Last week, several Connecticut Post reporters found that getting to work without a car isn’t as easy as the New Haven line’s record-breaking 2011 ridership would suggest.

In a series entitled “Getting There,” the paper’s staff spent a day without a car, travelling instead by train, bus, bike, [...]]]>

Photo: Brittany Lyte, Connecticut Post

Last week, several Connecticut Post reporters found that getting to work without a car isn’t as easy as the New Haven line’s record-breaking 2011 ridership would suggest.

In a series entitled “Getting There,” the paper’s staff spent a day without a car, travelling instead by train, bus, bike, or leg. The writers’ transit adventures, exhaustively chronicled on The BlogJam and developed into a series of articles, highlighted the challenges facing those that don’t travel by car.

Reporters found several problems with the region’s transit, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure: long waits, sidewalks to nowhere, a paucity of bike parking, and unreliable service. But these challenges are not insurmountable, and in some cases, fixing them isn’t as expensive as it sounds.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), for example, could make buses faster and more reliable without overhauling their system. Implementing pre-board fare collection (a system in which riders buy tickets before they get on the bus, so that the driver doesn’t have to wait for them to pay), signal prioritization (a system that gives buses more green lights), and dedicated bus lanes would get people to work faster and attract more riders.

“Getting there” also showed that Connecticut must continue working to address the needs of cyclists and walkers. Even after the passage of complete streets legislation and changes to ConnDOT’s bike and pedestrian policies, there’s still work to do. One reporter had to bring her bike into a mall food court because she couldn’t find a bike rack, and another discovered that Connecticut’s sidewalk system is far from adequate.

Reporters also found that route planning was more difficult than it should be. Despite ConnDOT’s recent Google Transit initiative, the Post’s writers still had a hard time plotting out trips. 15 bus systems get people around Connecticut, but a coordinated effort to make cross-system trip planning easy has yet to be developed. It’s not hard to imagine a web and smartphone app that makes this possible.

The experiences weren’t all bad, of course.

One reporter assured readers that biking doesn’t lead to excessive sweatiness, another found that her nighttime ride on a busy road wasn’t as perilous as expected, and a number of them found that walking to the station made them see their neighborhoods with fresh eyes. And while some confessed that they’d be happy to get back behind the wheel, others relished their carless lifestyle. Vinti Singh:

I was not worried. I had headlights for the front and back of my bike, I was wearing all white, and my coworker had lent me his reflective vest. I was hard to miss. And the 2.2 mile ride was all downhill. On the way, I passed a gas station and saw regular unleaded was $3.89 a gallon.

“Not tonight,” I thought, as I pedaled by.

In 2007, after a troubled widening of I-84, a reform commission reported that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) “badly needs fundamental change.”

TSTC analyses indicate that ConnDOT has been slowly improving since then, and we sat down with Commissioner Jim Redeker, who has headed the agency since last [...]]]>

ConnDOT Commissioner Jim Redeker

In 2007, after a troubled widening of I-84, a reform commission reported that the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) “badly needs fundamental change.”

TSTC analyses indicate that ConnDOT has been slowly improving since then, and we sat down with Commissioner Jim Redeker, who has headed the agency since last March, to talk about his work. He will be speaking at tomorrow’s transportation financing forum in Hartford.

TSTC: How did your work at NJ Transit prepare you for the commissioner job?

Commissioner Jim Redeker: I think that Connecticut is much like New Jersey was 30 years ago: there’s not a lot of transportation-oriented development happening, there’s still opportunity for new investment in transit and opportunity to improve branch lines. And I really came to try to make a difference there.

TSTC: What are some of the other priorities that you see moving forward?

JR: Connecticut has, as do all northeastern states, an extensive transportation network, be that highway or transit.  It is old. So my goals really start with state of good repair and they have to come first. The rail system has not had the benefit of Amtrak’s funding mechanism to help pay for infrastructure, and with a hundred-year-old infrastructure of movable bridges, catenary signals, and track, it could be a risk.

Beyond that, I think there are opportunities to make the system work better. And that can be in speeding up transit services, investing in new equipment, adding capacity through parking and new vehicles, bringing new technologies in, and making our highway systems function better. Branch lines offer opportunities as well. Just small incremental improvements, from a dollar point of view, can make major changes in service.

