O.C. Poll Shows 57% Supporting Transit Projects

By ERIC BAILEY and JEFFREY A. PERLMAN

Oct. 25, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

ANAHEIM —

Despite the enduring image of Orange County as an enclave of motorists unwilling to abandon their cars, local residents solidly support building and using public transportation projects such as monorails and high-speed trains, according to a UC Irvine survey released Wednesday.

Although most area motorists doggedly stick to commuting solo, 57% say improving public transportation should be a “high priority,” putting it just ahead of the number favoring widening of freeways.

About three out of five residents said they would consider using public transportation such as a local train or monorail if such systems became available. A majority also said they would be willing to try car-pooling and employer van pools, the survey said.

“As traffic congestion has increased through the 1980s, Orange County residents have become more supportive of all solutions to our transportation problem,” said Mark Baldassare, a UCI social ecology professor who conducted the poll along with research associate Cheryl Katz. “There are a wide range of transportation options that residents are considering today. They’re more open-minded than in the past to alternatives to simply driving alone.”

Adults numbering 1,016 were queried by phone between Sept. 5 and 21 as part of the 1990 Orange County Annual Survey funded by the Urban Land Institute. Baldassare released the poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3%, during a conference Wednesday on innovations in transportation at the Disneyland Hotel.

The results could aid efforts by groups promoting rail projects, a monorail system envisioned for central Orange County and a high-speed, magnetic-levitation train being planned between Anaheim and Las Vegas.

Moreover, some officials expressed hope that the survey will translate into votes for Measure M, the Nov. 6 ballot measure that would boost the county’s sales tax by a half-cent to raise money for transportation improvements, including an expanded commuter rail system.

“People have finally realized that there is no way to have enough road capacity in Orange County,” said Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young, a booster of the monorail proposal. “Something has to be done that is different from the way things have been handled in the past.”

Orange County residents continue to rely on the car, according to the poll. Eight out of 10 people said they drive to work alone, more than half have never tried car-pooling, and more than seven out of 10 have never taken a bus, ridden the train or traveled to work in a van pool. Those results were virtually identical to polls conducted in the early 1980s.

But residents have expressed a desire to change their commuting habits. Over the past decade, interest in public transit and a willingness to spend money on various mass transit projects have increased, according to the poll.

In 1984, a survey found that 39% of the residents felt public transportation should have a high funding priority, compared to 57% today. Support for freeway widening jumped from 49% in 1984 to 56% today. Similarly, people wanting to see new freeways built rose from 21% in 1984 to 39% today and those wanting improved local streets jumped from 25% to 37%.

“They’re finally educating themselves to realize that we can’t add 20 lanes in each direction to every freeway,” said Supervisor Don R. Roth, a proponent of the Anaheim-to-Las Vegas magnetic levitation train. “I believe people are ready for alternatives to the automobile, despite the car culture” of Southern California, he added.

Four out of five people in the poll said a new “rapid-rail system” is the answer to transportation problems in Orange County, but the same percentage also think that widening freeways would help.

As for specific projects, 84% liked the idea of a monorail in central Orange County, while 56% favor the high-speed, Anaheim-Las Vegas train with local stops. Toll roads in central and south Orange County drew a favorable response of about 48%.

“The image of rail is of something high-tech, non-polluting and comfortable,” Baldassare said. “It’s also a system where people can use their time more more efficiently” than they do sitting behind the wheel of a car.

Although commuters may find public transportation alluring, it remains to be seen if they will actually dump the single-passenger car and switch to trains, buses and other ride-sharing options, Baldassare noted.

“Despite the high level of interest and even enthusiasm, there will be a process of education to get people to try new methods of commuting and stay with them over the long run,” he said. “A lot of people don’t have a clue what it means to travel to work by rail, or by bus or by van pool . . . and the mass transportation systems will have to work. They will have to be convenient, cost-effective and dependable to compete with the overwhelming choice of today, which is driving alone to work.”

UCI TRANSPORTATION SURVEY

Though most Orange County motorists still commute solo in their cars, local residents solidly support public transportation projects.

Transportation Funding Priorities and Solutions

“There are not enough funds to support all the transportation projects that have been planned for Orange County. Do you consider each of the following projects to be of high priority, medium priority or low priority if funds become available?”

Percent saying “high priority”

Improving public transportation

1984: 39%

1990: 57%

Change: +18%

Widening existing freeways

1984: 49

1990: 56

Change: +7%

Building new freeways

1984: 21

1990: 39