The new bus service extension to the University of Connecticut is long overdue for UConn students who seek to bridge the gap in transportation options to their campus in Storrs. Right now, it is simply too difficult for people in rural areas of the state to get around without owning a car.
Millennials tend to prefer to live in areas where driving a car is optional, and where they can get around by public transit, walking, and biking. In a city like Hartford, where we’re always working to make the city more appealing to millennials, we need to give young people more opportunities to use public transportation instead of cars.
Until now, the options to get to Hartford from UConn’s Storrs campus were limited at best. Now, students at UConn, and others living in Eastern Connecticut, will have better access to everything the city has to offer, including job and internship opportunities. However, we should not stop there. At a time when the state can only spend a limited amount of money on transportation initiatives, we must prioritize projects like this one and initiatives that get more cars off the road and give people better and lower-carbon options like public transit to get around.
Kate Cohen is State Director of ConnPIRG.