TSTC: How are you bringing change into your agency?

JR: I’m not. It’s sort of happening on its own. And that’s the great part of it. For example, I didn’t say we should put a bike path on the Putnam Bridge. My engineering group came to me and said, “we’re doing it, is that okay?” And I said, “Okay?! What are you talking about? Sure!”

I also think that having a full-time bicycle coordinator is beginning to make a change, but it’s not just because Kate Rattan [Connecticut’s bicycle coordinator] does a great job. It’s because the design group, the financial group, engineering, and planning are working together. My goal is to set some aggressive dates to get things done. I’m just patching together what have heretofore been independent ideas, and if I can set a goal, independent ideas become a strategy, and we’ll get them done. I’m trying to be the cheerleader that makes that happen.

TSTC: TSTC advocated for the transit-oriented development grants that came out this year. Who’s taking the lead to make sure that they are successful on a local level?

JR: We’re working on it together. You will hear over and over again that the three amigos [Jim Redeker of ConnDOT, Dan Esty of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Catherine Smith of Department of Economic and Community Development] meet regularly, and that’s true. We meet on a monthly basis, and it really is about smart growth. We’re identifying what resources can come to bear; what priorities should be set. And then we select those  priorities and make sure that our agencies individually and  collectively get things done. What we’ve got is a complete administration and set of commissioners that get it.

TSTC: Over ½ of Connecticut transit riders take the bus. What can they expect as a result of the January 1^st fare increase?

JR: Let me dislink the fares from the service for the moment—I don’t think it’s in our interest to say that each dollar in a fare increase goes to a dollar in service. Frankly, it was 5 years without a fare increase, Connecticut bus fares are some of the lowest anywhere, and this increase is a nickel. I think that we’ve been very sensitive to the needs and income of users in shaping what we did.

But we are constantly looking at service. We will be replacing almost all of our buses with the greenest fleet east of California. We’re also putting in some high capacity articulated hybrid buses—the first of their kind—that give us high capacity capabilities and could potentially add service without increased cost.

We’re also trying to push very hard on integrating our system design. One of the hardest things in Connecticut for me was to figure out 24 different operators with different systems, logos, information systems, and websites. With Google Transit, we’ve got the beginnings of a system of information, but there’s a lot more integration to go.

TSTC: We strongly support the complete streets bill in Connecticut. How are you implementing it?

JR: That’s an easy answer—we have adopted a complete streets philosophy into our design process from the beginning. It’s fully embraced and you’ll see it as part of everything that we do.

TSTC: You’re speaking at our transportation financing forum. Could you give a preview of how you see Connecticut financing its transportation priorities and addressing the issues that you’ve raised today?

JR: No previews—that wouldn’t be fair to everyone else. But I will say that I’m sitting at a time in Connecticut that couldn’t be better, with a governor that added a billion dollars into highways and transit.

TSTC: Especially when you look at the surrounding states.

JR: Yeah, exactly, all of the other commissioners want to move to Connecticut and take my job. But, to get back to the question, there also are other opportunities here—we are studying tolling, we’ve got two pilot programs. The governor has also passed legislation that you might think is about project delivery, but it’s also about a type of financing called public-private partnership. These are all mechanisms that, to me, when you put them on the table, show that there are new ways of looking at how we fund projects.

TSTC: Thanks for speaking with us.

Last week, the Connecticut Department of Transportation provided a friendly holiday reminder to transit riders that the first of three scheduled 4% fare increases will take effect on January 1, 2012. The fare increase really is a gift that keeps on giving—it will be the first of three consecutive 4% [...]]]>

Photo: Mira Hartford

Last week, the Connecticut Department of Transportation provided a friendly holiday reminder to transit riders that the first of three scheduled 4% fare increases will take effect on January 1, 2012. The fare increase really is a gift that keeps on giving—it will be the first of three consecutive 4% fare hikes in the coming years. Happy holidays, Connecticut transit riders!

Transit will get some good news this holiday season, though: ConnDOT commissioner James Redeker has put train and bus schedules onto Google Transit. Currently, seven of the state’s eight transit districts have uploaded their schedules, with the lone outstanding district, Waterbury, primed to join the fun by the end of January.

