I was on the New Britain City Council when the Hartford-New Britain Busway plan was proposed. That was the better part of a decade ago. And the busway was supposed to be complete and operating by now. As time has dragged on, that delay has become increasingly frustrating. The article in today's Courant does nothing but add to that frustration.
Connecticut, especially the greater Hartford area, has been hurt economically and in terms of quality of life, by the sorry state of our public transit system. New Britain has been especially harmed because the highways that went up in decades past have largely cut New Britain out of our regional economy. Having New Britain as the primary starting point for a new, regional public transit system can be a major development in the economic renewal of our city. Plus, especially in as global warming and other environmental concerns become more pressing, public transit is important for a low-pollution future - and if it needs to happen anyway, it should be done so that New Britain benefits from it.
The reason the busway idea was chosen by the state DOT over rail transit had to do with cost. As I recall, the original proposal said that the busway would cost $80 million, perhaps $100 million. A lot of money, but much less, the DOT told us, than commuter rail. And since a busway, the state DOT said, was as a favored idea in the federal "New Starts" program, most of that money would come from the federal government.
But now, not only is this project many years behind schedule, but its cost has also vastly increased - with new projections in the area of $600 million. I consider this to be an enormous failure on the part of the state DOT, and I can find no excuse for it. It reminds me of how the state DOT handled a different project - the train maintenance facility in New Haven - which increased in cost from the $300 million is was supposed to cost when it was approved to $1.2 billion. I am also reminded of the DOT's failure in the Rt. 84 upgrade - failures that required redoing much of the project at great cost.
I agree with Mayor Timothy Stewart that there needs to a change in "the culture of the DOT, which is to mire these projects in bureaucracy." I also agree that getting the busway project completed is a high priority. To help get it done the Mayor needs to work with the New Britain state legislative delegation - which has long been pushing for completion of this project. The state DOT answers to Gov. M. Jodi Rell, not to the legislature - as the Rell administration is quick to point out when the legislature has insisted on action from state agencies. Pressing his frustration with the DOT to the Governor is the best way that Mr. Stewart can be supportive of the delegation's efforts on behalf of New Britain.
The future of whole state requires that state departments get the priorities of the Connecticut's people done quickly, efficiently and well. Now, more than ever, with our economy worsening and people losing jobs and homes, administrators of state agencies need to get things done. Connecticut's future, economically and environmentally, must include greatly increased transit. And we need a state DOT that will make that happen.
We need to see a stronger push in this direction from the leadership in the DOT.
