CT mass transit What do you think? (New Haven, Hartford: subsidized, taxes)
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Real integrated Mass Transit doesn't exist in CT, at least imho.
Sure, have metro north (really good, only for shoreline), amtrak, and bus service (which is archaic and hard to understand at best). We have all these bits and pieces but it doesn't add up to a total picture (go government, )
If I were to change it, or had a say in how it shapes up, would try to expand light rail substantially, even having companies by offering free advertising on certain trains for an amount of time (could even paint train cars on outside with advertisements like they do buses now). Would also bring back street cars where possible. I have been to downtown Hartford and with all the buses there sometimes it's a nightmare.
Just my humble fraction of a cent.
Last edited by kutch2001; 03-07-2010 at 07:08 PM..
I want to see Light Rail & BRT in Hartford , Streetcars in New Haven & Stamford. That would attract me up there to spend some tourism $$$ , it would also make your largest cities nicer. Maybe they can Cover I-95 in New Haven and rebuild up the waterfront. The Future of Transit in CT is brighter then many states surrounding it.
Real integrated Mass Transit doesn't exist in CT, at least imho.
Sure, have metro north (really good, only for shoreline), amtrak, and bus service (which is archaic and hard to understand at best). We have all these bits and pieces but it doesn't add up to a total picture (go government, )
If I were to change it, or had a say in how it shapes up, would try to expand light rail substantially, even having companies by offering free advertising on certain trains for an amount of time (could even paint train cars on outside with advertisements like they do buses now). Would also bring back street cars where possible. I have been to downtown Hartford and with all the buses there sometimes it's a nightmare.
Just my humble fraction of a cent.
Totally agree.
This is such a small state but we rely way too much on driving our cars. Light rail near the major cities and abutting suburbia would change everything! What are we waiting for?
Unless you're in Fairfield County and use rail, public transportation is a joke in the rest of this state.
Bus transportation? Nearly everyone in CT has a car and drives to work so buses and buslines are now geared for the needy. Shouln't be that way. Expand your routes and make the travel routes more comfortable, clean and more clear!
Hear that DOT?
Public transportation needs to be improved and it can be. Start with adding a few more routes, and promote, promote, promote.
Just my humble "half a cent"
If you want to live in Connecticut, I think you HAVE to own a car in order to survive, CT Transit buses are spotty at best and with the exception of the big cities (New Haven, Waterbury, and Hartford) most buses do not run after 6 pm or on weekends. I lived in Meriden for 3 years and it was downright awful
The 2 years I lived in Naugatuck were even worse, the buses almost never ran at all, service was every hour and a half and after 230 in the afternoon, you could not catch a bus from the Waterbury Green into Naugatuck. If you missed that bus, you would have to spend $2 (fare in 2005-6) on Metro-North
Anybody who wishes to move to Connecticut MUST have a car, IMO
I want to see Light Rail & BRT in Hartford , Streetcars in New Haven & Stamford. That would attract me up there to spend some tourism $$$ , it would also make your largest cities nicer. Maybe they can Cover I-95 in New Haven and rebuild up the waterfront. The Future of Transit in CT is brighter then many states surrounding it.
I think you said it exactly. I think more politicians are considering light rail service. The mayor of my town and town manager want a rail stop (which we could do since tracks run through town), other nearby towns are pushing for this, and it's getting support elsewhere from both political sides. Couple of weeks ago the Courant ran a story saying that GOP members were really interested in this in Waterbury and elsewhere. I would not be surprised if rail service comes to fruition here - the chess pieces are in place.
I think you said it exactly. I think more politicians are considering light rail service. The mayor of my town and town manager want a rail stop (which we could do since tracks run through town), other nearby towns are pushing for this, and it's getting support elsewhere from both political sides. Couple of weeks ago the Courant ran a story saying that GOP members were really interested in this in Waterbury and elsewhere. I would not be surprised if rail service comes to fruition here - the chess pieces are in place.
There finally realizing that its time to plan for the future. And to stop fighting these kinds of projects. If you had more Rail , i would move up there. Light Rail is cheap , clean , and sexy looking. Alot of my republican leader friends are embracing new Light Rail projects , more the commuter rail. Hopefully in 10 years every mid-size to large CT City will have a Rail Connection or Light Rail. And almost every city and Major Town will have at least 5 bus lines running through them. Instead of widening I-95, lets add 2 more Tracks to the Northeast Corridor. Once you get a new line in and it does well the Nay sayers usually shut up about other projects in Neighboring cities. So all you need to do is get one line whether its Light Rail or Streetcars up and running and then wait at least a year for ridership to reach its estimated maxuim.
Light rail is NOT cheap. Rail lines, both light and heavy are very expensive. The problem is that they do not produce enough revenue to support themselves. Almost every major rail service in this country is subsidized by the government. It will cost a lot to go in this direction so we need to find a way to pay for it. Jay
PS - Don't say that highways cost the taxpayers money, they are funded through gas taxes and other fees.
Light rail is NOT cheap. Rail lines, both light and heavy are very expensive. The problem is that they do not produce enough revenue to support themselves. Almost every major rail service in this country is subsidized by the government. It will cost a lot to go in this direction so we need to find a way to pay for it. Jay
PS - Don't say that highways cost the taxpayers money, they are funded through gas taxes and other fees.
I agree that it's not cheap, but it's a better alternative to sitting in traffic. People want to get to where they're going quickly, and there's a limit to just how fast buses can go. I have a hard time believing we'll see these 110MPH bullet trains, but I still think they'd serve us better than buses. They'd definitely move quicker than buses. If light rail were implemented, one way to partially cover these costs would be to add a fee to the ticket. I'd be surprised if that's not already done with Metro North - I seriously doubt what you pay round trip to go from NH to NYC goes completely to the MTA and its employees. If people want it badly enough, they'll find a way to finance it. I don't think light rail would solve all our transportation problems, but it's a start.
The highways DO cost taxpayers money, just in a different way. If there's a gas tax, to me that just means the public pays for it in another way. When the first highways were built out west, it was the oil, tire and auto industry that persuaded Congress to have taxpayers pay for these. The book Fast Food Nation details this in Chapter 1.
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