(TRA) - Austin - A wide-ranging study conducted by a research group at the University of Texas shows that an overwhelming majority of Texans surveyed not only want more passenger rail service in their area and statewide, but they are willing to commit tax dollars and additional resources to make it happen. The same survey showed support for working on roads and highways but soundly rejected new toll roads.

The Power Point portion of the survey of 2,000 Texans, which was presented to the I-35 Corridor Advisory Committee in Austin late last year, was recently made available. The full text of the survey is yet to be released.

The survey measured transportation attitudes toward both road and rail transportation issues on the I-35 corridor in particular and also sampled citizen views around the state.

Respondents favored spending tax dollars on improving intercity passenger rail service , edging out building new roads and highways.
	Willingness to Spend Tax Dollars Building New Roads and Highways	Willingness to Spend Tax Dollars Building High Speed Rail Lines Between Cities

When asked if additional resources should be marshaled for expanding passenger rail service between cities, a majority of the respondents (78%) were favorable. The additional resources were not specific in nature. Current Amtrak service was not included.
	Support for Additional Resources / Expand Passenger Rail Service Between Cities

Bringing the rail questions down to a regional and local level, a majority of respondents favorably agreed that public transportation would be improved with more commuter and light rail service.
	How Much Would Public Transportation be Improved by Adding Light Rail and Commuter Rail Lines

Extending existing light rail or commuter rail services also received a positive nod.
	How Much Would Public Transportation be Improved by Extending Light Rail and Commuter Rail Lines

On the road side of questions, a majority of Texans still agreed that they are willing to spend tax dollars building new roads and highways but rejected the idea of expanding toll roads.
	Willingness to Spend Tax Dollars Building New Roads and Highways	Support for Additional Resources Being Spent on: Building New Toll Roads

Those surveyed expect traffic and transportation in general to get much worse in the next ten years. Respondents said they are open to a wide range of ideas for addressing traffic in key trouble spots.

View Study Findings Presentation