The tie-in to Google Transit will clearly benefit CTTransit passengers, and it may also help draw new riders into the system. Often, people that have access to transit simply don’t use it because they don’t know how the trains and buses work (or when they’re coming). By making its system more user-friendly, ConnDOT stands to increase customer satisfaction and ridership.

Apparently 13 is a lucky number for Central Connecticut transit riders and businesses. That’s because after 13 years, Connecticut and the Federal Transit Administration have finally signed off on a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Hartford-New Britain [...]]]>

Governor Malloy and FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff at the signing agreement on Monday. (Photo: Scott Vargas/FoxCT)

Apparently 13 is a lucky number for Central Connecticut transit riders and businesses. That’s because after 13 years, Connecticut and the Federal Transit Administration have finally signed off on a Full Funding Grant Agreement for the Hartford-New Britain Bus Rapid Transit, scheduled to begin operations in 2014.  The agreement, signed Monday at Central Connecticut State University, will allocate $275 million in federal New Starts funding, and sets the stage for construction to begin in March 2012.  All told, the Federal Government will finance 80% of the $567 million project. Initial bids for construction contracts have come in approximately 23% under previous estimates.

Buses to and from Waterbury, Cheshire, Southington, Bristol, the UConn Health Center in Farmington would also take advantage of the busway. (Click to view larger version on ConnDOT's website.)

TSTC has advocated for the project for over a decade and urged Gov. Malloy to endorse it earlier this year.

The project will eventually employ 4,000 people, see ridership of 16,000 a day, have headways of between 3-6 minutes and reduce congestion along I-84. Monday’s signing is a triumph for Governor Malloy, who has pushed hard to complete the state’s long-standing transit projects. The New Haven-Springfield Rail Line is also close to construction-ready.

Advocates are eager for the busway to attract new housing and offices, and help the state reduce future sprawl development. Connecticut recently targeted its initial round of transit-oriented development planning grants to several municipalities along the corridor.

For years, livable community activists, including current and former elected officials, have advocated vigorously for pedestrian and cycling access to the Putnam Memorial Bridge, oftentimes in the face of consistent ConnDOT refusal.

Earlier this month, however, the Department announced that the debate [...]]]>

The Putnam Memorial Bridge connects Glastonbury and Wethersfield in central Connecticut.

For years, livable community activists, including current and former elected officials, have advocated vigorously for pedestrian and cycling access to the Putnam Memorial Bridge, oftentimes in the face of consistent ConnDOT refusal.

Earlier this month, however, the Department announced that the debate over a walkway for the bridge, which connects Glastonbury and Wethersfield, was over.  Thanks to the tireless efforts of safety advocates and elected officials, and a change of heart at the agency, the planned rehabilitation of the bridge now includes the addition of a six-foot-wide walkway.

Unfortunately for cyclists though, protected bicycle access on the bridge will not be included. ConnDOT has stated that due to weight constraints on the bridge, the pathway could be no wider than six feet, much smaller than federally preferred multi-use path widths of eight to ten feet.  This will force cyclists to dismount and walk their bicycles across the bridge.

Questions still remain concerning access leading up to the bridge walkway for cyclists and pedestrians.  The Town of Glastonbury has expressed interest in studying this remaining challenge and has begun to seek grant funding to do so.  The push for this access infrastructure will be an ideal opportunity for ConnDOT to put its new bicycle and pedestrian policies into action by helping local municipalities fund the construction of new sidewalks.  Historically, towns and municipalities in Connecticut were solely responsible for the local match necessary to be eligible for federal resources during the construction of new sidewalk infrastructure.  Now, with the new ConnDOT policies, the projects will be funded with more balanced contributions from local, state and federal sources.

The evolution of this project has been long and has mirrored ConnDOT’s ongoing culture change in regards to biking and walking.  Four years ago, ConnDOT officials were claiming that state law prohibited pedestrian and cycling access on bridges, before backing down after continued pressure from advocates and elected officials. What the agency has announced for the Putnam Bridge isn’t perfect, but shows that the agency has continued its progress towards being a true promoter of biking and walking.

Image: Google Maps.

