Connecticut’s Joint Committee on Transportation reported several bills out of committee earlier this week, including a Tri-State supported bill to increase penalties for [...]]]>

The committee reported out a bill to direct ConnDOT to create a detailed plan for tolls. Tolls would have to be all-electronic, like the high-speed toll gantries on Houston's Westpark Tollway (above).

Connecticut’s Joint Committee on Transportation reported several bills out of committee earlier this week, including a Tri-State supported bill to increase penalties for careless driving and an amended bill directing ConnDOT to prepare a plan to implement electronic tolls.

The first bill, known as “vulnerable users” legislation, would establish new penalties for careless driving which results in the injury or death of a pedestrian, cyclist, skater, highway worker, or driver of an agricultural vehicle. Convicted drivers would be required to take safety classes, perform at least 100 hours of community service, and pay a fine of up to $5,000. It passed the Committee overwhelmingly, by a 30-6 vote.

The bill is spearheaded by livable streets champion Representative Thomas Kehoe of Glastonbury, who noted after the vote that “vulnerable users always lose in an accident.  Although we must all act responsibly, motorists need to keep a special look out and anticipate where non-motorized users might be. This bill complements the Complete Streets Law … and will promote safer streets that encourage people to walk, exercise and use mass transit and which makes our cities and towns more viable and its citizens healthier.”

In a much tighter vote, the Transportation Committee also reported out an amended bill to direct ConnDOT to develop a plan for implementing electronic tolls on Connecticut’s roads.  Tri-State testified against the original bill, which called for electronic tolls only at Connecticut’s borders and would have faced constitutional challenges.  The new language also means that ConnDOT now has the flexibility to make reducing congestion a priority in its toll study.

Both bills now need to make their way through other relevant committees in the Connecticut General Assembly before full votes can be taken in the House and Senate.

Two smart bills that did not make it out of committee this year would have established a statewide red light camera pilot program and a competitive grant program for pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

Image: ASCE Houston.

Hoping to build upon last year’s Complete Streets victory, advocates and legislators urged members of the Connecticut [...]]]>

A competitive safety grant program could help improve safety around transit stops. Pictured are "before" and "after" shots of NYC bus stop improvements funded through a city "safe routes to transit" program. New Jersey has a similar program.

Hoping to build upon last year’s Complete Streets victory, advocates and legislators urged members of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Transportation Committee today to enact two pieces of legislation that would improve safety for Connecticut’s pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.

The first bill (HB 5386) would designate 10% of existing flexible federal funding sources — specifically, the Highway Safety Improvement Program, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program, and National Highway Safety 402 Funds — to create a competitive grant program for municipal projects that would improve bicycle, pedestrian and transit access infrastructure.  The grant program would utilize these existing funding sources, requiring no new revenue, to increase ConnDOT’s emphasis on walking and cycling safety.

According to Tri-State’s recent report Tracking the Dollars, ConnDOT still woefully underfunds bicycle and pedestrian projects, spending only $1.67 in federal funds per person on these projects. While this is an increase over previous years, the state still lags behind neighboring Rhode Island ($6.12) and states with comparable populations like Iowa ($3.92). Between 2006 and 2008, 122 pedestrians and cyclists were killed on Connecticut’s roadways.

A second bill (SB 345) would allow local municipalities to create red light camera pilot programs.  It is similar to a 2009 bill to allow New Haven to start such a program, but would apply statewide.  The current bill is being supported by the Connecticut Livable Streets Campaign.

While the public hearing on these two raised bills took place today in Hartford, Connecticut readers can contact members of the Transportation Committee to support this important legislation.

Images: Via NYCDOT’s website.

Are Connecticut officials going to miss out on almost [...]]]>

The Hartford-New Britain busway (shown in red) will do more than link two cities. Buses from many destinations will use the busway for parts of their routes (shown in green), providing benefits to places like Bishop's Corner and Waterbury (detail shown here; click for full image).

