2024's TOP TRANSPORTATION STORIES

Looking back on the last year, there was good news and bad on the transportation front here in Connecticut.  Here’s my Top Five list:

DEATH ON THE HIGHWAYS:     This may prove to be the deadliest year ever on Connecticut highways.  Excessive speeding and, until recently, lax enforcement by State Troopers, is blamed for much of the carnage.  And wrong-way crashes on our parkways and interstates only accelerate the toll, many of those tied to impaired drivers.

Also heading for a new record, pedestrian deaths, also blamed on speeding, reckless driving and jay-walking.

NEW STAMFORD GARAGE:      Months late but on budget, the new rail station parking lot finally opened in February, bringing 900+ parking spaces to would-be commuters on Metro-North… and a few non-riding neighbors.

The new Stamford Garage

Initial estimates in 2006 pegged the cost of the garage at $35 million.  By 2012 the cost had jumped to $85 million.  Final cost (bonded by the state), was $100 million.  The parking lot has proven popular both with commuters and local workers who find it cheaper than nearby private lots.

Now that the old garage has been demolished it remains to be seen how CDOT will repurpose that land, just steps from the always-busy train station.

NEW LOCOMOTIVES FOR METRO-NORTH:  Good news is coming down the tracks for riders on the Danbury, Waterbury and Hartford lines:  shiny new, dual-mode (electric and diesel) locomotives are coming online in the next two years.  Faster and cleaner (even running on diesel), the new power units will cost $15 million each.

JUST ONE MORE LANE SHOULD FIX OUR TRAFFIC:       That’s a familiar comment by drivers, especially on the always-busy section of I-95 in Stamford, ranked as one of the worst traffic spots in the US.  And sure enough, CDOT is adding an additional “operational” lane for traffic getting on and off the highway downtown.  Cost of the project… $76 million and hundreds more hours of construction delays.

REBUILDING THE NORWALK BRIDGE:         When a fiery truck crash on I-95 last May almost melted the Fairfield Ave bridge in Norwalk, initial estimate were that demolishing and replacing it would take a year.  To their credit CDOT and the (no-bid) contractor demolished the old structure in just 80 hours and finished the new bridge in seven months and millions under budget.  Well done.  But none of this would have been necessary had the accident never happened.

BUT STILL UNDELIVERED:        Amtrak’s long-promised new fleet of Acela “Avelia Liberty” trains were supposed to go into service in 2021.  Then they were promised to be in service this year.  Now the estimates are that they’ll be running in “early 2025”.

Acela's new Avelia Liberty

And we are still waiting for the $1 billion replacement of the 127 year old Walk bridge in Norwalk on the Metro-North / Amtrak line to really get going.  That contract was awarded in 2017 but work didn’t begin until 2023 and won’t be finished until 2029.

Meanwhile in downtown Hartford, replacement of the I-84 viaduct has been debated since 2010.  Whether the old highway will just be rebuilt, sunken or turned into a tunnel capped with a park has yet to be decided.  Once a plan is finalized the project will take 15 years and cost something like $17 billion.

So as they say… “stay tuned for further updates”.  And Happy “News” Year.

 

 

WASTING OTHER PEOPLES' MONEY

When we are spending our own hard-earned money, we are usually pretty cautious, especially in these tough times.  But when it comes to spending OPM (Other Peoples’ Money), who cares? 

A few examples from the news highlight government’s cavalier attitude in this regard:

THE $16 MILLION BRIDGE:       CDOT is justifiably proud that it could rebuild the Fairfield Avenue bridge on I-95 in Norwalk damaged in a fiery crash last May, finishing months earlier than predicted and under budget, at just $16 million (compared to the initial estimated $20 million).  Kudos to the (no bid contract) construction company… and to the fact that 80% of the cost will be paid by the Feds.  Yes, once again, it’s OPM to the rescue.

THE GOVERNOR’S STAFFER:   Why did Governor Lamont’s Chief of Staff Jonathan Dach drive his state-issued cars 12,000 miles in one year, often on weekends and for personal errands and sometimes, according to one press report, at speeds over 85 mph?  Why did Dach even need a state car when he was being paid $215,000+ in salary? 

