PHOTO VIA LYNX FACEBOOK PAGE
Orange County commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday, September 29, to move forward with a feasibility study for something they’re calling the STAR Plan (Website). The proposal would bring rapid transit to eight of the county’s busiest corridors, including Colonial Drive, Semoran Boulevard, Orange Blossom Trail, and International Drive.
STAR stands for Sunshine Transit Advancement Resolution, and the full list of corridors is Colonial, Semoran, Silver Star, International, Kirkman, Orange Blossom, SunRail, and the Sunshine Corridor.
The plan would begin with bus rapid transit and could eventually expand to light and heavy rail. The proposal calls for more frequent service and dedicated lanes to keep buses out of traffic. The long-term goal is for one in three county residents to live within a 15-minute walk of rapid transit.
The study will look at what the system could look like, what it would cost, and how it could be paid for. One funding idea in the proposal is to put part of future property tax revenue from areas near the corridors toward transit improvements. Vice Mayor Dr. Kelly Martinez Semrad has said the county should look beyond that model to any financially workable option.
The push comes as Orlando ranks eighth worst for public transit among the country’s 50 largest urban areas, according to a Consumer Affairs analysis.
State Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, who endorsed the plan and testified at Tuesday’s meeting, called the vote a win for anyone who has sat in traffic on Colonial or waited more than an hour for a LYNX bus. She also said the study puts Orange County in a better position to compete for state and federal transit dollars, and pushed back on the idea that transit was off the table after voters rejected the 2022 transportation sales tax.
The vote approves only the study. No final cost, timeline, or final decision on which type of transit would run on each corridor has been set and is likely years away.