Are Connecticut officials going to miss out on almost $300 million in federal transit funds because of a dispute over the New Britain-Hartford Busway?

Earlier this month, Connecticut learned it would receive $45 million in federal New Starts funds for the busway, strongly suggesting that an additional $230 million will be on the way. But some Connecticut elected officials threatened that there “may be a fight” in the Legislature over the project. At the heart of the fight is a hypothetical rail plan, backed by some state legislators and business leaders, to rehab the run-down Pan Am freight rail line and link Hartford and New York via Waterbury.

It’s hard to completely blame those who take that stance, given the media coverage of this issue.  While editorial support for the busway has been consistent, particularly in the Hartford Courant, reporters have often framed the debate as “bus vs. rail,” when it is actually a choice between a real project and a speculative idea. The busway project will provide better and quicker service for 16,000 passengers and generate 4,000 jobs over the next three years while reducing congestion along one of the most congested corridors in the state. The rail concept has no ridership projections, no formal design or environmental study, and only speculative cost estimates.

This comparison would be more pertinent if it hadn’t already been addressed in studies over the past two decades. A 1997 comparison of the busway to light and commuter rail in the same corridor found that the busway would provide the highest level of service for the most number of riders at the greatest cost-benefit ratio, all while reducing the amount of vehicle miles traveled.

Image: Via Regional Plan Association.

New Haven is sprinting towards gold in the Highway [...]]]>

The proposed plan for 100 College Street would replace highway right-of-way with an office/research building with ground-floor retail and a parking garage. It is the first part of a plan to replace New Haven's Route 34 with development and a connected street grid. (Click to enlarge.)

New Haven is sprinting towards gold in the Highway Removal Olympics. In his State of the City address earlier this week, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano said that 100 College Street, the initial phase of a project to replace Route 34 with development and a street grid, would be underway by late this year or early 2011. The mayor said this first phase would create 900 permanent jobs and start to reconnect downtown New Haven with the Hill neighborhood that was separated by Route 34 — also known, ironically, as the Oak Street Connector — during the city’s urban renewal phase in the 1950s and 1960s.

The location of the 100 College Street project.

100 College Street, pictured above, will be built and paid for by a private developer in the Route 34 right-of-way near the Air Rights Garage. The City will complement the development by closing two highway ramps and redoing the frontage roads to add street parking, improved sidewalks, a bike lane (on North Frontage), and turning lanes. The City will use $5 million of a previous allocation from the federal government and is applying for $40 million in stimulus funds to pay for the change, with Mayor DeStefano promising to “find the resources” if stimulus money does not come in.

Tri-State has long supported the project, which envisions a mix of commercial, residential and retail uses along a boulevard-type roadway, and held an urban highway removal symposium in April 2008 to support the City’s first steps towards enactment.  The drumbeat for removal and for safer streets grew louder when medical student Mila Rainof was killed near Route 34, only a month after the symposium.

While plans for the western portion of the Route 34 “disconnector” are still being discussed by the City and local neighborhood and safe streets groups, 100 College Street has more broad support among key stakeholders and hopefully will move forward quickly.

Image: From the City of New Haven’s “Downtown Crossing” TIGER grant application.

The new Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer, Republican Peter Schmitt, has proposed and passed raises that average 42% for himself, the Democratic Minority Leader Diane Yatauro, and the Republican Deputy Presiding Officer John Ciotti. Schmitt will now make $99,500, Yatauro $90,500, and Ciotti $84,500. (Yatauro has said she will refuse the raise, or donate [...]]]>

Schmitt.

The new Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer, Republican Peter Schmitt, has proposed and passed raises that average 42% for himself, the Democratic Minority Leader Diane Yatauro, and the Republican Deputy Presiding Officer John Ciotti. Schmitt will now make $99,500, Yatauro $90,500, and Ciotti $84,500. (Yatauro has said she will refuse the raise, or donate it to charity if legally obliged to accept it, while Legislator Ciotti has been silent.)

