[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by JayCT

CTfastrak ridership is running higher than projections. Last year it served more than 5 million riders. You obviously are seeing buses during off peak hours when few people are on them. This is not uncommon for any mass transit in cities the size of Hartford. Jay

Still waiting to see the proof of decreased congestion & travel times on I-84 west of Hartford. That was the original project justification.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

Still waiting to see the proof of decreased congestion & travel times on I-84 west of Hartford. That was the original project justification.

That was only one of the reasons for creating the busway, not the one and only reason.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by JimG2

I'm going to assume that 5 million riders is double the number of actual riders. 2.5 million each way, right? government has a way of skewing numbers to look good to their ****ty decisions.

2,500,000 divided by 365 equals 6,850 to and from riders per day.

Newington, at best has 80 cars parked there per day. 80 riders per day from Newington station.

Where are the other almost 6,800 other riders coming from? If there are 20 stations that's almost 340 riders per station. But Newington is only doing 80? The numbers are a total sham to make it look good.

You do know that people can get dropped off or even walk to the bus station ? No reason to believe 80 parked cars means only 80 people took the bus.

You also should take another look at Downtown New Britain during AM + PM commute times. There's a lot of pedestrian traffic in and out of that bus station.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by JimG2

I'm going to assume that 5 million riders is double the number of actual riders. 2.5 million each way, right? government has a way of skewing numbers to look good to their ****ty decisions.

2,500,000 divided by 365 equals 6,850 to and from riders per day.

Newington, at best has 80 cars parked there per day. 80 riders per day from Newington station.

Where are the other almost 6,800 other riders coming from? If there are 20 stations that's almost 340 riders per station. But Newington is only doing 80? The numbers are a total sham to make it look good.

The ridership numbers can’t be “doubled”. These are certified and reported to the Federal Transit Agency for funding purposes. If you look at how the system works you will see that other bus routes feed into CTFastrak so most riders are coming from there. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

That was only one of the reasons for creating the busway, not the one and only reason.

That is correct. The real value of CTfastrak will come in about 10 years when I-84 is being reconstructed west of downtown. It will offer commuters a mass transit commuting option much like a Shoreline East did during the Q Bridge in New Haven. Rowland almost killed Shoreline East but found he could not because it was committed to improve service for use while I-95 was being widened. Today it is a thriving commuter line. Jay

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by JayCT

That is correct. The real value of CTfastrak will come in about 10 years when I-84 is being reconstructed west of downtown. It will offer commuters a mass transit commuting option much like a Shoreline East did during the Q Bridge in New Haven. Rowland almost killed Shoreline East but found he could not because it was committed to improve service for use while I-95 was being widened. Today it is a thriving commuter line. Jay

So the moral to the story seems to be that it takes major highway reconstruction to get people out of their cars, but once they get out of them, they never want to go back. They realize commuter rail and rapid bus transit systems are actually much better ways of commuting, especially during rush hour.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

So the moral to the story seems to be that it takes major highway reconstruction to get people out of their cars, but once they get out of them, they never want to go back. They realize commuter rail and rapid bus transit systems are actually much better ways of commuting, especially during rush hour.

The moral of the story is that highway expansion isn't really feasible in the Hartford area. Most of the land is already built out especially west of Hartford. Creating a busway gives people an alternative and it removes the buses from the highway. Which in and of itself relives congestion. It also frees up parking in Hartford which is mostly at capacity already.

Hartford and CT in general is way above average when it comes to public transportation. And that is a good thing.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by JayCT

That is correct. The real value of CTfastrak will come in about 10 years when I-84 is being reconstructed west of downtown. It will offer commuters a mass transit commuting option much like a Shoreline East did during the Q Bridge in New Haven. Rowland almost killed Shoreline East but found he could not because it was committed to improve service for use while I-95 was being widened. Today it is a thriving commuter line. Jay

This is justification after the fact. The I-84 reconstruction plans are still being laid out and debated. The busway planning and construction dates back to at least 2007 when I moved to CT. Not denying there will be a benefit if/when I-84 does get shut down temporarily, but our politicians just don't have the long-term vision you're ascribing to them.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

This is justification after the fact. The I-84 reconstruction plans are still being laid out and debated. The busway planning and construction dates back to at least 2007 when I moved to CT. Not denying there will be a benefit if/when I-84 does get shut down temporarily, but our politicians just don't have the long-term vision you're ascribing to them.

They don’t? I strongly disagree. You are correct that planning for the busway dates back almost 20 years and it is years before the I-84 project is under construction but the fact that CTfastrak is serving more than 5 million riders a year shows it is doing what it was envisioned to do. It offers dedicated and reliable bus service that more and more riders are using. Jay

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

The moral of the story is that highway expansion isn't really feasible in the Hartford area. Most of the land is already built out especially west of Hartford. Creating a busway gives people an alternative and it removes the buses from the highway. Which in and of itself relives congestion. It also frees up parking in Hartford which is mostly at capacity already.

Hartford and CT in general is way above average when it comes to public transportation. And that is a good thing.

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.