Orange County officials share results of transportation survey ahead of key commission vote

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Board of Commissioners will vote Tuesday on whether to include a proposed penny sales tax increase on the November ballot.

If approved, the hundreds of millions of dollars raised could help pay for everything from road improvements to Lynx and SunRail expansions.

READ: “We must act now”: Mayor Demings pushes penny sales tax hike at economic summit

To help determine what the county’s transportation priorities should be, Mayor Jerry Demings launched an online survey seeking input from Orange County residents.

A similar survey in 2019 received nearly 11,000 responses before the COVID-19 pandemic paused all transportation efforts.

Orange County residents and travelers who frequent the area were invited to participate in the 2022 version of the survey, which got nearly another 8,500 total replies.

According to the data released by the county Monday, 93 percent of the respondents said they use a car as their main source of transportation.

79 percent of the participants said congestion was the biggest transportation issue in Orange County.

READ: Penny sales tax increase: See the Orange County mayor’s list of possible transportation projects

When it came to the top transportation priorities, 57 percent said they believe “building mass transit” was most important, while another 48 percent said it was “improving traffic signal timing.”

Overall, a majority of respondents - 33 percent- said they were not at all satisfied with Orange County’s current transportation system. Only 3 percent responded that they were completely satisfied with it.

At least four commissioners have to vote “yes” Tuesday for the Transportation Sales Tax Referendum to be included on the November ballot.

To watch a live stream of the meeting online, click here.

READ: ‘Political retribution’: Demings denounces decision to strip Disney’s self-governing power

To view the full results of the 2022 transportation survey, click here.

The survey will remain open for participation until 11:59 p.m. Monday.

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