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Memorial Bell Tower at NC State Central Carolina Community College Duke University Durham Technical Community College Meredith College North Carolina Central University North Carolina State University Piedmont Community College Shaw University Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and The College at Southeastern St. Augustine's College University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Vance-Granville Community College Wake Technical Community College William Peace University

These are major colleges in the Triangle Area

Sports

College sports Tip-off of a Duke-UNC basketball game at the Dean Smith Center

With the significant number of universities and colleges in the area and the relative absence of major league professional sports, NCAA sports are very popular, particularly those sports in which the Atlantic Coast Conference participates, most notably basketball.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University Wolfpack in Raleigh, and the Duke University Blue Devils in Durham are all members of the ACC. Rivalries among these schools are very strong, fueled by proximity to each other, with annual competitions in every sport. Adding to the rivalries is the large number of graduates that high schools in the region send to each of the local universities. It is very common for students at one university to know many students attending the other local universities, which increases the opportunities for "bragging" among the schools. The four ACC schools in the state, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest University are referred to as Tobacco Road by sportscasters, particularly in basketball. All four teams consistently produce high-caliber teams. Each of the Triangle-based universities listed have won at least two NCAA Basketball National Championships.

Three historically black colleges, including new Division I member North Carolina Central University and Division II members St. Augustine College and Shaw University also boost the popularity of college sports in the region.

Professional sports Stanley Cup awards ceremony at the RBC Center

The region has only one professional team of the four major sports, the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, based in Raleigh. Since moving to the Research Triangle region from Hartford, Connecticut, they have enjoyed great success, including winning a Stanley Cup and advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals. With only one top level professional sports option, minor league baseball and other sports are quite popular in the region. The Durham Bulls in Downtown Durham are a AAA Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Carolina Mudcats, based in Zebulon, 10 miles east of Raleigh, are the Advanced-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. In Cary, the Carolina RailHawks play in the second-level North American Soccer League (not to be confused with the former league of the same name).

The area also had a team in the fledgling World League of American Football - however, the Raleigh–Durham Skyhawks, coached by Roman Gabriel, didn't exactly cover themselves in glory; they lost all ten games of their inaugural (and only) season in 1991. The team folded after that, being replaced in the league by the Ohio Glory, who fared little better at 1-9, ultimately suffering the same fate - along with the other 6 teams based in North America - when the league took a 2-year hiatus, returning as a 6-team all-European league in 1995.

Commerce

Anchored by leading technology firms, government and world-class universities and medical centers, the area's economy has performed exceptionally well. Significant increases in employment, earnings, personal income and retail sales are projected over the next 15 years.

The region's growing high-technology community includes such companies as IBM, SAS Institute, Cisco Systems, NetApp, Red Hat, EMC Corporation and Credit Suisse First Boston. In addition to high-tech, the region is consistently ranked in the top three in the U.S. with concentration in life science companies. Some of these companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen Idec, BASF, Merck & Co., Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, and Wyeth. Research Triangle Park and North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus in Raleigh support innovation through R&D and technology transfer among the region's companies and research universities (including Duke University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

The area has fared relatively well during the Late-2000s recession ranked as the strongest region in North Carolina by the Brookings Institution and among the top 40 in the country. The change in unemployment during 2008 to 2009 was 4.6% and home prices was 2%. The Greensboro metropolitan area was listed among the second weakest and the Charlotte area among the middle in the country.

Major employers American Airlines BASF Bayer The Body Shop Burt's Bees Cisco Systems Credit Suisse Group Duke University Durham Public Schools DuPont Eaton Fidelity Investments Environmental Protection Agency General Electric GlaxoSmithKline IBM LabCorp Lenovo Netapp North Carolina State Government (including the University of North Carolina system) Pfizer (Pfizer Poultry Health) Progress Energy Qualcomm Quintiles Red Hat Research Triangle Institute SAS Institute Sony Ericsson Syngenta Teleflex Medical Toyota United States Forest Service Verizon Wake County Public School System Major hospitals and medical centers Duke University Medical Center Patient Rapid Transit monorail train in Durham. North Carolina Memorial and Children's hospitals in Chapel Hill. Durham VA Medical Center in Durham.