Jonathan Dach - CTMirror

In calling for an independent investigation, Governor Lamont said such behavior was probably wrong and that Dach “should make amends”. 

THE CSCU CHANCELLOR:   The Governor seems even less upset by the lavish over-spending of the Chancellor of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, Terrence Cheng.  Lamont described as “small ball” and “an error in judgment” Cheng’s and others’ $60 steak dinners, the $490 chauffeured rides and sloppy record-keeping.  The extravagant over-spending detailed in an audit by State Comptroller Sean Scanlon was not illegal because the Chancellor can “override the (CSCU spending) policy at his own discretion.”  And after all, it’s just OPM. 

By the way… Chancellor Cheng’s salary and benefits last year totaled $448,893.

All of this comes at a time when the State Colleges and Universities are facing serious problems: a financial deficit of $140 million, dwindling enrollment and increased costs for students to attend.

THE STATE PIER:            The State Pier in New London is crucial to the efforts to build a massive wind-farm offshore.  So a much needed $93 million rebuild was announced in 2019, but has since ballooned to a total cost of $311 million.  This week we learn there were construction mistakes and repairs may cost millions more.

The State Pier in New London  CTMirror

Why does this always happen on state projects?  Are the initial bids low-balled to make them seem more attractive?  Then reality sets in and, “Hey, we can’t stop now” is the clarion call to find more money to finish the job.  After all, it’s just OPM.

THE BOTTOM LINE:        What do all of these stories of profligate spending have in common?  Most of them were exposed not by financial watchdogs within the government, but by independent reporters culling through public documents.

This is why journalism matters and why publications like CT Mirror, Inside Investigator, CT Examiner, CT Insider and others are important to democracy and to your taxes.  After all, all of this “Other Peoples’ Money” stuff is really your money.

So as you wrap up this year’s charitable gift giving, give a thought to donating to the non-profit news publications that keep the government honest.

 

TAKE THE NIGHT TRAIN

When it comes to trains, everything old is new again:  the latest trend for rail travel is night trains.

A private California company, DreamStar Lines, is planning an overnight train between LA and San Francisco offering “luxurious accommodations” in modern sleeping cars designed by BMW.  Service could begin as early as next summer. 

The sleeping cars will range from a bedroom for two (with a shower and toilet) all the way up to a family / group room that sleeps up to six (four adults + two kids). 

There will also be a lounge car available to all guests, which will serve light food and a full bar featuring breweries, wineries, and distilleries from across California.  There may even be a bring-your-own automobile option akin to Amtrak’s AutoTrain.

Depending on accommodations, pricing would range from $300 to $1000 one way. But with hotels in both cities being so pricey, combining travel and a restful night sounds like a money and time saver.

DreamStar says its trains would leave each city at 10 pm and arrive at their destination by 8 the next morning.  It's been 40 years since Amtrak offered overnight trains on that 470 mile run, one of the busiest travel corridors in the US.  Amtrak’s famous “Coast Starlight” between LA and Seattle still operates on the same route but as a day-train to San Francisco.

A Canadian non-profit is also proposing a night train from Montreal to Boston, but they’d need about $100 million for track work on the Canadian side, so “tant pis” (too bad).

Aside from that, there are no plans for new overnight sleeper trains here in the East… yet.  But Connecticut has certainly had its share of sleeper trains in decades past.

As recently as 2003 Amtrak’s “Night Owl” ran between Boston and Washington, leaving at 10 pm, passing thru New Haven at 12:30 am and arriving in DC at 7 AM. Hardly traveling at Acela-like speeds it made so many local stops it was nicknamed “The Nightcrawler”.

In the heyday of the New Haven Railroad there were through-sleepers to Boston, Portland ME, Cape Cod (in the summer) and even to Montreal, a service Amtrak continued (with stops in Stamford, New Haven and Hartford) as “The Montrealer” until 1995.