Metro-North Railroad officials are testing bike racks on the railroad’s newest rail cars, the M-8s, which are being rolled out on the New Haven Line. The agency had prototype [...]]]>

ConnDOT's Eugene Colonese loads a bicycle onto a prototype rack being tested on a Metro-North train at Union Station in New Haven on Thursday.

Metro-North Railroad officials are testing bike racks on the railroad’s newest rail cars, the M-8s, which are being rolled out on the New Haven Line. The agency had prototype hooks available for the public to try last week in New Haven and New York City, and the two train cars with hooks will run as part of select New Haven Line trains throughout the fall for further testing.

According to MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan, Metro-North will consider installing the bike racks in every M-8 car if the trial run is successful. However, “funding will have to be addressed in partnership with [ConnDOT,]” he said. The hooks would be compatible with the M-7 cars used on Metro-North’s Hudson and Harlem Lines, though funding would need to be identified for that initiative as well.

ConnDOT officials seem enthusiastic. In a release, ConnDOT Commissioner Jim Redeker said that “Adding bike racks on these new cars makes sense for a lot of commuters. We are committed to making the New Haven Line as bike friendly as possible.”

No changes are planned to the current policy of allowing bicycles only on off-peak trains. For more, see coverage from the Connecticut Post.

Photo: Brian Pounds / Connecticut Post.

This morning, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announced that he would appoint ConnDOT Acting Commissioner Jim Redeker to lead the agency. In a statement, Tri-State Transportation Campaign Executive Director Kate Slevin said:

Congratulations to Jim Redeker on his appointment as ConnDOT Commissioner. Since becoming Acting Commissioner earlier this year, he has shown effective leadership [...]]]>

Redeker.

This morning, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy announced that he would appoint ConnDOT Acting Commissioner Jim Redeker to lead the agency. In a statement, Tri-State Transportation Campaign Executive Director Kate Slevin said:

Congratulations to Jim Redeker on his appointment as ConnDOT Commissioner. Since becoming Acting Commissioner earlier this year, he has shown effective leadership as ConnDOT works to complete critical transit projects while under financial pressure.

Some of the most important priorities for ConnDOT today are:

• Continuing to make progress on the New Haven-Springfield Rail Line and Hartford-New Britain Bus Rapid Transit,
• Making sure that existing bus and train service stays convenient and affordable,
• Becoming a leader in smart growth that partners with towns to promote transit-oriented development and coordinate land use and transportation planning,
• Implementing the state’s Complete Streets law and ensuring that consideration of pedestrians and cyclists is institutionalized within the agency’s culture, and
• Adopting a “fix-it-first” policy for roads and bridges that prioritizes needed repair rather than expansion.

Redeker has the background Connecticut needs to move toward a modern transportation system, including over 30 years of experience in public transportation both in Connecticut and New Jersey. We’re pleased with his selection and are happy to continue working with him.

Last week, Connecticut’s state unions overwhelmingly ratified a cost-saving deal that will avert thousands of employee layoffs and Governor Malloy’s “Plan B” budget, which would have enacted severe budget cuts, [...]]]>

Despite a cost-saving agreement between CT workers and the state, transit service cuts and fare increases of 10-16% are still on the table.

Last week, Connecticut’s state unions overwhelmingly ratified a cost-saving deal that will avert thousands of employee layoffs and Governor Malloy’s “Plan B” budget, which would have enacted severe budget cuts, including to transportation. The “Plan B” budget included service cuts and fare hikes on bus, rail, and paratransit.  However, even with an agreement in place, the possibility of these fare hikes and service cuts remain.

ConnDOT is still holding public hearings throughout the state, and reports indicate that Governor Malloy is inclined to proceed with the fare increases and service cuts, which would go into effect on November 1, because he is worried about cuts in federal funding.

On the table are increases of 10% on buses and paratransit, and 16.4% on Metro-North and Shore Line East (this is in addition to already planned annual 1% fare increases between 2013 and 2018). Weekend Shore Line East service would be completely eliminated, and bus service cuts would take effect in Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, New Britain, and Bristol.