The Research Triangle region is served by the following hospitals and medical centers:

Hospitals of the Duke University Health System Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center (Durham) Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center (Durham) Duke Raleigh Hospital (formerly Raleigh Community Hospital) Duke University Medical Center (Durham) Duke Regional Hospital (formerly Durham Regional Hospital) Person Memorial Hospital (Roxboro) Hospitals of the UNC Health Care system Chatham Hospital (Siler City) North Carolina Cancer Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Children's Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Memorial Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Neurosciences Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Women's Hospital (Chapel Hill) Rex Hospital (Raleigh) Johnston Medical Center (Smithfield) Hospitals of the WakeMed system WakeMed Raleigh Campus (formerly Wake Memorial Hospital and Wake Medical Center) WakeMed Cary Hospital (formerly Western Wake Medical Center) Other hospitals and medical centers Central Regional Hospital,(Butner) Dorothea Dix Hospital (Raleigh) Durham VA Medical Center (Durham) Franklin Regional Medical Center (Louisburg) Harnett Health System (Dunn) Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital Angier Medical Services Good Hope Hospital Betsy Johnson Cancer Research Clinic

Transportation

Freeways and primary designated routes I-40 passing through RTP. The Durham Freeway passing through downtown Durham.

The Triangle is served by three major interstate highways: I-40, I-85, and I-95, their spurs: I-440 and I-540, and seven U.S. Routes: 1, 64, 70, 264, 401, 15 and 501 which are multiplexed through much of the region as US 15-501.

Two of the three interstates diverge from one another in Orange County with I-85 heading northeast through northern Durham County toward Virginia, while I-40 travels southeast through southern Durham, through the center of the region, and serves as the primary freeway through Raleigh. The related loop freeways I-440 and I-540 are primarily located in Wake County around Raleigh. I-440 begins at the interchange of US 1 and I-40 southwest of downtown Raleigh and arcs northward around downtown with the formal designation as the Cliff Benson/Raleigh Beltline (co-signed with US 1 on three-fourths of its northern route) and ends at its junction with I-40 in southeast Raleigh. I-540, sometimes known as the Raleigh Outer Loop, extends from the US 64-264 Bypass to Interstate 40 just inside Durham County, where it continues across the interstate as a state route, (NC 540), prior to its becoming a toll road from the NC 54 interchange to the current terminus at NC Highway 55 near Holly Springs. I-95 serves the extreme eastern edge of the region, crossing south-to-north through suburban Johnston County.

U.S. Routes 1, 15, and 64 primarily serve the region as limited-access freeways or multi-lane highways with access roads. US 1 enters the region from the southwest as the Claude E. Pope Memorial Highway and travels through suburban Apex where it merges with US 64 and continues northeast toward Raleigh. The two highways are co-designated for about 2 miles (3.2 km) until US 1 joins I-440 and US 64 with I-40 along the Raleigh–Cary border. Capital Boulevard, which is designated US 1 for half of its route and US 401 the other is not a limited-access freeway, although it is a major thoroughfare through northeast Raleigh and into the northern downtown area.

North Carolina Highway 147 is a limited-access freeway that connects I-85 with Toll Route NC 540 in northwestern Wake County. The older, toll-free portion of the four-lane route— known as the Durham Freeway or the I.L. "Buck" Dean Expressway—traverses downtown Durham and extends through Research Triangle Park to Interstate 40. The Durham Freeway is often used as a detour or alrernate route for I-40 through southwestern Durham the Chapel Hill area in cases of traffic accident, congestion or road construction delays. The tolled portion of NC 147, called the Triangle Expressway—North Carolina's first modern toll road when it opened to traffic in late 2011—continues past Interstate 40 to Toll NC 540. Both Toll NC 147 and Toll NC 540 are modern facilites which collect tolls via transponders and license plate photo-capture technology.

