Connecticut’s next governor will inherit a Department of Transportation that was halfway towards becoming a model of progressive reform when Commissioner Joe Marie resigned in June. To build on the gains that the state has made in sustainable transportation over the past few years, the new governor must institutionalize those policies and find the revenue to support them. To that end, Tri-State and 14 state and regional business, transportation, and environmental groups recently released a transportation and smart growth platform for the next administration.

ConnDOT faces serious challenges through the end of the Rell administration and into the next.  These include securing important federal funding for the Hartford-New Britain Bus Rapid Transit and the New Haven-Springfield Commuter Rail, implementing last year’s “Complete Streets” law, and improving the condition of its roads and bridges. The Special Transportation Fund, which pays for nearly all state transportation expenses, faces a projected deficit of $42 million in the 2012 fiscal year — and this understates the problem because the fund is being kept afloat with transfers from the general fund.  ConnDOT’s 2010-2014 capital program includes approximately $3.6 billion in unfunded transit, highway and bridge projects, although a good number are road widenings that wouldn’t be an efficient use of the state’s money.

A Platform For Connecticut’s Next Governor

The next administration must address the above challenges while also developing a long-term transportation policy that takes a multi-modal approach to growth. To succeed, the state will have to prioritize transit, walking, and cycling, and development that supports those modes of transportation. TSTC and others recommend that the next governor do this by:

• Appointing a commissioner that understands the need to connect land use and transportation in a sustainable way;
• Committing to a “fix it first” philosophy which focuses road and bridge funds on the state’s huge backlog of repair needs and caps the amount spent on road widening to 5% of ConnDOT’s road budget.
• Establishing a Transit Village program modeled on the New Jersey Department of Transportation’s program;
• Releasing the $5 million a year in transit-oriented development grant funding currently languishing in the State Bond Commission.

To deal with the state’s tough financial problems, the next governor will need to move beyond the General Assembly’s and Governor Rell’s aversion to finding new revenue for transportation.  According to a July 2009 report by the Office of Fiscal Analysis, nearly 60% of the $1.5 billion in wholesale fuel tax collected since 2005 for the Special Transportation Fund has been shifted to other uses.  That comes to $900 million total, or $225 million a year.  Simply closing this diversion would go a long way towards freeing up resources for transportation.  But that will be the easy part. Repairing existing infrastructure and building a 21st century transportation system that supports transit, cycling and walking will require:

• Some form of tolling on Connecticut’s roads. State officials have dragged their feet on congestion pricing and tolls, issuing study after study instead.
• Increasing the gas tax by 15 cents over a five-year period, which would reestablish the gas tax levels of 1998.  This increase will generate $225 million a year upon full implementation.

Taken together, these reforms will enhance the state’s economic competitiveness, protect its environment, and improve its quality of life. The full platform is available on TSTC’s website, and was also covered by the Connecticut Post and The Day. (Note that the Post article mis-titles TSTC’s Ryan Lynch, who is Connecticut coordinator. The Day editorial describes TSTC as a coalition, which it is not.)