UCI

Tracking Questions: Transportation

Satisfaction with the county's freeways has risen to a new high for the decade, with 23 percent saying the current system is satisfactory, 52 percent calling for more lanes on existing freeways and 25 percent wanting new freeways to be built.

These numbers reflect a trend of increasing satisfaction with the county's freeways that has been underway throughout this decade. Since 1990, reports of freeway satisfaction have increased from 9 to 23 percent. Satisfaction with the freeway system has now returned to the level it was at in 1984.

While satisfaction is up in all regions of the county, those in the South continue to be the least likely to say they are satisfied with the freeways (20%). Still, the number of South County residents who are satisfied is up 8 points from last year.

Residents aged 35 to 54 are less satisfied with the freeway system (18%), than are those younger (25%) or older (26%).

Satisfaction is also lower among those who earn more than $50,000 (15%) than among those earning less (28%). Three in 10 higher-income residents think new freeways should be built.

Eighty percent of employed residents say they drive alone to work, 13 percent carpool and 2 percent take public transit. These numbers are about the same as last year. The rate of driving alone is similar to 1990 (83%).

Younger people are more than twice as likely to carpool as are those 35 and older (17% to 8%). Carpooling is least common in the North (8%) and most common in the Central County (16%), while 12 percent carpool in the West and South. There are no differences by income.

This year, 57 percent of the county's workers say traffic congestion is a problem during their commute, with 17 percent calling it a "great problem." The number experiencing great problems with traffic is unchanged from last year. The perception of major commuting problems has consistently been 10 points lower in the 1990s than it was in the middle- to late-1980s.

Traffic appears to be a greater problem for commuters under 55 than for older workers (19% to 5%). There are no differences by income or region of residence.

Measure M projects are also participating in the current upturn in residents' attitudes about Orange County's traffic woes. Sixty percent of residents say they are satisfied with the way Measure M funds are being spent today, up from 48 percent in 1992. Only one in five are not satisfied. Thirty-seven percent have noticed specific Measure M projects, the same as in 1992.

Residents are most likely to have noticed Measure M projects in the South County (41%) and least likely in the Central County (30%). Elsewhere, 37 percent have noticed roadworks they believe are supported by Measure M funds. There are no demographic differences in satisfaction with the use of Measure M funds.