SunRail: Promise or peril? Central Florida’s transit crisis
As the Orlando Sentinel recently reported, SunRail faces a daunting future as one of the region’s options to increasingly crowded roads.
Despite running parallel to the gridlocked and dangerous Interstate 4, ridership has not yet risen to expectations. But has it gotten a fair shake? Join me in imagining what could be in five years. Imagine a system that smoothly connects to Lynx bus transit, runs seven days a week and at least 18 to 20 hours a day. Perhaps most importantly, it connects to the now-ready-for-passengers transit station waiting at the Orlando International Airport, ready to link Central Florida citizens to a fully functioning, convenient and low-cost option to sitting in gridlock.
Now do you think Central Florida citizens will ride it?
This is not fantasy. Fast-track connections are available today to the Orlando International Airport, which has just completed a state-of-the-art transit hub ready to connect to SunRail as well as to South Florida via All Aboard Florida. Yet no firm plans are in place for either, even though the airport welcomes 45 million visitors every year.
While Orlando residents sit in gridlock on I-4 (the nation’s most dangerous stretch of highway, according to the 2016 Teltrac Navman report), there is no sign or incentive to jump on board SunRail, mostly due to uneven bus connections and lack of weekend and evening service.
And how about those who complain transit is too expensive?
Contrary to popular opinion, roads are among the most subsidized, according to the Tax Foundation, which reports that nationwide in 2010, highwayuser taxes and fees made up just 32 percent of state and local expenses on roads. The rest was financed out of general revenues, including federal aid. Since gas-tax collections are dwindling due to high gasoline prices and more fuel-efficient cars, underwriting of roads is likely even greater today.
Keep in mind that every person who rides SunRail is reducing harmful carbon pollution, decreasing highway congestion and potentially saving significant amounts of money by not owning a car.
The League of Women Voters of Orange County believes Central Florida is in a transportation crisis and is preparing to release its first Central Florida Report Card on Transportation in the coming weeks to raise public awareness of this issue. Watch for it.