Survey Useful, Not Definitive

The feelings of Orange County residents about various forms of transportation are eminently changeable. A good day on the freeways will prompt a different response than one in which traffic is bumper to bumper.

Similarly, if a MetroLink train runs on time and it’s easy to find a seat, a respondent’s feelings about expanding train service in the county are likely to be positive.

So while the results of the Orange County Transportation Authority’s latest sampling of opinion are interesting about what a small segment of the public is thinking at one moment in time, it should not be read as definitive. OCTA spoke to 800 people it described as very likely to vote in elections. About one-quarter of them lived in Irvine. They were not public transportation users. In other words, the respondents were not representative of all county residents.

Still, because they represent the same group of people OCTA sampled on many of the same subjects five years ago, the changes in responses are worth noting.

Only 17.3% said rail was the “most important” transportation system. Five years ago the percentage was 42. But 10.7% did favor improving MetroLink service and 8.3% wanted improved bus service. Those two categories were not included in the 1991 survey.

Commuting by train has many advocates in parts of the country which have had rail service for decades and where workers grew up watching their parents use the rails to get to and from work. Southern California has been different. Los Angeles has had great difficulty building its enormously expensive subway. By contrast, the above-ground Blue Line trains from Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles, using existing track, have received generally high marks from riders.

Respondents to the OCTA survey felt it was better to keep freeways and surface streets in top condition or to widen them than to build a new rail system. That is hardly surprising, given Southern California’s love affair with the car.

In addition, there are legitimate questions about the expense of investing in rail in an area like Orange County, which has little experience with passenger train service and might not be supportive. Commuter lines on existing Amtrak routes haven’t required big investment in rail infrastructure, and have been operating during much of this decade.

OCTA’s sampling of opinion is valuable because residents’ votes are needed when the agency seeks funds. But transportation planners must consider the needs of all county residents, not just people who vote. Those who ride buses and trains must be served as much as those who drive the streets.