[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

I agree about the importance of public transportation but Fastrak doesn't remove buses from the highway. All the express buses are still operational and will remain so. If you live in, say, Glastonbury it is much more convenient to drive to one of the commuter parking lots in town and take the Route 2 express bus to Hartford than to drive to a Fastrak location and hop on it.

Maybe you need a new compass, but the busway only operates west of Hartford, has nothing to do with Glastonbury or points east of Hartford. Buses going or coming from the east use the HOV lane.

There's no HOV lane west of Hartford, and I doubt there ever will be now that the busway exits. So yes it removes buses from the highway.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

Maybe you need a new compass, but the busway only operates west of Hartford, has nothing to do with Glastonbury or points east of Hartford. Buses going or coming from the east use the HOV lane.

There's no HOV lane west of Hartford, and I doubt there ever will be now that the busway exits. So yes it removes buses from the highway.

Thank you for the geography lesson, Professor. But my point is that even for commuters in Greater Hartford that use public transportation, Fastrak is only beneficial and convenient for a relatively small percentage of them--those who live in New Britain, Newington, Elmwood, etc.

Also your HOV distinction is not correct. Not all buses on the highway rely on HOV lanes. The aforementioned bus from Glastonbury goes on Route 2--where there is no HOV lane.

And Fastrak has not eliminated standard express buses. I just looked it up and there is still a Newington express which goes on 91. As far as 84 west of the river, I don't believe there has been many buses to begin with. I used to live in West Hartford and it frustrated me to no end that no bus jumped on 84 to get to downtown Hartford. They all run on slow, congested Farmington, Asylum, Fern, and New Britain Avenue.

For the record, I support Frastrak and all public transpiration endeavors. But we have to be realistic about its limitations. And expand further. The new Hartford Line could be one such expansion for commuters.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Thank you for the geography lesson, Professor. But my point is that even for commuters in Greater Hartford that use public transportation, Fastrak is only beneficial and convenient for a relatively small percentage of them--those who live in New Britain, Newington, Elmwood, etc.

Also your HOV distinction is not correct. Not all buses on the highway rely on HOV lanes. The aforementioned bus from Glastonbury goes on Route 2--where there is no HOV lane.

And Fastrak has not eliminated standard express buses. I just looked it up and there is still a Newington express which goes on 91. As far as 84 west of the river, I don't believe there has been many buses to begin with. I used to live in West Hartford and it frustrated me to no end that no bus jumped on 84 to get to downtown Hartford. They all run on slow, congested Farmington, Asylum, Fern, and New Britain Avenue.

For the record, I support Frastrak and all public transpiration endeavors. But we have to be realistic about its limitations. And expand further. The new Hartford Line could be one such expansion for commuters.

I think you confused us by your comment. Yes, CTfastrak runs on a busway from New Britain to Hartford and serves Newington and West Hartford but goes beyond to Plainville, Southington, Cheshire and Waterbury. The state has extended the service east to Manchester and Has plans to extend service along the I-84 HOV lanes.

Yes it only serves people along its route but that is true of any mass transit system. Not sure what you are saying.

Also note the reason the CtTransit buses don’t use I-84 is that city streets are faster. I-84 is notorious for traffic backups. Jay

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by JayCT

I think you confused us by your comment. Yes, CTfastrak runs on a busway from New Britain to Hartford and serves Newington and West Hartford but goes beyond to Plainville, Southington, Cheshire and Waterbury. The state has extended the service east to Manchester and Has plans to extend service along the I-84 HOV lanes.

Yes it only serves people along its route but that is true of any mass transit system. Not sure what you are saying.

Also note the reason the CtTransit buses don’t use I-84 is that city streets are faster. I-84 is notorious for traffic backups. Jay

I used to take a bus from West Hartford Center to downtown Hartford every day. Took a half hour down Farmington Avenue and Asylum. A half hour to.....get.....three......miles. Sometimes got rides to work on 84. Took 15 minutes tops. 84 is much faster unless there is an accident. That's why everyone takes 84 instead of local roads.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

I used to take a bus from West Hartford Center to downtown Hartford every day. Took a half hour down Farmington Avenue and Asylum. A half hour to.....get.....three......miles. Sometimes got rides to work on 84. Took 15 minutes tops. 84 is much faster unless there is an accident. That's why everyone takes 84 instead of local roads.

That section of I-84 has accidents virtually every day. It has one of the highest accident rates in the state. So the chances of a 15 minute bus trip is not good on a daily basis which is why CT Transit does not use I-84. Jay

[hunterseat]

Positive economic trend? The defense budget is on track and EB and the Navy base are thriving. Good news for the eastern part of the state.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by hunterseat

Positive economic trend? The defense budget is on track and EB and the Navy base are thriving. Good news for the eastern part of the state.

Good for other parts too like Stratford where Sikorsky builds helicopters and East Hartford and Middletown where Pratt & Whitney builds jet engines. Jay

[CTartist]

CT Hits Record-High Graduation Rate
https://patch.com/connecticut/trumbu...campaign=alert

[basehead617]

Originally Posted by CTartist

CT Hits Record-High Graduation Rate
https://patch.com/connecticut/trumbu...campaign=alert

While it's good that kids aren't dropping out as much, many 'graduates' from low quality high schools cannot even read and write at a 5th grade level. Very sad.

On the other hand, you can't just hold everyone back either.. hard to say what the solution is.

[ayoskillz]

Originally Posted by basehead617

While it's good that kids aren't dropping out as much, many 'graduates' from low quality high schools cannot even read and write at a 5th grade level. Very sad.

On the other hand, you can't just hold everyone back either.. hard to say what the solution is.

I know alot of states adopted no kids left behind program. Not sure if that is the case in ct