Denver shows Orlando the transit way.
Orlando’s failure to land the Amazon Headquarters 2 has in part been blamed on regional transportation inadequacies. According to Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, transit improvement “starts with the expansion of SunRail and the extension of Brightline to Central Florida.” While both projects are important pieces of the puzzle, they are not where the resolution of the area’s transportation woes must begin.
First and foremost, what must occur is the creation of a sound organizational and fiscal foundation upon which a multimodal transportation system can built. This is not a new idea. Numerous metropolitan areas, including several that made the HQ2 short list of most desirable sites, have formed transportation districts that are today serving millions of riders.
Created by state legislative action and often requiring the approval of voters, these districts typically encompass two or more counties, and are governed by either appointed or elected boards. The boards have been empowered with limited taxing authority for the single purpose of providing public transportation. It has long been recognized that fares alone are insufficient to build and operate viable mass-transit systems, so a districtwide portion of the property or sales tax, sometimes both, is relied upon to help provide what is increasingly recognized as an essential public service.
Several existing transit modes and systems can be brought under one operational framework, with a dedicated funding source, eliminating wasteful duplication, interagency rivalries and financial competition. Routes can be scheduled in a seamless fashion, such that passengers exit rail service to awaiting bus links, and vice versa. The reach and availability of service can be extended beyond what piecemeal providers are able to achieve.
Denver provides a reasonable model for Orlando. Like Orlando, Denver is bisected by a major interstate highway (Interstate 25). Like Orlando, car culture contributed to urban sprawl. By the late 1960s, the privately owned bus system was seen as highly inadequate. Local private and public leaders worked with the Colorado Legislature to create the Regional Transportation District. Governed by an elected board and funded in part by what is currently a 1 percent sales tax, the district took over the bus system.
In subsequent decades, the district not only significantly upgraded bus system routes and schedules, but extended services to neighboring municipalities. The district then began construction of commuter rail, which today runs adjacent to I-25. Even more recently, the district has rolled out a light-rail system. All of this is integrated into a single, areawide network.
To accomplish something like Denver would require the cooperation of Orlando metropolitan area leaders and state legislators. But as Denver and many other places around the country have shown, if there’s a will, there’s a way.
It might also be noted that while Orlando didn’t make Amazon’s HQ2 short list, Denver did.