ORLANDO FL:Trolleys Crash — Transit/Tollway Opportunity

Studies have begun on widening alternatives for 14km (8mi) of the tollster’s busiest stretch of toll road – FL-408 between I-4 and FL-417, west of the Orlando. ICs will be reduced in number but increased in capacity, and there could be some special provisions such as reversible lanes and central director connector ramps.

Rich said he will present more details on his I-4 proposal at board meetings later this year but provisionally he envisages a 2x2-lane facility catering to a mix of carpoolers, hotel and resort shuttles, transit buses and single occupant vehicles paying tolls. It would start at the end of current FDOT widening work on I-4 at John Young Pkwy (FL-423) and go 7km (4mi) northeast to the central business area, have ramps at the CBD and FL-408 and extend north another 16km (10mi) to Altamonte Springs (at FL-436-N.)

Rich says he thinks an I-4 express facility as well as catering to toll-buy in and carpooling can be part of a larger multipurpose network to serve the area.

Orange Co’s board of commissioners voted Sept 8 not to proceed with the Lynx light rail project, a controversial $600m+ project that was being proposed to run 24km (14.7mi) from C Fl Pwy south of the Convention Center area along I-4 north, then taking a railroad right of way just east of I-4 into the central business district at Livingston St. The rail advocates called this a “starter line” and wanted to extend it later another 12km (7mi) south to the Buena Vista ‘Attractions Area’ centered on Disney World, and north as well for an 85km (53mi) system.

A former supporter of the trolley and member of both the county Commission and the Lynx Board Clarence Hoenstine effectively killed the rail proposal. His was the swing vote on the county board. The ORLANDO SENTINEL reported: “With Commissioner Clarence Hoenstine casting the deciding vote, the (county) board voted 4-3 against contributing to the $600m system that would connect downtown Orlando and International Drive. Most commissioners expressed a lack of confidence in Lynx, the transit agency that would have overseen the rail system’s construction and operation. They said that Lynx had not answered a myriad of questions about who was paying what – even though the agency had years to work on the matter. Too much money was on the line not have such answers, said Hoenstine, who had previously supported the project.” (Sept 8 99) Hoenstine also announced his resignation from the Lynx board.

The I-4 Corridor, Celebration through Downtown, has a major concentration of visitor accomodations (close to 30k) and activity centers of which the Disney places are just the best known. The supporters of the light rail were probably correct in their basic proposition that it has some potential for transit, though their lack of interest in an airport link was odd. Forecasts showed daily ridership starting at 20k/day in 2003 and 30k in 2020. The people would be there to support a trolley but would they walk to and from the trolley stops, or prefer the shuttle buses, rental cars and cabs that presently do the job in this subtropical city? The trolley proponents argument was that I-4 and local arterials would get increasingly clogged so the only answer was to provide a rail on its own right of way. What they totally overlooked was the possibility of providing a high capacity express facility catering to a variety of rubber-tired vehicles, which could do everything the trolley could do by way of a 20k riders/day transit service, and a whole lot more, while costing a whole lot less.

At the August meeting of the board of the Orlando Orange County Expressway Authority (OOCEA) Wayne Rich the chairman announced an initiative for studies of I-4 HOT lanes and toll express lanes on FL-436 north of the airport. The I-4 project will require federal, state and local support, Rich says, it would logically use some form of variable toll rates, and would rely entirely on transponder tolling. It could make special provision for transit bus, mini-buses, shuttles, vans and cabs – the variety of specialized vehicles common in resort and convention spots. Its ability to sell surplus road space to single occupant vehicles would ensure it was fully used and revenue generating.

This stretch of I-4 currently is 2x3 lanes with 4 unrestricted and 2 concurrent flow striped off HOVLs and carries 150k to 170k veh/day in this stretch. HOV markings are disregarded. The FDOT plan was to add two trolley tracks, two extra unrestricted lanes and to build 2 barriered off HOV lanes over the two existing HOVLs. OOCEA proposes a 2x2-lane HOT facility somewhat similar to 91X in southern Calif. That would make it a 10-lane 3/2/2/3 facility. With the trolley killed there is an opportunity for a serious look at rubber-tired transit alternates.

The expressway authority is likely to view the I-4 project as something to be undertaken by investors like CA-91 express lanes, Rich suggested. The OOCEA would cooperate in a joint toll system.

