[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Those times aren't compelling. You can drive in less than half that. Add in the time getting to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, getting off and getting to work and it takes even longer door to door. And the busway doesn't go to Manchester, so I don't see how it's relevant.

Fastrak buses go beyond downtown Hartford with one route going to Manchester Community College. Driving into downtown, finding parking (and paying for it) and then walking what could be a long distance to your office can be a real hassle. Driving might not be that much shorter than if a person takes CT Fastrak and you don't have the hassle of sitting in traffic on I-84 which is the busiest highway in the state. Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

You are right, they don't want to part with their cars but they want everyone else to part with theirs so they can have the road to themselves. Jay

Not necessarily. People just want to drive on modern roads that make sense.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Not necessarily. People just want to drive on modern roads that make sense.

Believe me, I have been to Public Hearings on projects and people have said this. I agree we need modern highways but we just do not have the room to build large multi-lane freeways nor do we have the money. A good transportation plan will balance highways and public transit. For too long though, Connecticut has ignored its mass transit and then its highways. It is not just here, this was a trend across the country. Hopefully that will change but both the State and Congress have to figure out how to pay for it. That means either raising gas taxes or implementing tolls. Not a good option for either but something has to be done. Jay

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Believe me, I have been to Public Hearings on projects and people have said this. I agree we need modern highways but we just do not have the room to build large multi-lane freeways nor do we have the money. A good transportation plan will balance highways and public transit. For too long though, Connecticut has ignored its mass transit and then its highways. It is not just here, this was a trend across the country. Hopefully that will change but both the State and Congress have to figure out how to pay for it. That means either raising gas taxes or implementing tolls. Not a good option for either but something has to be done. Jay

And this gets back to what I had mentioned earlier. I'm not "anti-car" by any means but I totally agree that we've neglected public transportation options for far too long, and we're now paying the price for it. And then to add insult to injury as you said, we're faced with an aging infrastructure that simply HAS to be repaired. Real question, though, as you said, is how we pay for this. I'm not against the idea of tolls, but if we're going to do that, then I want to see us revoke the car tax or lower the gas tax, because you cannot have both. If we're really serious and adamant about having sold infrastructure, we have to pay for it. Tolls can achieve this, but only if the revenue from that is put in a lockbox and used solely for that. That means in a few years from now, when we're facing another public sector pension shortfall or looking for $ to give state employees a raise, we can't use toll money for that. Massachusetts has a toll system and it's working just fine, it seems.

[MrGompers]

Expanding the highways even in the Hartford area is very unlikely. Perhaps RT 2 can be expanded ? The last big project was widening i-91 north to Springfield and opening i-291. So I think those 2 roads are off the table. That leaves us with i-84 which I don't think can be widened, but maybe some improvements can be made such as straightening curves or adding/removing some exits.

If you look at traffic in a 24 hour cycle I would guess that in the Hartford area the roads are basically clogged during rush hour. I do not have the stats to prove this, but the Govt probably does. I know when I've driven thru Hartford area at night (after 8pm) the traffic is moving quickly unless there is some type of event going on like a concert.

Assuming the roads can't be widened what else can we do to help alleviate traffic mainly during rush hour?

Fast track is one answer among many. Like I said a few pages back I'm willing to bet if the powers that be could get away with it, they would only run fast track during rush hour. The rush hour riders (who are a majority of white collar workers) subsidize the off peak users. Which is also why you see surcharges during rush hours on other transit systems such as metro north. I think we will see rush hour surcharges on fast track within the next 5 years.

I can also say with great confidence if parking in Hartford wasn't so expensive (relative to other cities of similar size) half of those fast track riders would disappear overnight.

I worked at 3 different companies in downtown Hartford and none of them provided parking. Employees had to find their own. Although one company would pay for half of your parking or pay for your monthly bus pass up to $50 max. In that case I took the subsidized parking.

City of Hartford used to actively encourage companies not to provide free parking for employees, but I'm not sure if they still try to promote that idea.

[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Fastrak buses go beyond downtown Hartford with one route going to Manchester Community College. Driving into downtown, finding parking (and paying for it) and then walking what could be a long distance to your office can be a real hassle. Driving might not be that much shorter than if a person takes CT Fastrak and you don't have the hassle of sitting in traffic on I-84 which is the busiest highway in the state. Jay

Buses are sitting in the same traffic as everyone else except for the 9 miles between New Britain and Hartford. And it still takes an hour to go from Bristol to Hartford. An hour to go less than 20 miles is not going to lure people out of their cars. The time savings have to be compelling to get people to switch. And it seems like unless they build busways out to each town, that's not going to happen.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Buses are sitting in the same traffic as everyone else except for the 9 miles between New Britain and Hartford. And it still takes an hour to go from Bristol to Hartford. An hour to go less than 20 miles is not going to lure people out of their cars. The time savings have to be compelling to get people to switch. And it seems like unless they build busways out to each town, that's not going to happen.

Buses going on i-84 east use the HOV lane. So I don't think they will be sitting in traffic unless the highway is shut down and everyone gets shifted over to the HOV lane.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Believe me, I have been to Public Hearings on projects and people have said this. I agree we need modern highways but we just do not have the room to build large multi-lane freeways nor do we have the money. A good transportation plan will balance highways and public transit. For too long though, Connecticut has ignored its mass transit and then its highways. It is not just here, this was a trend across the country. Hopefully that will change but both the State and Congress have to figure out how to pay for it. That means either raising gas taxes or implementing tolls. Not a good option for either but something has to be done. Jay

I'm not for expanding our highways. What we should focus on IMO is reducing the number of on-ramps, and widening the shoulders a bit (people drive much slower when there isn't a shoulder). There are so many on-ramps, particularly on 95 in Faorfield County and near New Haven, that it causes so much congestion. So many vehicles getting on, and nobody exiting. I do see the need for mass transit and feel CT is going in the right direction re the knowledge corridor. I didn't like the idea of the busway but it is what it is.

[Mike 75]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

Buses going on i-84 east use the HOV lane. So I don't think they will be sitting in traffic unless the highway is shut down and everyone gets shifted over to the HOV lane.

There is no HOV lane on 84 west of Hartford. And the HOV lane east of Hartford doesn't do anything for people using the busway to commute to and from Hartford.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

There is no HOV lane on 84 west of Hartford. And the HOV lane east of Hartford doesn't do anything for people using the busway to commute to and from Hartford.

They are separate systems that have become linked due to the bus way. The bus way is a private road not affected by traffic as far as I know. So the bus way doesn't serve east of Hartford, but that wasn't the intent.

It just has now become possible for a person from New Britain to get to Manchester without really sitting in traffic except for the transition in downtown Hartford. Or maybe they can wait on a platform in Hartford for a bus going to Manchester via the HOV lane ? I don't know how the bus way transfers work in Hartford.

So now the Hartford area has public transport and or HOV lanes from every direction into the city. Although coming from the south its still under served and those people have to use traditional express buses which go on the traditional highway that can be affected by traffic. When they start that New Haven to Springfield rail that will change. This is much better than what other cities have that are of similar size.

I think Hartford county has about 1.2 million people, so we have enough population to make these systems viable. Getting people to use it is a different story and we'll see how that pans out over the coming years.