ART Educational Series: Investing Boldly – Audio Replay

This edition of the Alliance for Regional Transportation Educational Series featured keynote speaker Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings.

The latest program in the Alliance for Regional Transportation’s Educational Series focused on Investing Boldly, featuring keynote speaker Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings and hosted by Tim Giuliani, Orlando Economic Partnership President & CEO.

While the pandemic forced all our region’s communities to accelerate, adapt and focus on the varied challenges that arose, one thing has remained constant—our region’s growth. Growth has continued, and that growth has further exacerbated our transportation challenges.

Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings shared his vision for the future of the region’s transportation network during the final Transportation Educational Series of the year. Reflecting the priorities outlined in our Orlando Transportation 2030 Report , Mayor Demings emphasized the importance of investing boldly in transportation solutions to build a well-connected community and fund a transit system to support the explosive growth in the county. To that end, the mayor reinforced his intention to call for a penny sales tax increase, which would bring in $600 million a year for the county, half of which would be paid by visitors to the region.

The session also included a status update on the national Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which would serve as the catalyst to supporting transportation projects across the U.S. and in communities like ours where we currently face phenomenal population growth. The timeliness of this discussion is more important than ever as we can clearly see that bold investment in our infrastructure is long overdue.

Thank you to the elected leaders, transportation agency leaders and ART Executive Committee members for attending.