[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BHW2436

33% of Hartford Households don’t have a car. That’s one of the higher city rates in the country. It’s not because our public transportation system is great either, it’s not.

What is wrong with Hartford’s mass transit system? It’s comprehensive covering major corridors throughout the metro area. You have commuter rail, bus rapid transit, and local buses. That’s pretty good for a metro area of 1.2 million. You won’t find better in similar sized cities. Jay

[BobNJ1960]

Outside of the New Haven line, you will find few if any RAIL options that deliver people to each city served regularly by 7:30am or have them going home at say 5:30. In short, what good are secondary lines which do not offer robust rush hour service both ways at the times needed to arrive at offices on time? And now, what is it our leaders are proposing? Fewer trains being run.

It takes a willingness to lose far more in the early years of building train lines. The riders council leadership has properly nailed them on this, as reducing service will exacerbate these lines demise.

Ct is going in the WRONG direction regarding mass transit, largely due to the fact our population, being above the nation in median age, is not willing to push the correct but unpopular path with MOST my own age. The fact that the non boomers will be less attached to getting to work, alone in cars, and that we must transition to a state where a higher % go to work via mass transit, in every single region, versus the proportion using it last decade. This is about the system of the 2030s, 2040s, 2050s, but to get there we cannot approach it saying, "What suited us in 2019?". Let us build it with that DO NOT LISTEN TO boomers mindset.

PS: Other metros of 1.2 million stink on mass transit, too, far too often. Is that our goal-stink as much but no more and brag about it? Perhaps we can make signs on our highways announcing that.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

The reality is that our infrastructure is third world. We’re unable (or unwilling) to add lanes to 95 and it takes more than a year to pave a few miles on the Merritt around Norwalk. Now the geniuses are cutting service on Metro North (although both sides are blaming one another). Counting the days until I retire to our FL beach house. I’m early 40s but everyday of this madness translates to early retirement.

I fully agree with your post.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

Outside of the New Haven line, you will find few if any RAIL options that deliver people to each city served regularly by 7:30am or have them going home at say 5:30. In short, what good are secondary lines which do not offer robust rush hour service both ways at the times needed to arrive at offices on time? And now, what is it our leaders are proposing? Fewer trains being run.

It takes a willingness to lose far more in the early years of building train lines. The riders council leadership has properly nailed them on this, as reducing service will exacerbate these lines demise.

Ct is going in the WRONG direction regarding mass transit, largely due to the fact our population, being above the nation in median age, is not willing to push the correct but unpopular path with MOST my own age. The fact that the non boomers will be less attached to getting to work, alone in cars, and that we must transition to a state where a higher % go to work via mass transit, in every single region, versus the proportion using it last decade. This is about the system of the 2030s, 2040s, 2050s, but to get there we cannot approach it saying, "What suited us in 2019?". Let us build it with that DO NOT LISTEN TO boomers mindset.

PS: Other metros of 1.2 million stink on mass transit, too, far too often. Is that our goal-stink as much but no more and brag about it? Perhaps we can make signs on our highways announcing that.

You seem to not realize how expensive mass transit is and how long it takes to build ridership.

Connecticut is facing a very serious transportation funding crisis. The Transportation Fund is running out of money. The gas tax hasn’t been raised in 20 plus years; alternative fuel sources means less revenue in the future; and inflation has taken its toll on what we can do with the revenue we do get. Past attempts to fix this has met with strong opposition. Hard decisions will need to be made in the near future to fix this. That is why reducing rail service is being evaluated.

CTrail, the commuter rail service along the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield line only began a five years ago and two of those years were impacted by the pandemic. You certainly can get to Hartford or New Haven at the start of regular business hours (7:30 AM is too early, most companies start between 8:00 and 9:00 AM). You don’t have multiple trains because ridership doesn’t warrant it. As ridership builds so will additional service.

Your rant on Baby Boomers is just ridiculous. Baby Boomers gave you the improved rail service you wanted for the past 30 years. They also added Shoreline East, CTfastrak and CTRail. What more do you want or expect? Certainly you are being unreasonable if you expect more.

I’d also like to point out that the current Commissioner of CTDOT, Garrett Eucalitto, is 41 years old so he is not a Baby Boomer. And yet here we are with his department proposing a reduction in service. Did you ever consider that the proposal to cut service is being done to put pressure on State Legislators to address the funding crisis? That seems to be the only way to get the attention it needs. A showdown is coming. Hopefully we will be ready for it. Jay

[BobNJ1960]

I realize the scale of the investment. Mass transit requires a ton of loss over decades to become reasonably sustainable. Ct is stuck with a 1950s highways are our sole way to travel mindset. We stumbled into the NY line by being on its other side. Our approach to other lines is trying to be half pregnant.