Public transit Triangle Transit bus Chapel Hill Transit bus

A partnering system of multiple public transportation agencies currently serves the Triangle region. Raleigh is served by the Capital Area Transit (CAT) municipal transit system, while Durham has the Durham Area Transit Authority (DATA) system. Chapel Hill is served by Chapel Hill Transit, and Cary is also served by its own public transit systems. However, Triangle Transit, formerly called the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA), works in cooperation with all area transit systems by offering transfers between its own routes and those of the other systems. Triangle Transit also coordinates an extensive vanpool and rideshare program that serves the region's larger employers and commute destinations.

There are plans to merge all of the area's municipal systems into Triangle Transit, and Triangle Transit also has proposed a regional rail system to connect downtown Durham and downtown Raleigh with multiple suburban stops as well as stops in the Research Triangle Park area. The agency's initial proposal was effectively cancelled in 2006, however, when the agency could not procure adequate federal funding. A committee of local business, transportation and government leaders currently are working with Triangle Transit to develop a new transit blueprint for the region, with various modes of rail transit, as well as bus rapid transit, open as options for consideration.

Air Raleigh–Durham International Airport (RDU) Main article: Raleigh–Durham International Airport

(IATA: RDU, ICAO: KRDU, FAA LID: RDU)

RDU welcome sign. American Airlines Boeing 777 touches down at RDU. Southwest Airlines jet landing at RDU.

The General Assembly of North Carolina chartered the Raleigh–Durham Aeronautical Authority in 1939, which would be changed in 1945 to the Raleigh–Durham Airport Authority. The first new terminal opened in 1955. Terminal A (now Terminal 1) opened in 1981. American Airlines began service to RDU in 1985.

RDU opened the 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway, 5L-23R, in 1986. American Airlines opened its North-South Hub operation at RDU in the new Terminal C in June 1987, greatly increasing the size of RDU's operations with a new terminal including a new apron and runway. American brought RDU its first international flights to Bermuda, Cancun, Paris and London.

In 1996, American Airlines ceased its hub operations at RDU due to Pan Am and Eastern Airlines. Pan Am and Eastern were Miami's main tenants until 1991, when both carriers went bankrupt. Their hubs at MIA were taken over by United Airlines and American Airlines. This created a difficulty in competing with US Airways' hub in Charlotte and Delta Air Lines' hub in Atlanta, Georgia for passengers traveling between smaller cities in the North and South. Midway Airlines entered the market, starting service in 1995 with the then somewhat novel concept of 50 seat CRJs providing service from its RDU hub primarily along the east coast. Midway, originally incorporated in Chicago, had some success after moving its operations to the midpoint of the eastern United States at RDU and its headquarters to Morrisville, NC. The carrier ultimately couldn't overcome three weighty challenges: the arrival of Southwest Airlines, the refusal of American Airlines to renew the frequent flyer affiliation it had with Midway (thus dispatching numerous higher fare paying businesspeople to airlines with better reward destinations), and the significant blow of September 11, 2001. Midway Airlines filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 13, 2001, and ceased operations entirely on October 30, 2003.

In February 2000, RDU was ranked as the nation's second fastest growing major airport in the United States, by Airports Council International, based on 1999 statistics. Passenger growth hit 24% over the previous year, ranking RDU second only to Washington Dulles International Airport. RDU opened Terminal A south concourse for use by Northwest and Continental Airlines in 2001. The addition added 46,000 square feet (4,300 m2) and five aircraft gates to the terminal. Terminal A became designated as Terminal 1 on October 26, 2008. In 2003, RDU also dedicated a new general aviation (GA) terminal. RDU continues to keep pace with its growth by redeveloping Terminal C into a new state-of the-art terminal, now known as Terminal 2, which opened in October 2008.