These raises are appalling not only because the Republicans ran on a platform of cutting Nassau County government excess, but because the County has yet to act on reinstating its contribution to LI Bus, which was cut by $1.4 million during budget negotiations last fall.  Over the past year, LI Bus riders have faced the prospect of fare hikes and/or service cuts an unprecedented three times.  As of right now, LI Bus is preparing to eliminate 13 bus lines.

New County Executive Ed Mangano was not exactly supportive of the raise. In a statement, his spokesperson said that “this decision was made by the Legislature, and we have no control over that body. In the executive branch, the county executive has cut salaries from the levels of the prior administration. These are not times for inflated salaries.”

Are we to believe that Presiding Officer Schmitt and Legislator Ciotti are more hard pressed for cash than bus riders who make, on average, $22,000 a year?  Do bus riders not work as hard as part-time legislators who will now be earning nearly $100,000 a year?

Image: Nassau County Legislature.

Last month, the presumed Democratic candidates for Governor spoke broadly about transportation policy in Connecticut at a forum hosted by Keep Connecticut Moving.  Last week was the Republicans’ turn, with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele, former Ambassador Thomas Foley and MetroHartford Alliance President Oz Griebel in attendance.

Most of the [...]]]>

Lt. Governor Fedele.

Last month, the presumed Democratic candidates for Governor spoke broadly about transportation policy in Connecticut at a forum hosted by Keep Connecticut Moving.  Last week was the Republicans’ turn, with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele, former Ambassador Thomas Foley and MetroHartford Alliance President Oz Griebel in attendance.

Most of the candidates said the state needed a “stable and reliable” funding mechanism to support the Special Transportation Fund (STF), which is likely to run a deficit at the end of this year.  However, only two offered specific proposals.

Lt. Governor Fedele called for the creation of a Port and Transit Authority which would provide revenue for the Special Transportation Fund, which is currently reliant on the General Assembly for yearly allocations.  Fedele also asserted that legislators needed to stop “stealing” money from the STF and moving it into the state’s General Fund as a way to balance the budget.

Greibel raised the possibility of restoring the State’s gas tax (which was cut by 13 cents during the Rowland administration) and implementing high-speed electronic tolling to pay for transportation investment in Connecticut.  Greibel also suggested adopting a constitutional amendment that would guarantee a certain amount of annual revenue for the fund, with the state determining how to raise or dedicate that revenue.

On most other transportation issues the candidates were light on details. Each framed transportation as integral to economic development and job creation, and most expressed support for investment in a variety of transportation options including high speed rail, light rail, freight, maintaining existing infrastructure, and expansion of interstates like I-95 and I-84. No candidate mentioned bus as a viable transportation option or spoke to the importance of walking and cycling to the broader transportation system, which was disappointing given the clear need for better pedestrian and cyclist accommodations along the state’s busiest roads. Only Greibel mentioned the need to connect land use to transportation in a brief aside about transit oriented development.

The gubernatorial campaign is still in its early stages.  Given the State’s precarious financial situation, both Democratic and Republican candidates will need to fine-tune their platforms to provide a clear view of what they view as the state’s priorities for transportation investment.

Image: Ryan Lynch/TSTC.

After a two-month delay, the Connecticut State Bond Commission on Friday released $26 million to be used for design work and the construction of a second track along a portion of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line.  Initially planned for release in October, the [...]]]>

The New Haven-Springfield rail project includes improvements to New Haven's State Street station.

After a two-month delay, the Connecticut State Bond Commission on Friday released $26 million to be used for design work and the construction of a second track along a portion of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line.  Initially planned for release in October, the item was withdrawn from the Bond Commission’s agenda for what appeared to be political reasons, and a subsequent December 11 meeting was canceled by Governor Rell.

