Even if you never ride
Metro-North, the railroad’s current problems are hitting your pocketbook. This “winter of discontent” shows signs of
becoming a chronic problem, bleeding our state’s resources, human and monetary. Here’s why.
At the “Commuter
Speakout” in mid-February in Southport, almost 200 angry riders
turned out to confront CDOT and Metro-North officials, sharing their horror
stories of longer rides, unheated railcars and stranded trains. But they did more than complain… they
threatened to move away.
Several real estate agents
told the crowd they had
lost closings when folks moving up from NYC got wind of
the Metro-North problems. Others already
living in Connecticut said they were moving closer to their Manhattan jobs, to towns
with dependable, cheaper mass transit.
If people move out of CT,
they take with them their taxes, both local (property) and state (sales and
income). Reduced demand for real estate
lowers property values. Your town’s
grand list shrinks and taxes must rise to fill the gap, creating a vicious
cycle. The “gold coast” is losing its
luster.
But surely this will all be
fixed, right? By the spring house
hunters will be back, fueling the recovery.
Maybe not, because Metro-North’s new President isn’t
making promises for a speedy turnaround.
Consider this: many people chose where to live based on
travel-time to work. A one-hour
commuting time from mid-town Manhattan used to include portions of Connecticut
all the way from Greenwich, through Stamford, Darien and Norwalk. Not anymore.
Trains are running
slower since last spring’s
derailment… much slower. In
the 1950’s the New Haven Railroad ran express from Stamford to GCT in 47
minutes. By 2000 Metro-North had increased speeds so the run could be done in
46 minutes, making Stamford a desirable bedroom community. Today, in the cause of safety, Stamford to
GCT takes 63 minutes.
Metro-North’s new President
Joseph Giulietti told lawmakers in Hartford that running speeds
will not increase in the coming years, and possibly
never. The Federal Railroad
Administration has placed so many speed limits on the New Haven line, what used
to be a one hour 47 min run from New Haven to GCT now takes two hours and four
minutes, 17 minutes longer. With a
typical five working day roundtrip schedule, that’s almost three hours a week
in extra commuting time on top of the 17+ hours already spent on the train!
Nobody wants to compromise
safety for speed, but neither do commuters want to pay the highest fares in the
country for unreliable, slower service.
Who’s to blame? Governor Rowland who ignored investing in
rail when there was still time to fix it, and Governors Rell and Malloy who
treat the Special Transportation Fund like a petty cash drawer to pay for
everything but rail. Most of all, our legislature bears the blame for ignoring transportation funding for decades.
Doesn’t it seem hypocritical
for Governor Malloy and our State Legislature to be so “angry”, confused and “appalled”
with the state of Metro-North today when it was their spending, or lack thereof,
that got us in this mess?
4 comments:
Jim, Fairfield County has been a net "exporter" of people the last ten years. You can find this data here from Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html
The gap might have closed during the economic downturn because people hunkered down and trying to ride it out. But one must wonder as soon as our economy improves, what will happen next? Will people see the area as a rip off and leave as soon as possible? Or will people look at the Gold Coast as a great area to move to and to raise families?
As I understand it, there were no fatalities before 2013, and all the major problems we've had have nothing to do with speed limits per se. No one would suggest lowering the speed limit on Rt. 1 if someone ran a red light.
To show that grievances are being addressed to, Metro-North has worked hard since to restore its reputation in the Gold Coast with the implementation of the 100-day plan which includes a new timetable as well as scheduled track and catenary work.
I hope the autorities have some good ideas in storage for sprucingup the transportation system. I don't think people will be very happy to be shelling out hard earned money for something that is as substandard as this is!
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