As the race to succeed Governor M. Jodi Rell continues, Connecticut’s residents are beginning to get a better idea of Democrat Dan Malloy and Republican Thomas Foley‘s policy platforms.

As a way to identify transportation policy positions, Tri-State issued a transportation questionnaire to both campaigns.  The answers received could help provide some insight into their specific transportation priorities if elected.

Tom Foley (Republican)

In his questionnaire, former ambassador Tom Foley spoke extensively of the need for Connecticut to develop “a long term transportation plan” as well as “articulate a strategy, plan, and funding priorities” for the state’s transportation projects.

He did not expand on specifics of his funding priorities, and mentioned the interaction of land use and transportation only once, citing the need to work with “state, local and federal officials to make sure that local regulations are not ignored.”

Foley clearly expressed his opposition to tolls as a way to support the Special Transportation Fund, which is set to run a deficit in 2011.  As a way to shore up the STF, Foley said he would prohibit the fund from being raided by the Legislature as a way to pay for General Fund spending.

Foley said he was willing to look at vulnerable user legislation and work with key stakeholders to determine the feasibility of implementing the policy.  He expressed interest in supporting more bicycle, pedestrian and transit access infrastructure but was concerned with how these projects would be funded.  Finally, he indicated opposition to red light cameras as a means to raise revenue, but kept open the possibility of supporting them if ConnDOT “consider[ed] lessons learned from other states” and identified the feasibility of a program in Connecticut.

Dan Malloy (Democrat)

Former Mayor of Stamford Dan Malloy spoke extensively of the need to prioritize existing road and bridge infrastructure over road and bridge widenings and expansion.  He supports transit oriented development as a means to reduce congestion and support economic growth as well as increased investment in transit funding and emphasized the need to link various transit systems — both rail and bus — to create a “seamless connection between transit hubs, retail, housing and employment centers.”

In order to shore up the Special Transportation Fund, Malloy called for “everything to be on the table.”  He said he could support tolling if the system was one “where every dollar in revenue… go[es] directly to investments in our infrastructure, and not swept into the general fund.”  In addition, he insinuated that any tolling should be high-speed in nature, modeled on “our neighboring states, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, to reduce the impact on traffic.”

Malloy also expressed support for working with municipalities to ensure that they are aware of any funding available to improve cycling and walking infrastructure as a way to make Connecticut’s roads safer for all users.

Unfortunately, Malloy did not respond to questions that would clearly indicate his support or opposition to specific pieces of legislation that may come before the General Assembly next year, like vulnerable user legislation, congestion pricing, red light cameras or increased funding for pedestrian, bicycling and transit access infrastructure projects.

For more information on both candidates’ platforms, please read their full responses here.