Monday, December 13, 2010

OUR VIEW: It's past time to start building the busway - The New Britain Herald (newbritainherald.com)

Posted by Frank Smith at 13.12.10

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

HARTFORD - Connecticut lost out on its bid to get a share of $1.2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds that became available after the November 2nd 2010 election. With the newly elected conservative governors in Ohio and Wisconsin rejecting the Obama administration grants, Connecticut and more than a dozen other states lined up to get part of that money.

But, the U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the announcement that the bulk of the High-Speed Rail Grants Funding will go to two states that are relatively far along in designing fast trains - the state of California and Florida.

December 13, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Anonymous said...

THE BUSWAY BUSES ARE THE ANSWER: DEVELOPING A VIBRANT BUSWAY BUS NETWORK WITH ESTABLISHED STATION STOPS WOULD COST PEANUTS, COMPARED WITH DOUBLE TRACKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL OPTIONS.

December 13, 2010 at 10:15 AM
Anonymous said...

THE BUSWAY BUSES ARE THE ANSWER: DEVELOPING A VIBRANT BUSWAY BUS NETWORK WITH ESTABLISHED STATION STOPS WOULD COST PEANUTS, COMPARED WITH DOUBLE TRACKING HIGH-SPEED RAIL OPTIONS.

December 13, 2010 at 10:16 AM
Anonymous said...

Sure, high-speed trains have advantages, especially over longer routes. But it's time for our state to face reality. There's no money and no lobby ( Only Sen. DeFronzo ) for local commuter trains from Waterbury, Bristol, Plainville, New Britain and Berlin CT to downtown Hartford and they're not likely to appear in-mass in the near future.

The Busway Express buses are a far cheaper, better bet for getting large numbers of commuter vehicles off those I-84 traffic jams with the Hartford to New Britain Busway?

December 13, 2010 at 12:20 PM
Lou Salvio said...

Congratulations to the Herald Editorial Staff. "Our View" today was a welcome if not overdue piece. People that represent New Britain in local, state and federal governments should be advocating for New Britain, not for themselves and for their own agendas. It would seem that DeFronzo cares more about Bristol than he does this City.
Where is Don's positive alternative to the Busway? Rail? Never going to happen.

Don wants the "legislature" to have a say in the Busway. Don, Hello! The Busway is primarily a Federal Project.

Get off your high horse Don. Think about New Britain, not your own personal agenda.

Again, congratulations to the Herald. "

December 13, 2010 at 2:33 PM
Anonymous said...

Since the New Britain Express Busway Buses can't creep into every town area , they need a dedicated terminal station in the towns for picking up, dropping off and transferring passengers to other local bus routes in their towns.

For the system to really succeed, it requires nifty new Busway vehicles with station parking and rest rooms, TV, internet, snack bar, and Busway attendant to approximate existing express Busway schedules with local bus service within each town.

Of course such a system would cost money. But the cost would be peanuts compared to new rail lines, or added inter-state highway lanes.

Amtrack, for example, has to spend billions over the next few years replacing double track rails and signals that were removed from New Haven to Hatford- and on Spring Line from Hartford to Masschusetts .

December 13, 2010 at 2:55 PM
Anonymous said...

FLORIDA HIGH SPEED RAIL - The state of Florida is about to make U.S. transportation history as the first state to create a high-speed rail network with trains connecting its metropolitan areas at speeds of up to 200 mph. The first segment to be constructed will be Orlando to Tampa, with Miami to Orlando scheduled to follow.

High-speed rail system in the Sunshine State will have a significant, positive impact for the traveling public, the economy and the environment by creating jobs, reinvigorating business development and sustainable environment for Florida's future growth.

December 13, 2010 at 11:08 PM
Anonymous said...

HARTFORD - Central Connecticut lawmakers who serve on the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee want to take another look at plans to move ahead with the New Britain to Hartford Busway.

