|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Local Transportation Projects Local residents are positive about the effects of the existing toll roads and a proposed light rail line on the transportation system in Orange County. A majority of residents (52%) believe the toll roads—including the Foothill, San Joaquin Hills, and Eastern Corridor—have been a good thing for the transportation system. Only 15 percent say they have been bad for Orange County, while 22 percent say they have made no difference. The responses were similar in our 2001 Orange County survey. Approval for toll roads is considerably higher in the South County than in the North County (65% to 47%). The toll roads are also favored more by younger people (57%) and those with incomes of $80,000 or more (64%). Republicans (59%) more likely than Democrats (49%) to think the toll roads have been a good thing for the county’s transportation system. Residents are even more positive about a proposed light rail line that would link the county’s large cities and major employment centers: Seventy percent think it is a good idea, 10 percent think it’s bad, and 15 percent say it would make no difference. This proposal of a light rail transit line receives more enthusiastic
support in the North County than in the South County (73% to
65%). However, as mentioned above, South County residents are
more likely than those in the North to give a light rail system
top priority for funding over other transportation projects
(27% to 19%). A majority in all demographic and political groups
support light rail, but favor is higher among women than men
(74% to 67%) and among Latinos than whites (80% to 67%).
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||