The release of this funding sends a signal to the federal government that Connecticut is serious about implementing commuter and high-speed rail along the corridor,  and should help ensure that Connecticut remains a viable candidate for the $8 billion of federal funding set aside for high-speed rail in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Gov. Rell called the release of the funds a “crucial step forward for one of the most important transportation improvements we have made in decades.”

The release of the funding is a welcome development for a project that is viewed by many as integral to expanding transit, creating jobs, protecting the environment and promoting smarter land use decisions and affordable housing. According to ConnDOT, a decision on the federal funds will be made in late March or early April.

Image: From ConnDOT’s New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Commuter Rail Implementation Plan.

TSTC's Kate Slevin spoke with bus riders in Hempstead yesterday.

In response, advocates from Tri-State, Vision Long [...]]]> While MTA transit riders are facing draconian reductions in service once again, LI Bus riders are having a particularly rough year. They have faced service cuts and/or fare hikes not once, not twice, but now an unprecedented three times.

TSTC's Kate Slevin spoke with bus riders in Hempstead yesterday.

In response, advocates from Tri-State, Vision Long Island, and NYPIRG dropped flyers this past week at the Mineola Intermodal Center and the Hempstead Terminal to encourage bus riders to contact Nassau County Executive-Elect Ed Mangano, State Senator Craig Johnson, and Governor Paterson and urge the County and State to come to their aid.

Mobilizing the Region readers surely know that LI Bus’s funding problems are deeper and more systematic those of the rest of the MTA system.

But where there is crisis, there is also opportunity.  If the new County Executive wants to differentiate himself from the previous administration — which failed to even index the County’s contribution to LI Bus to inflation — he should revisit County Executive Suozzi’s 2010 budget and restore the $1.4 million cut to the bus system.  Mangano should also begin reaching out to the MTA and key State leaders to ensure that a sustainable and mutually agreed upon funding solution is created for LI Bus.

In the meantime, we encourage Nassau County residents to take a minute to email County Executive-Elect Mangano, their state representatives, and Gov. Paterson and urge them to help LI Bus riders avert this third threat of service cuts and fare hikes.

Photo: Ryan Lynch/TSTC.

[Update 12/31: Gov. Rell has announced that the NHHS rail money will be on the agenda of the Bond Commission's January 8 meeting.]

The New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail line was on the agenda at the November meeting of the Connecticut Bond Commission. But the commission failed to release $6 million for design and survey [...]]]>

The route.

[Update 12/31: Gov. Rell has announced that the NHHS rail money will be on the agenda of the Bond Commission's January 8 meeting.]

The New Haven-Hartford-Springfield commuter rail line was on the agenda at the November meeting of the Connecticut Bond Commission. But the commission failed to release $6 million for design and survey work as well as $20 million in funds towards double tracking the line, which will improve local, regional, and national service.  If this wasn’t bad enough, the cancellation of the Commission’s December meeting effectively puts off any future allocation for the project until late January.

These events sent shivers down the spines of the project’s advocates.  That’s because the last-minute withdrawal of NHHS bond money, the result of a political power play between Governor Rell and Senate Democrats, could end up costing the State much more than $26 million.

The real cost could be millions of federal dollars and Connecticut’s reputation.

The failure to release this money in a timely manner continues to diminish Connecticut’s attractiveness as a candidate for High Speed Rail funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

While Connecticut’s elected officials have expressed public support for this project, the absence of political will at a critical time is disappointing to the advocacy community who supports this investment — a community that includes business, labor, transportation, environmental, housing and planning organizations.

Luckily the federal government hasn’t given up on Connecticut just yet.  The recent spending omnibus bill that passed Congress this past Sunday included $3.9 million for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line.  However, unless Connecticut shows some good faith, it could miss out on future funding opportunities like the possible federal “Jobs Bill,” which the Senate is expected to debate in mid-January.

The Governor and the General Assembly need to put politics aside, at least on January 29th, the date of the next State Bond Commission meeting, and release the NHHS rail funding.