In interviews, committee members from the state House of Representatives all Democrats — Betty Boukus of Plainville, Frank Nicastro of Bristol, David McCluskey of West Hartford and Tony Guerrera of Rocky Hill — all responded to a memo last week issued from Sen. Donald DeFronzo office criticizing the way the state Department of Transportation is shifting funding away from other projects to cover the construction costs of the New Britain Busway.

December 13, 2010 at 11:18 PM
David Mardis said...

I want to second the sentiments of Alderman Salvio. I believe it is a politicians "job" to represent the will and views of their constituents. People have different opinions, and that is natural. A free thinking society should allow different opinions, and consider them. But at the end of the day, after all is said and done, an elected official, has a responsibility to represent the will of the people who elected them, EVEN if that politician doesn't share that view. It is apparent that the overwhelming majority of voters in the 6th Senatorial District favor the busway, and therefore Senator DeFronzo has the duty to represent their views.

December 16, 2010 at 6:07 AM
Mayor said...

Well said David and Lou. We don't always like what the constituents want us to do as elected officials but it is our obligation to promote their will not our own. The time to stop this project was 7-8 years ago before then time and money had been spent on the design and property aquisitions. Let him know how you feel about it and then maybe he will understand how important this project is for the entire state of connecticut!

December 16, 2010 at 3:03 PM
Anonymous said...

NEW BRITAIN: It's past time to start building the NB busway....

Why doesn’t senator Donald DeFronzo want to see the city of New Britain progress? That was the question from one Herald reader after learning that her state Sen. New Britain’s Donald DeFronzo, had criticized the state Department of Transportation, charging that the agency shifted funds from other projects to cover the escalating cost of the proposed busway between New Britain and Hartford.

The DOT needs to be held accountable for what appears to be an insidious strategy” of redirecting general federal highway and transportation money that could be used for other projects across the state, to cover the costs of the busway without legislative approval, he stated.

According to the memo, when the legislature “initially identified the New Britain-to-Hartford Busway as a project to be authorized for funding” in 2006, the cost was estimated at $300 million to $325 million, supported with $275 million in federal funds.

Others dispute this, saying that, in 2006, the project was estimated at $458 million. Moreover, they say, in a difficult economy with construction jobs scarce, bids on the busway are more likely to come in 30 to 40 percent lower than estimated in the boom times of 2006.

Our concern is that DeFronzo’s comments will stall an improved transportation system for bus riders and for the drivers who share the road now with commuters who’d take the bus if the option were available to them. Central Connecticut State University officials, in particular, have emphasized that this type of mass transit would be a boon to their students.

But, as we’ve said before, it would also be a boon to the region, providing economic rejuvenation, creating badly needed jobs. We’d hate to see comments by DeFronzo, co-chair of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, jeopardize already authorized federal funding. And for what? For those “other projects across the state”? The pipe dream of a rail system somewhere down the road? One that couldn’t even begin for 10 years?

Frankly, we believe that killing a job-creating busway would be a horror not just for New Britain, but for all of Central Connecticut, including Bristol.
We need this project now. It’s time to see shovels in the ground as we are seeing on the New Britain police station and expect to see soon on the Renaissance project in downtown Bristol.

#30

December 19, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Anonymous said...

NEW BRITAIN: It's time to start building the NB busway....

That was the question from one NB Herald reader's after learning that state senator, New Britain’s Donald DeFronzo, had criticized the state Department of Transportation, charging that the agency shifted funds from other projects to cover the escalating cost of the proposed busway between New Britain and Hartford.

According to the memo, when the legislature “initially identified the New Britain-to-Hartford Busway as a project to be authorized for funding” in 2006, the cost was estimated at $300 million to $325 million, supported with $275 million in federal funds.

Our concern is that DeFronzo’s comments will stall an improved transportation system for bus riders and for the drivers who share the road now with commuters who’d take the bus if the option were available to them. Central Connecticut State University officials, in particular, have emphasized that this type of mass transit would be a boon to their students.

December 19, 2010 at 12:25 PM

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