PS: Most offices open at 8, which mandates arriving at your station by 7:30, to catch a shuttle. Amtrak runs Hartford service, earliest arrival from New Haven 9:42 a.m. Imagine if the New York line ran that way? See you at 10:15 at the office, ok, boss? LOL.


https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure.html

Shoreline East also offers few paths to arrive at your office via shuttle at say, 8 a.m.

Hence, neither line is ridden much, nor should they be, with the laughable level of service being offered.

[BHW2436]

Originally Posted by JayCT

What is wrong with Hartford’s mass transit system? It’s comprehensive covering major corridors throughout the metro area. You have commuter rail, bus rapid transit, and local buses. That’s pretty good for a metro area of 1.2 million. You won’t find better in similar sized cities. Jay

What’s wrong with it? When my car was in the shop I basically had to Uber or take the day off. That’s how I know it stinks.

The options required so many different transfers and would have taken 3x longer than a car, if it was even possible to actually be on time for work and then get home in a reasonable time.

You’re an amazing CT advocate, but transportation is not an area where you’ll convince most we are good.

All your reasons can be true (expensive, takes a long time, low demand) and what can also be true is it stinks. Can use it for a week to live your daily life and then get back to me with your thoughts on how quickly you want to get back in your car

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

I realize the scale of the investment. Mass transit requires a ton of loss over decades to become reasonably sustainable. Ct is stuck with a 1950s highways are our sole way to travel mindset. We stumbled into the NY line by being on its other side. Our approach to other lines is trying to be half pregnant.

PS: Most offices open at 8, which mandates arriving at your station by 7:30, to catch a shuttle. Amtrak runs Hartford service, earliest arrival from New Haven 9:42 a.m. Imagine if the New York line ran that way? See you at 10:15 at the office, ok, boss? LOL.


https://www.amtrak.com/tickets/departure.html

Shoreline East also offers few paths to arrive at your office via shuttle at say, 8 a.m.

Hence, neither line is ridden much, nor should they be, with the laughable level of service being offered.

CT DOT reminds me of the Yankees. They refuse to fire the stale over tenured GM and get a fresh set of eyes and leadership on the organization.
CT DOT needs to clean house and get some new blood in there. Listen people, It’s long overdue, there’s no if ands or buts about it.

[SteveM85]

Originally Posted by JayCT

There is NO fiasco on the Merritt Parkway in New Canaan and Norwalk. I think you and the others are confused because there are two separate projects that are adjacent to each other and one started while the other one ended.

First there was State Project 0102-0368 which involved resurfacing, safety improvements, landscaping enhancements, and bridge improvements to the Merritt Parkway between Exits 40 and 41. That project began in May of 2021 and was completed in 2022.

Currently State Project 0102-0296 is working on various bridge, resurfacing and safety improvements along Route 15 from Exit 37 (Route 124/ South Avenue) to Exit 40B (Main Avenue). It began last year and will be completed next year.

Despite what you think the time it takes to construct these projects is in line with what similar projects in other states take. I’ve worked on and are familiar with similar projects across the country and they commonly take two to three years to complete, just like these.

Also despite what you think, CTDOT are NOT “idiots”. They are mostly hardworking intelligent professionals who are highly respected in their field for what they accomplish with limited personnel and funding under some of the most difficult traffic conditions in the country.

I am not sure why there was construction on a weekend when you say there was but I am sure there was a very good reason why. Most CTDOT contracts carry very stiff penalties for contractors to close lanes during peak or weekend hours. A contractor avoids doing that at all costs because it’s like handing CTDOT thousands of dollars for free. They don’t want that. Jay

Ok listen to me. There’s only four people in the world who love CT more than me- you, Stylo, CTArtist and Cambium. That’s it. I’m number 5.
With that said, I can recognize a fiasco when I see one. This old Gen Xer has been around the block. Forget Houston, we have a problem in CT.

[Beeker2211]

Found this in my journeys, tried to find the direct source and report to back check the data but on the look with all the other information in the media seems at least on track.

Out of 15 of the most "bounced back" Bus systems in the US among major metros CT's systems absolutely dominate the list:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F1q0rCsW...jpg&name=large

I'm guessing that some of it is a holdover from hop on fare-box free service, but the demand in CT for good bus service seems incredibly strong despite the hamstringing of the systems... especially when the big systems sans MTA Busses are having wildly anemic return numbers.

Also very interesting most of the systems that came back the strongest are small to regionally big systems. Would love to see the raw boarding numbers for the other systems historical and YTD 12 month rolling.

[Beeker2211]

Originally Posted by BHW2436

You’re an amazing CT advocate, but transportation is not an area where you’ll convince most we are good.

Weirdly enough and almost paradoxically as a state we excel beyond almost any other (among the highest % of population near existing transit structures/routes) but on the regional level we have a lot of work to do. We should prioritize transit in CT as a valuable amenity, and in a perfect world allow the systems to have a much more diverse funding stream options to reduce the total cost of the system such as targeted investments in key properties for the systems which at last look is illegal for the systems in CT.