Orange County Plans For Transit Link

<H1>Orange County Plans For Transit Link</H1><I>Orlando </I> - This central Florida city isn't the numberOrange County Plans For Transit Link-one rental car market in America without good reason. The attractions are a 25-minute ride from downtown Orlando, and the Orange County Convention Center is a 15-minute drive from the Disney complex.

But some transportation plans under consideration at high corporate and government levels could change things over the next five years.

Negotiations are under way to create a fixed-rail transit system that would link the rapidly expanding Universal Studios Florida area with the Orange County Convention Center, according to William Peeper, executive director of the Orlando/Orange County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Universal Studios Florida has begun work on an expansion that will triple the size of the current park. New facilities will include five new themed hotels, 300,000 square feet of meeting space and an 18-hole golf course.

Universal spokesman Wit Tuttell said he could not confirm or deny that Universal is involved in any negotiation involving a transportation system. However, a company source said the theme park is in fact negotiating for the necessary right-of-way to build a people-mover system to link the park with the convention center, which is located on International Drive, one of the five major hotel and entertainment districts in Orlando.

International Drive also is served by a new shuttle bus system financed by the hotels and other businesses on the street. The new system, called I-Ride, shuttles passengers among the various attractions along the drive and takes riders to downtown Orlando, home of the Church Street Station Entertainment Complex, the Orlando Arena and the Orlando Expo Center.