The recent fire under the Park Avenue viaduct in Harlem, which disrupted commutes of a quarter million Metro-North riders, got me thinking: our aging, crumbling and vulnerable transportation infrastructure is close to collapse, and the effects of such failure could be catastrophic. Consider this track-record:
Jim Cameron | Columnist
Jim Cameron is founder of the Commuter Action Group and advocates for Connecticut rail riders. The views he expresses in his "Talking Transportation" column are his alone and not those of the Connecticut Mirror. Contact Jim at TalkingTransportationCT@gmail.com.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Connecticut’s ‘lockbox’ is log jammed at the Capitol
I hope you’ve been following CT-N to watch our dysfunctional legislature in recent weeks as they struggle to fill a $900 million budget gap. Not only could they not get a new budget together before adjourning (only to be summoned back this week for a special session), but the legislative logjam left several important measures in limbo. Among them, the long debated “lock box” for special transportation funding.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
No Wi-Fi on Metro North, and here’s why
Discount bus lines like Megabus have free Wi-Fi. Even Connecticut’s new CTfastrak commuter bus system to Hartford gives its passengers free Wi-Fi.
But there is no Wi-Fi on Metro-North. And the railroad says none is planned, even though the new M8 railcars are ready for the needed gear. And therein lies a story.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Is Uber really a bargain for Connecticut riders?
In the almost two years since Uber rolled into Connecticut, the state’s car/taxi service business has been rocked to its core. But is Uber competing on the same level as taxis and car service companies? Of course not, which is why it’s so successful. I spoke with Uber’s Connecticut Manager Matt Powers and Drivers Unlimited (a Darien car and limo company) owner Randy Klein to try to get an objective comparison of the services. (Full disclosure: I have been a customer of both firms.)
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Stop cable TV’s big lie from derailing CT-N’s State Civic Network
CT-N has just proposed a new State Civic Network with up to ten channels of coverage via the web. The technology would allow viewers to do a key-word search of archives, wading through hours of coverage to find exactly what matters to them. Citizens (and media) could lift video clips at no charge. And all this would cost cable subscribers just 40 cents a month.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Secrets for successfully riding Metro-North
Each week, dozens of people ride Metro-North for the first time. This week’s column is to let both new and veteran commuters in on the secrets of a successful rail commute.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
CT transportation funding: Something for everyone to hate
I hate to say “I told you so,” but… just as I’d predicted, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s hand-picked Transportation Finance Panel has finally issued its recommendations for paying for the governor’s 30-year, $100 billion transportation “plan.” Interestingly, as it began work last summer, the Transportation Finance Panel wasn’t allowed to debate the merits of anything in the governor’s “plan,” so all they could do was suggest how to fund the whole thing.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Don’t blame trucks for Connecticut traffic congestion
Driving to Hartford the other day (no, you cannot really get there by train) I saw a beautiful sight: hundreds of trucks! Yet, motorists hate trucks and mistakenly blame them for traffic congestion and accidents that cause hours of delays. Readers of this column know I’m a “rail guy” and would love to see freight trains replace trucks, but that ain’t gonna happen anytime soon. But as motorists we should not blame truckers for traffic woes of our own creation.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Who sets Connecticut’s speed limits anyway?
Crawling along I-95 the other day in the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic, I snickered when I noticed the “Speed Limit 55” sign alongside the highway. I wish! Of course, when the highway is not jammed, speeds are more like 70 mph, with the legal limit, unfortunately, rarely being enforced. Which got me thinking: who sets speed limits on our highways and by what criteria?
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
2016 Predictions for transportation in Connecticut
Everybody writes “year in review” stories. But rather than dwell on the past, I’ve got the guts to predict the future! Here’s what will happen in 2016 in the transportation world on issues like Metro North performance, Uber, eminent domain for transportation, state highways and others.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Transportation affects nearly everything in Connecticut
While this column often is a rant about failing commuter rail service or an occasional rave for overdue investment in our highways, when you think about it, transportation is really an issue that affects many aspects of our lives: where we live, shop and go to work.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Stamford parking garage saga takes strange new turn
The nearly decade-long struggle to replace the crumbling Stamford railroad station parking garage has taken another bizarre turn: the Connecticut Department of Transportation now wants to spend $1.5 million and take six months to repair the garage before they tear it down.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Traveling by tube (not just in London)
Will the train of the future be a high-speed tube, not a railroad? That’s inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk’s and others’ vision. The concept sounds simple: move passengers in a sealed tube through a series of giant pipes propelled by air pressure at speeds up to 700+ mph. That would mean a trip from New York to Washington, D.C. would take 20 minutes.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Good news and bad news for Metro-North
It’s been a rough few years for Metro-North, what with derailments, crashes and commuter deaths. But it finally seems like service and safety are coming back.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
In praise of the Merritt: the “Queen of Parkways”
A century ago, the only way to drive between New York and Boston was on Route 1, the Post Road. If you think traffic is bad today, imagine that journey. So in 1936, 2,000 men began work on the state’s largest public works project, the $21 million, four-lane parkway starting in Greenwich and running to […]