The day before an informational hearing on Gov. Ned Lamont’s new transportation plan, an audit of the Connecticut Department of Transportation showed a lack of documentation for the purchase price of hundreds of millions worth of new rail cars for the New Haven Line. According to the audit, in 2006 ...
The vast majority of Connecticut residents who commute by train earn over $100,000 per year, with the largest cohort earning more than $250,000 per year, according to a 2016 Fare Equity Analysis report from the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The report based its numbers off a study conducted by the ...
With the news that General Electric is leaving Fairfield for Boston fresh in the mind of lawmakers, 2016 can be a year of opportunity for Connecticut. It can be, that is, if lawmakers make it one. We can argue over blame, but that would be a distraction. We can give up, but that would be a shame. But if we accept that policy needs an altered direction we can build on our state’s strengths, prevent future losses like GE and bring new opportunities to Connecticut.
Before lawmakers even consider raising the gas tax to fund transportation, they need to reassess how they spend existing transportation funds. Many of the state’s new projects offer little return on investment and represent a long-term maintenance cost. Lawmakers should focus on repairing the infrastructure we have rather than building new infrastructure we can’t afford. The latest payment for Connecticut’s rail line to Massachusetts makes the choices clear. The $155 million borrowed to pay for the new line almost exactly equals the $160 million needed for repairs to Metro-North’s New Haven line.
The cost of building a rail line between New Haven and Springfield, Mass., continues to rise, even as transportation needs in Fairfield County go unmet. At its most recent meeting, the State Bond Commission approved another $155 million for the railway line connecting New Haven, Hartford and Western Massachusetts.