The Orange County Commission is slated Tuesday to discuss a citizen-led initiative to improve mass transit known as the STAR Plan.
The Sunshine Transit Advancement Resolution -- or STAR -- plan would start with bus rapid transit and include light rail and heavy rail. It focuses on eight high-volume transportation corridors crisscrossing Orange County.
The plan is modeled on Miami-Dade's SMART Plan and would rely in part on tax increment financing, or TIF, which involves a special district along the corridors where the increase in property taxes from improvements would help finance mass transit.
A feasibility study
Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad requested the agenda item for Tuesday's meeting.
She is asking for a feasibility study.
The study would be three-fold, she said, "in that we're looking at the demand, we're looking at the feasibility of the routes, and we're looking at the finances." The study would also look at what modes of transit are needed for the various corridors.
Martinez Semrad said the plan could start with bus rapid transit: "So like every 15 minutes, having a bus that's running, making sure that they always have a green light ... so they're just go go go go go, paying in advance for your tickets, so you're not paying as you get on the bus. You've already paid at the platform."
She said the community advocacy group Sunrise Movement Orlando brought the STAR Plan to her office, after conferring with agencies in Orange County and reaching out to Miami-Dade County, as well.
Sunrise Movement Orlando
"So we're like a youth-led climate organization," said Giancarlo Rodriguez, local coordinator with Sunrise Movement Orlando. "We're fighting to make Orlando more affordable, walkable and sustainable. We've been doing a lot of local advocacy to reach these goals. ... We think that by having a robust rapid transit system that we'll be addressing a lot of these problems in our community and making people's lives better."
The STAR Plan follows on Orange County's penny sales tax referendum for transportation, which voters rejected in 2022.
Advocates say the TIF funding could help Orange County compete for federal and state grants.
"And we're hoping that, you know, getting this first funding source and being able to deliver real changes," Rodriguez said, "making the bus go faster like now, improving the routes that exist now, that we've identified in STAR, that will gain the trust of the people."
And that, he said, will show the county government can deliver “make it easier to pass any kind of initiative in the future."
On its website, Sunrise Movement Orlando lays out its vision of “high-quality public transportation with service every 15 minutes or less.” And it spells out these details for a future STAR Plan ordinance:
- Designate 8 priority transit corridors for rapid transit expansion
- Create a TIF district within a half-mile of each corridor to generate dedicated transit funding over 25 years
- Establish a Citizens’ Rapid Transit Trust Fund managed by an independent citizen oversight committee to ensure transparency in investments.
- Rapid transit mode for corridors will be decided through studies conducted and community feedback after the STAR plan codified by Orange County.
Sunrise Movement Orlando has already held eight town halls and won support from several political leaders.