At a public hearing on the hikes and cuts in Stamford yesterday, Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s Connecticut coordinator and senior planner, Ryan Lynch, called on Governor Malloy and ConnDOT Acting Commissioner Jim Redeker to withdraw the proposal and instead find a balanced approach to transportation funding, saying that:

We support funding for transportation that balances the burden between drivers, riders and other entities that benefit from Connecticut’s transit network.  In other words, transit fares should only go up if gas taxes and other sources of revenue, like congestion pricing, do as well.

Lynch also pointed out the fare hikes on CT Transit riders would be particularly inequitable. Bus riders make less than half of what those that drive to work alone make, yet the Governor and the General Assembly withdrew a 3-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase from the budget earlier this year that would have raised significant transportation revenue.  ConnDOT says that transit fares haven’t been raised in 5-6 years, but neither has the gas tax.  In fact, even if the proposed 3-cent/gallon increase had passed, the tax would still have been 12 cents/gallon lower than in 1998.

Image: Shore Line East train in New Haven. / Adam E. Moreira.

Late last Friday, the details of the [...]]]> Connecticut residents continue to grapple with the ramifications of the state’s “Plan B” budget, released after a $1.6 billion cost-saving agreement between the state and its employee unions fell apart earlier this year. Among these are fare hikes and service cuts to transit agencies across the state.

Late last Friday, the details of the budget balancing plan were made available online. ConnDOT would cut its budget by about $90 million a year through measures including:

• Increasing CTTransit bus and paratransit fares by 10%, Shore Line East fares by 14%, and Metro-North fares within CT by 15%.
• Eliminating Shore Line East weekend service, non-ADA dial-a-ride service, and Connecticut River ferry service; cutting statewide bus service; and delayingg implementation of night bus service in Waterbury.
• Borrowing to pay for $4 million in bridge safety and maintenance costs instead of using pay-as-you-go funds.
• Laying off 459 employees, removing 311 vacant positions, and retiring 89 employees.

Commuters reacted angrily, telling the Connecticut Post that service cuts and fare increases would be a burden:

Christine Johnson, of Norwalk, a regular CTTransit bus rider, said Sunday she relies on bus service to shop for groceries and go to church, as well as to just get out for a change of pace.

“I don’t think they should do it because the people riding the bus don’t have any other way to travel,” Johnson said.

The hikes and cuts would come even as the Southeast Area Transit system announced its highest ridership in eight years. Transit ridership in the state has increased by 4% this year, according to ConnDOT.

Big impacts on construction projects would be felt also, since the Special Transportation Fund would be cut by $104.8 million in fiscal year 2012 and $120.6 million in FY 2013.

State employee unions may take a re-vote on the cost-saving agreement, and have changed their bylaws so that votes in favor of the agreement by a majority of the unions and a majority of employees would be enough to ratify it. The original agreement was approved by 57% of employees and 11 of 15 unions, but this was not enough to ratify it under the union bylaws in effect at the time.

The prospect of a balanced budget in Connecticut is unclear now that an agreement with state employee unions appears at risk of collapse. But one positive highlight from the state’s budget was the shielding of more transportation revenue from [...]]]>

The existing Merritt 7 Metro-North station has only a small shelter and a low platform.

The prospect of a balanced budget in Connecticut is unclear now that an agreement with state employee unions appears at risk of collapse. But one positive highlight from the state’s budget was the shielding of more transportation revenue from being diverted to the State’s General Fund.

In the recently adopted budget, the amount of revenue devoted to transportation from the wholesale fuel tax, an existing tax on state oil companies, will increase by almost $100 million over two years.  This, in addition to additional transfers of $81 million over two years from the General Fund, is paying early dividends, and plaudits from both Democrats and Republicans in Connecticut.

According to the Stamford Advocate, as a result of these budget actions the state will be able to now bond for design work on the Merritt 7 Metro-North Station in Norwalk, and the hope is that these actions will also allow the state to upgrade the state’s other existing road, bridge and transit infrastructure into a state of good repair.

While Connecticut’s transportation funding woes remain far from solved, this seemingly small step could put the transportation system’s revitalization on a surer path.

In neighboring New York, a recently passed “transit lockbox” bill could produce similar benefits if Governor Cuomo signs the legislation.  Doing so would go a long way towards ensuring that transit revenues are used for their intended purposes, preventing fare hikes and service cuts in the process.

Photo: Via ConnDOT.