ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orange County Transportation Mobility Advisory Commission met Thursday evening and talked about how Orange County’s transit system currently operates and what it may look like if there were a transportation sales tax to help make updates and improvements countywide.

The transportation sales tax is still in its early stages and has not been proposed yet, but it is being discussed and considered.

What You Need To Know

  • The Transportation Mobility Advisory Commission is tasked with making recommendations to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners about all transportation issues

  • The Board of County Commissioners is discussing a possible transportation sales tax proposal for 2025

  • The committee heard a presentation from public works to take a look at past transportation sales tax increase proposals from 2022 and 2024

  • Residents present shared that they were in favor of a transportation sales tax but had different opinions on how the funds should be spent

Thursday's meeting discussed what past proposals looked like in 2022 and 2024.

The 2022 proposal would have produced $600 million annually, while two different proposals in 2024 would have garnered $759 million or $379 million yearly, respectively.

While neither were successful, with last year’s proposal not even making it to the ballot, the question remains on whether a sales tax is actually needed.

Everyone present seemed to agree that a sales tax increase may be needed to update Orange County's transportation systems, but they had different thoughts on how it should be spent.

Orange County resident Robert Perez said he believes funds should be used for climate-friendly options.

“We need to use that money for bicycle infrastructure. If people feel safe cycling to nearby places, that will reduce traffic for the short-distance trips," shared Perez. "We need to use that money for transit infrastructure. Whether that be bus lanes, or new SunRail or anything like that,” he said.

Other people, like Amber Homberger, said they believe the extra funds should be used to improve the transit system.

“It has to be dedicated to transit," Homberger said. "I think we need to do everything possible to improve that system for the benefit of drivers as well as for the benefit of those of us who would love to choose transit if it were actually accessible.”

Homberger said she spends 90 minutes in traffic round-trip for work each day, but if she were to use the current transit system, it would take four hours.

Other residents said the transit system is not appealing for residents because it does not come near their homes and lacks cleanliness.

So, those present at Thursday's meeting are requesting the TransMAC committee seriously encourage the board to look at a possible transportation sales tax.

Since this conversation is in its early stages, the committee members said they plan to hear from SunRail and Lynx to see what they would do with extra funding and decide if it’s worth the board proposing a sales tax initiative again this year.