For Central Florida, it's a billion-dollar question: Will a 20-mile light-rail system running from Altamonte Springs to the Orange County Convention Center be a boon to commuters -- or an expensive boondoggle? [Link corrected]
"Before officials decide whether Orange County needs rail-transit, they might want to talk to Millie Lopez. The Longwood resident seems a good candidate to use rail transit. Each day, she crawls down Interstate 4 in her car to her job at the sprawling office campus of Maitland Center. Her hours are regular and she's not a gear-head who lives to drive. So who better to try a rail line along I-4? But Lopez is a mom, so Lopez has no intention of relying on public transit. "When you have children, it's always important to have your car -- in case of emergencies, " she said. There's an army of Millie Lopezes out there -- commuters who will decide whether a rail system soars or flops. Once the project is in the ground, ridership models and consultant opinions mean nothing. Everything will boil down to people."
Thanks to Sheryl Stolzenberg
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research