UCI

Transportation

Fourteen percent are satisfied with the freeway system in Orange County today, while 51 percent think more lanes for existing freeways are needed and 35 percent favor building new freeways.

The results are very similar to last year, when 17 percent were satisfied with the freeway conditions. In recent years, freeway satisfaction has been rebounding from its low of 5 percent in 1988. But satisfaction is still well below freeway ratings in the early 1980s.

Residents aged 35 to 54 are the least satisfied with the freeway system (9%), while about one in six younger and older people are satisfied.

Eighteen percent of those who earn $50,000 or less are satisfied with the freeways, compared to only 8 percent of those with higher incomes.

Support for building new freeways is higher in the South County (39%) and the Central County (38%) than in the North County (32%) and West County (31%).

On another question, residents support building three public tollroads in Orange County, with 53 percent in favor and 39 percent opposed. Eight percent are unsure. Support is strongest in the South County region, where the three public tollroads are favored by 58 percent and opposed by 36 percent.

Favor for the tollroads is greatest among those under 55 (55%), those earning more than $50,000 (61%), Republicans (57%) and men (56%). There is no demographic group in which a majority opposes building the three public tollroads.

Interestingly, more people support building the three public tollroads than say new freeways should be built in Orange County. This is because residents who only want new lanes added to the existing freeways narrowly support building the three public tollroads (51% to 40%), and those who want new freeways built strongly favor building the tollroads (64% to 30%). Only among the small number who are satisfied with the current freeways do tollroad opponents outnumber the supporters (44% to 50%).

We also examined commuting trends over time and found a slight decline in the proportion of employed residents driving alone to work. Seventy-eight percent drive alone in this year's survey, compared to 84 percent in 1989 and 82 percent in 1982.

Residents who earn less than $35,000 a year (69%) are less likely than higher-income residents (80%) to drive alone. Also, those who live in the Central County (70%) are less likely to be solo drivers than are others (80%). There are no differences by age.

Fifty percent of employed residents describe traffic congestion as a problem for them, with 16 percent saying it is a "great problem." Since 1989, the proportion who say traffic congestion is a problem has declined by 14 points. The numbers today are similar to those reported in the 1982 survey, before the rapid rise in discontent with county traffic that was seen in the 1980s.

South County commuters are the most likely to say congestion is a problem during their commute (54%), with 21 percent describing it as a great problem. Elsewhere in the county, 48 percent say traffic congestion is a problem, and 13 percent say it is a great problem. There are no differences by age or income.

Forty-two percent of employed residents say their commute has gotten worse over time, 49 percent say it has stayed the same and 9 percent say it has gotten better. The proportion saying their commute has gotten worse has declined by 18 points since the 1989 survey. The proportion with negative attitudes is the same today as it was in the 1982 survey.

Commuters under 35 are less likely to say their commute has gotten worse (35%) than are older residents (46%). This is because a majority of the younger residents (58%) perceive traffic conditions as staying about the same.

In the South (50%) and Central County (47%), residents are more likely to think their commute has gotten worse than in the North (35%) and West County (34%).

There are no differences in commuters' perceptions of traffic trends by income.