Other carriers at RDU International Airport:

Air Canada, the airport's first international carrier, introduced service to Toronto in 1996. Southwest Airlines, the nation's largest low-cost carrier, began service to RDU in 1999. America West (merged with US Airways in 2005) began service at RDU in 2002 with flights to Phoenix and Las Vegas. JetBlue began nonstop service between RDU and New York and Boston in 2006, with additional service to Fort Lauderdale, which began in January 2008. Public general-aviation airports

In addition to RDU, several smaller publicly owned general-aviation airports also operate in the metropolitan region:

Horace Williams Airport in Chapel Hill Triangle North Executive Airport (IATA: LFN, ICAO: KLHZ, FAA LID: LHZ), Louisburg Raleigh Exec (ICAO: KTTA, FAA LID: TTA), Sanford Johnston County Airport (IATA: JNX, ICAO: KJNX, FAA LID: JNX), Smithfield Horace Williams Airport (IATA: IGX, ICAO: KIGX, FAA LID: IGX), Chapel Hill Harnett Regional Jetport (IATA: HRJ, ICAO: KHRJ, FAA LID: HRJ), Erwin Person County Airport (ICAO: KTDF, FAA LID: TDF), Roxboro Siler City Municipal Airport (ICAO: K5W8, FAA LID: 5W8), Siler City Private airfields

There are numerous licensed private general-aviation and agricultural airfields in the region's suburban areas and nearby rural communities:

Lake Ridge Airport (8NC8) in Durham Bagwell Airport (FAA LID: NC99), Garner Ball Airport (FAA LID: 79NC), Louisburg Barclaysville Field Airport (FAA LID: NC44), Angier Brooks Field Airport (FAA LID: 8NC6), Siler City CAG Farms Airport (FAA LID: 87NC), Angier Charles Field Airport (FAA LID: NC22), Dunn Cox Airport (FAA LID: NC81), Apex Crooked Creek Airport (FAA LID: 7NC5), Bunn Dead Dog Airport (FAA LID: 8NC4), Pittsboro Deck Airpark Airport (FAA LID: NC11), Apex Dutchy Airport (FAA LID: 5NC5), Chapel Hill Eagle's Landing Airport (FAA LID: 9NC8), Pittsboro Field of Dreams Airport (FAA LID: 51NC), Zebulon Fuquay/Angier Field Airport (FAA LID: 78NC), Fuquay-Varina Hinton Field Airport (FAA LID: NC72), Princeton Kenly Airport (FAA LID: 7NC3), Kenly Lake Ridge Aero Park Airport (FAA LID: 8NC8), Durham Miles Airport (FAA LID: NC34), Chapel Hill North Raleigh Airport (FAA LID: 00NC), Louisburg Peacock Stolport Airport (FAA LID: 4NC7), Garner Raleigh East Airport (FAA LID: 9NC0), Knightdale Riley Field Airport (FAA LID: 1NC5), Bunn Ron's Field Ultralight Airport (FAA LID: 1NC1), Pittsboro Triple W Airport (ICAO: K5W5, FAA LID: 5W5), Raleigh Womble Field Airport (FAA LID: 3NC9), Chapel Hill Heliports

The following licensed heliports serve the Research Triangle region:

NC92 helipad at Duke University Medical Center Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital Heliport (FAA LID: NC96), Dunn—publicly owned; medical service Duke University North Heliport (ICAO: NC92, FAA LID: NC92), Durham—privately owned; public medical service Garner Road Heliport (FAA LID: 3NC2), Raleigh—publicly owned; state government service Holly Green Heliport (FAA LID: 83NC), Durham—private Sky-5 Heliport (FAA LID: 2NC3), Raleigh—private, owned by Sky-5 Inc. (WRAL-TV) Sprint MidAtlantic Telecom Heliport (FAA LID: 11NC), Youngsville—private; corporate service Wake Medical Center Heliport (FAA LID: 0NC4), Raleigh—publicly owned; medical service Western Wake Medical Center Heliport (FAA LID: 04NC), Cary—publicly owned; medical service

A number of helipads (i.e. marked landing sites not classified under the FAA LID system) also serve a variety of additional medical facilities (such as UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill), as well as private, corporate and governmental interests, throughout the region.