Central Floridians Strongly Support Central Florida Commuter Rail
The region’s citizenry expressed “strong support” for proceeding with development of the Central Florida Commuter Rail project as a viable alternative to solving the region’s issues of traffic congestion, according to a survey commissioned by myregion.org and unveiled at the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce last week.
The scientific survey of 502 registered voters from the four counties that will be linked by the proposed Central Florida Commuter Rail (Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia Counties), was conducted by Dr. David Hill of Hill Research Consultants and explored attributes about public transportation that matter most to the region’s citizens. The survey also asked citizens to voice their opinion about the look, feel, and name of the proposed Central Florida’s Commuter Rail project.
An estimated 3.5 million people live in the rapidly growing Central Florida region, and traffic congestion is a growing frustration. As a region, Central Florida now has a rare opportunity to invest in a cost-effective and efficient alternate mode of transportation with the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, which will run along a 61-mile stretch of existing rail freight tracks in the four-county area.
“In significant aspects, the survey concluded that transportation is an important issue for residents across the region, as they expect that it will only worsen in coming years,” said Dr. Hill. “Whatever their lack of awareness or reservations, the public wants progress to be made.”
Other survey findings included:
* Consistent with “wrong track” sentiments nationally (and their own commuting experience personally), the majority of residents across the region (49%) expect the transportation situation to worsen in coming years, while only 20% felt that it will “get better.”
* Respondents overwhelmingly believe (87%) that the solution to Central Florida’s transportation issues lies outside of the automobile and that “now is the time” for our region to invest in a new, modern mass transit system, according to 79% of those surveyed.
* Concerns over traffic congestion (and a desire to cut commute times) drive public demand (39%), with safety being a critical priority (31%).
* The majority of survey respondents (72%) expressed that they would like to ride a “cutting-edge, modern, high-tech” train, versus a nostalgic, retro, “Orient Express” type of train (23%), that is painted in cool colors (blues, greens and purples) that match our skies and environment.
“These results are not a surprise,” said Shelley Lauten, president of myregion.org. “In addition to the scientific research that Dr. Hill presented, almost 1,700 business and civic leaders have responded to our questionnaire about the brand image, attributes and benefits of the Central Florida Commuter Rail and the opinions we gathered are very similar. In fact, close to 50% of the business and civic leaders said that they would definitely use a Commuter Rail Transit system and have submitted more than 300 unique names to us. People are making their voices heard, loud and clear.”
For complete presentation results please visit: www.myregion.org.
The scientific survey of 502 registered voters from the four counties that will be linked by the proposed Central Florida Commuter Rail (Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia Counties), was conducted by Dr. David Hill of Hill Research Consultants and explored attributes about public transportation that matter most to the region’s citizens. The survey also asked citizens to voice their opinion about the look, feel, and name of the proposed Central Florida’s Commuter Rail project.
An estimated 3.5 million people live in the rapidly growing Central Florida region, and traffic congestion is a growing frustration. As a region, Central Florida now has a rare opportunity to invest in a cost-effective and efficient alternate mode of transportation with the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, which will run along a 61-mile stretch of existing rail freight tracks in the four-county area.
“In significant aspects, the survey concluded that transportation is an important issue for residents across the region, as they expect that it will only worsen in coming years,” said Dr. Hill. “Whatever their lack of awareness or reservations, the public wants progress to be made.”
Other survey findings included:
* Consistent with “wrong track” sentiments nationally (and their own commuting experience personally), the majority of residents across the region (49%) expect the transportation situation to worsen in coming years, while only 20% felt that it will “get better.”
* Respondents overwhelmingly believe (87%) that the solution to Central Florida’s transportation issues lies outside of the automobile and that “now is the time” for our region to invest in a new, modern mass transit system, according to 79% of those surveyed.
* Concerns over traffic congestion (and a desire to cut commute times) drive public demand (39%), with safety being a critical priority (31%).
* The majority of survey respondents (72%) expressed that they would like to ride a “cutting-edge, modern, high-tech” train, versus a nostalgic, retro, “Orient Express” type of train (23%), that is painted in cool colors (blues, greens and purples) that match our skies and environment.
“These results are not a surprise,” said Shelley Lauten, president of myregion.org. “In addition to the scientific research that Dr. Hill presented, almost 1,700 business and civic leaders have responded to our questionnaire about the brand image, attributes and benefits of the Central Florida Commuter Rail and the opinions we gathered are very similar. In fact, close to 50% of the business and civic leaders said that they would definitely use a Commuter Rail Transit system and have submitted more than 300 unique names to us. People are making their voices heard, loud and clear.”
For complete presentation results please visit: www.myregion.org.
posted by Totally Florida Staff at
7:43 AM
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