Semoran Toll-X

The second proposed express lanes project on Semoran Blvd (FL-436-S) is one the OOCEA could undertake itself, Rich told us. Aimed at improving the airport’s connections to the city center and the northern part of the Orlando metro area, this would provide 2x2 express lanes from just north of FL-528 at Lee Vista Blvd to allow an uninterrupted ride about 9km (5.5mi) north to an interchange with the East-West toll road (FL-408). At either end of FL-436-S there is sufficient right of way to accommodate the new express lanes in the middle of free lanes but for 3km to 4km in the middle the express lanes would need to be elevated on T-section piers. FL-436-X would provide a more direct motorway standard route from the airport to the central city area which is just over 10km west along FL-408 near the I-4 IC.

FL-436-S is presently a typical untidy multi-use, signalized arterial with businesses along it, and a mix of local and through traffic. Steve Pustelnyk of the OOCEA says that for many hours each day it is quicker, if travelling from the Airport to Downtown, for motorists to go out east on the Beeline (FL-528) to the Greeneway (FL-417), then go west on the FL-408, 15km (9mi) further than to use FL-436 or FL-527, another more direct north-south arterial. Back in the 1980s the OOCEA had a scheme for another toll road to the downtown called the Central Connector, which would have run just a bit west of FL-527, but the project was derailed by opposition from local groups. There are some classy apartment buildings and townhouses built around artificial lakes in the area.

The Central Connector would have been a more efficient way of serving the downtown from the airport, but the FL-436 toll-X lanes is likely to meet less resistance because it runs through a commercial strip and right of way needs would be minimal. The OOCEA seems likely to be commissioning a preliminary feasibility study for FL-436 toll-Express.

Rich said at its last board meeting that he would like the authority to proceed immediately to construction of the next section of the Western Exwy (FL-429) from Fl Turnpike south to OC-535. OOCEA has the first section of the Western Exwy under construction – a 17km (11mi) stretch from Florida’s Turnpike in Winter Garden/Ocoee north to Apopka. There is some environmentalist opposition to plans to take the toll road further north and east from Apopka to join I-4 in Sanford. If this northwestern section could be built and the Western Exwy was completed south to I-4 in the Disney/Attractions area then with FL-417 there would be a complete toll beltway around the Orlando area.

OOCEA is meeting with environmental groups to discuss the crossing of the Wekiwa River. (Contact Hal Worrall CEO OOCEA 407 425 8606)

Orlando Survey Shows Support for Tolls

A customer survey recently shows a strong preference for more tolls as opposed to taxes, to finance new roads in the Orlando Florida area. 63% of 1309 people surveyed by the University of Central Florida, in a poll done for OOCEA, the local toll agency, said tolls were the best way to finance new road projects in the area, versus 27% who supported higher taxes. Among electronic toll (ET) transponder users there was more positive support for tolls and also for taxes and many fewer don’t-knows, so the survey doesn’t show that ET increases support for tolls as a financing mechanism. However a general question about how well the tollster is doing generally to “meet the area’s transport needs” elicited responses of excellent or very good from 61% of ET patrons compared to 47% such responses from cash customers and 40% from non-customers.

OOCEA began ET with what it calls E-PASS May 22, 1994 and has just over 200k transponders in use and they account for about 40% of transactions.

A question “Would you pay higher rush hour toll if tolls were reduced at other times of the day” induced a net negative response, especially from business users of toll transponders who were opposed 61% to 20% in favor. Private ET users were 53% opposed to 39% in favor and cash payers 53/40. The major argument for variable toll rates of this kind is that they will shift or reduce a portion of rush hour trips, so allowing a speedy trip for those who pay the higher toll, but this benefit was not mentioned by the poll question.

A question “If a higher rush hour toll reduced peak hour traffic so that free flow conditions prevailed on the toll road round the clock, would you be willing to pay a higher toll for that improvement in the peak hours, with lower tolls off-peak?” might have elicited a more positive response. But when we suggested this to an OOCEA official, he told us that focus groups they had conducted indicate that people simply don’t believe it will work, so they might not take the question seriously. Would video of I-15, CA-91X, Leeway and 407-ETR help inform them there is a workable option?

OOCEA may have a problem of bottom drawer transponders - tags patrons get in a spate of enthusiasm, then don’t use very much. 40% of ET users were using their tags less than 5 times per week in this survey up from 27% in 1997. An amazing 30% had not used the toll roads in 3 months, up from 21% in 1997. Of the cash customers 42% had not used the toll roads in the previous 3 months, again reflecting the importance of very occasional users to the agency.

Patrons do respond. OOCEA made a big effort to improve its signage and this is recognized by customers. 86% said it was adequate vs 37% in 97.

Support for the customer service center was down a bit, but still quite high: 81% were satisfied with the service they got vs 87% the previous survey.

Interestingly, despite a concerted image marketing campaign, intended to pitch OOCEA’s name and logo, people don’t take much interest in who owns the toll road. A minority of people (41%) in the survey were able to pick OOCEA as the owner. (www.oocea.com)