Last week Governor M. Jodi Rell announced a dramatic jump in Connecticut rail ridership in 2007 — a combined increase of nearly 1.4 million riders on Metro-North and Shore Line East over 2006.

According to the Governor’s press release and subsequent news reports (The Day and Stamford Advocate), 2007 ridership on the state-run Shore Line East service rose by 5.5% over 2006 ridership levels, an increase of more than 25,000 trips. This trend has continued through the first two months of 2008 with more than 6,000 additional trips, or an 8.8% increase, over the same time period last year.

Broadly, Metro-North ridership increased significantly as well, logging nearly 4% increased ridership. The New Haven line, one of the busiest commuter lines in the nation, added 1.3 million more passengers in the one year period.

While trips that began or ended at Grand Central Terminal rose 10% in the first two months of this year, the greatest increase in ridership was reserved for those passengers traveling within Connecticut. According to the ConnDOT figures, intra-Connecticut ridership rose an astounding 11.5% during the month of February alone. For the year 2007, intrastate ridership rose 7%.

Is the state’s investment in mass transit finally paying dividends, or are people just fed up with higher gas prices that show no indication of ebbing? The price of gas in Connecticut has hit all-time highs as of this writing and surely has had some impact on transit use. However, these ridership increases could also reflect ConnDOT’s increased investment in its mass transit system. Connecticut’s 2007-2010 State Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP), the blueprint for transportation spending in the state, funds mass transit by nearly 10% over 2000-2002 levels.

And that’s not all. The addition of a Metro-North Waterbury Branch peak morning train at ConnDOT’s request, decisions to rehab existing train car infrastructure, the arrival of state-of-the-art M8 trains in 2009, and increased weekend service on Shore Line East are all recent moves by the state to increase transit capacity. However, ConnDOT and the State must continue to increase capacity of existing services and need to move quickly in other areas to keep up with even further transit demand.

This can be done by implementing the following measures:

Fast Track the Transportation Strategy Board’s Congestion Pricing Study: The State of Connecticut desperately needs a new source of transportation dollars, as well as a congestion mitigation tool. Fast tracking this study will continue to move this measure forward and ensure that Connecticut does not backslide on congestion pricing implementation, as it has done for so many years. New York City was denied an opportunity to become the regional model for traffic mitigation. Now, Connecticut has an opportunity to become the standard bearer.

The Assembly Should Pass and Fully Fund House Bill 5734: This bill, calling for new and expanded bus transportation services, would provide mass transit service to under-served populations throughout the state and increase capacity in areas with existing service.

Implement and Move Forward with High Profile Mass Transit Projects: ConnDOT must continue to move forward with implementation of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail and the New Britain-Hartford Busway. ConnDOT sees these projects as the vanguard of a 21st-century transportation system. That is difficult to do if no progress is made on implementation. In addition, ConnDOT should support the South Western Regional Planning Agency’s (SWRPA) Bus Rapid Transit study along the Route 1 corridor.