Buses in Orange County take too long to get people to work, the region’s commuter rail line doesn’t go to the airport or run nights and weekends, and residents from Maitland to Hunter’s Creek complain about time spent stopped in traffic on roads and highways.

The four candidates for Orange County Mayor agree that transportation systems here need work, and all believe they have the plan to fix them. But their roadmaps to do so are very different – ranging from embracing bus express routes to employment hubs, to increasing investment overall, to even scrapping buses altogether.

The topic will be a key motivator for voters in the Aug. 18 nonpartisan election, when all voters can choose among Chris Messina, Tiffany Moore Russell, Stephanie Murphy and Mayra Uribe. If no one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, then the top two will advance to a runoff on Nov. 3.

All four candidates agree that Lynx, the regional bus system, needs drastic improvements. It currently has a $217 million budget – about $102 million of which comes from the county – and provides 67,000 rides daily across Orange, Osceola and Seminole, with some routes dipping into Lake and Polk.

Moore Russell and Uribe back the grassroots STAR Plan, which would expand rapid bus transit on eight of the county’s busiest corridors, funded by property tax collections from rising property values in those areas.

The outes include Colonial Drive, Semoran Boulevard, the proposed Sunshine Corridor between Orlando International Airport and the Orange County Convention Center, Orange Blossom Trail, International Drive, Silver Star Road, Kirkman Road, and SunRail. The county is tentatively slated to discuss the idea, created by the Sunrise Movement, a Gen Z climate-advocacy group, on Sept. 29.

Moore Russell said she likes the idea because it would get people from neighborhoods to employment centers more quickly. “It’s very intentional about trying to get people to where the jobs are,” she said.

Uribe said the plan would be helpful toward her goal of speeding up bus routes and making them a viable option for working people. “You should be able to get on the bus and get to where you’re going in 45 minutes,” Uribe said.

Murphy said the Lynx system needs a strategic redesign, to better align routes with people’s needs and to shorten the amount of time it takes people to get to work. She said the service needs better coordination with neighboring counties to address funding concerns.

All four candidates favored Lynx offering service with smaller buses, which could lower capital costs.

Messina goes the furthest on that point, arguing Lynx should scrap its model of large buses on fixed routes and instead replace them with vehicles similar to the ones used by ACCESS Lynx, which provides service to passengers with disabilities.

Those smaller buses could be used for more efficient point-to-point offerings, similar to what Seminole County does with its Scout pilot rideshare program. Doing so, Messina said, would reduce capital and operating costs as well.

“I’ve talked to people at bus stops that are waiting a half hour that take a two-hour ride from Pine Hills to the airport,” said Messina. “That’s an enormous prosperity tax on somebody.”

Orange County doesn’t have a dedicated funding source for transit, long a sore spot in trying to build a more robust system.The candidates have different approaches to that issue as well.

Moore Russell said she’d consider a push for a sales tax proposal to fund needed improvements. While similar efforts by outgoing Mayor Jerry Demings failed, she said she’d seek to put together a plan that would allow taxpayers to better understand the benefits.

Murphy said she’s “open to a dedicated funding source,” but said she’d first want to make sure the county’s $8 billion budget couldn’t be better allocated to pay for transportation. She noted roughly half of the county’s sales tax is paid by tourists — but said county leaders need to be cognizant of residents grappling with growing costs before considering any hikes.

“Right now I think people are struggling with affordability, so I think we have to be really mindful of where people are in this moment when we move forward,” she said.

Uribe said she favors lobbying Florida lawmakers to allow the county to spend Tourist Development Tax dollars, which currently must to used to promote tourism, on transportation, which would benefit both residents and visitors.

Three of the candidates – Murphy, Uribe and Moore Russell – agreed that more investment is needed to make SunRail a viable option for commuters. The proposed Sunshine Corridor would extend the rail line to the airport as well as to the tourist district.

Murphy said the county should focus on making SunRail a useful transit option for people, rather than trying to create a system that’s profitable. Most rail systems, she said, are public services and don’t always make a profit.

“We have talked about rail and making our rail systems work for working people, and right now we’re not quite there yet,” she said.

Uribe said the county should prioritize night and weekend service for SunRail.

“We’re subsidizing it every year … so why don’t we make it work for us?” she said. “Young people want to use public transit, but it has to work and it has to connect. It has to be reliable and it has to be there when you need it.”

Moore Russell also said the county should push to expand the railway to offer night and weekend service.

Messina said that he believes SunRail would require too big a subsidy to become a viable solution, though he said he’d be all for it if it could become profitable.

“I think we’re one technological innovation away from having a really good rail system,” he said, noting he wasn’t sure what that would be.

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