They say the only thing more painful than learning from experience is not learning from experience. So now that the 2015 regular session of the Connecticut General Assembly is underway, it’s important to look back at 2014 to see what went well for transportation policy in the Nutmeg State, and shed some light on what did not go so well. We’re just three weeks into the new year, so it’s impossible to know what 2015 will bring. But what we do know is that we won’t see much progress if leaders don’t replicate their successes and learn from their missteps.

The Good

Governor Dannel Malloy reelected — Despite our many criticisms of the Governor during his first term, he did quite a lot of good for Connecticut in 2014, including dedicating $15 million to support transit-oriented development, signing the vulnerable user bill into law, and announcing more frequent service on the Metro-North New Haven Line. Transportation was a key plank of Governor Malloy’s reelection platform in the close race against challenger Tom Foley, who in contrast displayed little knowledge about the state’s transportation challenges, said Connecticut spends too much on transit, and criticized strategies which try to “push people out of their cars and onto mass transit.”

Connecticut’s Streets Safer for All Users — At the state level, the Connecticut Department of Transportation finally caught up with the State’s Complete Streets law by adopting a departmental policy enabling “the alignment of transportation funds to encourage improvements for non-motorized users,” and a long-awaited Vulnerable User Bill became law. And in addition to the establishment of several promising local safety enforcement campaigns, more communities joined and climbed the list of Bicycle Friendly Cities.

Transit-oriented development on the rise — Following calls from Tri-State to leverage Connecticut’s new transit infrastructure for smarter redevelopment, Governor Malloy announced the creation of a $15 million transit-oriented development fund “to provide financing that will encourage developers to carry out transit oriented development in communities with station stops along the CTfastrak and New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) transit corridors.” The City of Norwalk had already beat the State to the punch, having put Transit-Centered Development Grant Program funds to use in creating a TOD master plan.

State transit gaining notoriety — The buzz surrounding CTfastrak is helping to create a branded transit network on par with NJTransit and the MTA. With further additions and improvements to the network, such as the new Hartford Line and more frequent Metro-North service, Connecticut is so far on the right track for “building a world-class transportation system that can connect… businesses, communities, and residents.”

The Bad

Metro-North’s problems pile up — The Regional Plan Association set the tone for Metro-North news in 2014 with a January report detailing $3.6 billion in priority investments needed just to bring the agency to a state of good repair and operate full four-track service. The agency was plagued with bad press throughout the year with regard to management, performance, service, and safety – especially in the wake of a scathing National Transportation Safety Board report on the findings of an investigation into five major incidents in 2013.

Hundreds of failing bridges and roadways — It took back-to-back “major malfunctions” of the 118 year-old Norwalk River Railroad Bridge, a crucial component of the state’s commuter railways, to spur political action needed to replace the bridge. That isn’t very encouraging considering that nearly 10 percent of all Connecticut bridges are considered “structurally deficient” – up from 8.5 percent in 2006 – and that 41 percent of all roads are rated in poor condition.

The Ugly

The Governor’s addiction to widening roads — A State panel recommended that ‘fix-it-first’ investments take priority, yet Governor Malloy remainsdedicated to costly road widening projects that will ultimately induce more traffic. After devoting 2014 to securing $400 million to widen three miles of I-84 in Waterbury, when highway efficiencies to reduce congestion should be explored first, the Governor announced during his State of the State earlier this month that he will be adding the widening of I-95 to his 2015 priorities list, citing the need to relieve traffic and spur economic growth as the objective for both projects.

The sorry state of transportation funding — Despite Governor Malloy’s reelection rhetoric centering around transportation and infrastructure investment, the transportation lockbox bill — a resolution to amend the state constitution to prevent the Special Transportation Fund from being used for non-transportation purposes — hardly gained any traction in 2014. Given the state’s already questionable funding priorities and reliance on borrowing, this was one of the state’s biggest setbacks for 2014. During his State of the State address earlier this month, Governor Malloy announced he would work to pass new ‘escape clause’-free lockbox legislation in 2015, but we’ll wait to see if the Governor actually walks his talk.