In the rest of the “civilized” world overnight trains are enjoying an amazing renaissance, especially in Europe.  Today you can travel between Scotland and London, Vienna to Venice, Munich to Budapest and Berlin to Brussels, among other city pairs.  Train operator NightJet (owned by the Austrian national railroad ÖBB) which runs many of the trains, has just launched a new fleet of ultra-modern sleeper cars, too.

In China there’s even a high-speed overnight train from Beijing to Guangzhou (very close to Hong Kong) that makes the 1000 mile trip in as little as 10 hours.

Clearly, with travel worldwide on the rise and flying becoming slower and less tolerable, there may be a real market for overnight train travel in comfort, even here in the US.  But notice that it’s entrepreneurs leading this effort, not Amtrak.

 

 

AIRLINE PASSENGERS AS PIGGYBANKS

Taken a flight lately?  If so, you’re not alone.  The Sunday after Thanksgiving saw 3.1 million passengers screened by TSA at US airports, a new record. 

For one airline, United, that Sunday was its most profitable day ever… 25% higher than any day in its history. Delays were few, but passengers were still not happy.  Not because of the cramped seating or lousy food, but because of “junk fees”.

“You treat your customers like walking piggy banks,” US Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told airline CEOs in Senate hearings this past week. His biggest complaint, the opaque cost of flying:  You buy a ticket for a certain price and then come the add-ons. 

Need to change a reservation?  That will cost you up to $119 on now-bankrupt Spirit Airlines.

Seat selection, which costs up to $45, brought US airlines $3 billion in 2023. 

Checked baggage, up to $99 each.  Some even charge for carry-on bags… up to $99 if you wait ‘til the last minute before boarding, especially if you’re flying on a cheap ticket.  Frontier Airlines’ boss has called the carry-on crowd “shoplifters” for trying to evade his checked bag fees.

During the US Senate hearing it was also revealed that some airlines (Frontier and Spirit) actually give their gate agents bonuses ($10) for catching passengers with oversized carry-ons.

One airline (Ryanair) once proposed charging customers to use its bathrooms inflight hoping to eliminate bathrooms and add more seats.

Want to use a credit card to pay for your ticket? Some international carriers will hit you with a 3% fee.  US no-frills airline Allegiant calls that a “convenience fee”.

These airlines make Ticketmaster’s service fee, order processing fee and delivery fee look like a charity:  How can you plan a trip when you don’t know what it will really cost? 

US Senator Richard Hawley (R-MO) said: "Flying on your airlines is horrible. It’s a terrible experience. I mean, I say this as a father of three young children, but I can tell you, nobody enjoys flying on your airlines. You charge people fees that they know nothing about. You harass them to death."

This is what happens in an oligopoly.  While the US used to have scores of airlines competing against each other on schedules, deregulation’s mergers have left us today with just four major carriers representing 80% of all traffic:  American, Southwest, Delta and United.

These airlines dominate the major airports, stifling competition. For example, United controls 73% of all landing slots at Newark Liberty Airport and Delta accounts for 50% of all traffic at LaGuardia and 47% at JFK.

Starting a new carrier, especially at these major hubs, is nearly impossible.  That’s why Connecticut-based Avelo hubs at New Haven’s Tweed airport and Breeze Airlines calls Bradley Airport its home.

So if you have to fly Oligopoly Airlines, check the fine print before you book.  If in doubt about the all-in costs, call the airline to drill down.

HOW A.I. MAY CHANGE YOUR COMMUTE

 I love AI (artificial intelligence).  I rely on it daily to help with my research.

“How many bar cars did Metro-North operate in the 1990s?”  Answer: 10

“How many people died in auto accidents on CT highways in 2019?”  Answer: 254

“Create an image of a Metro-North club car”  And poof, it’s done!

Fasntasy Image of MNRR Club Car by Chapt GPT

But what exactly is AI?  Let’s ask ChatGPT:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is like teaching computers to think, learn, and make decisions, similar to how humans do. It uses large amounts of data and clever math to recognize patterns, solve problems, and even predict outcomes.

AI gets its information from data—lots of it! This data can come from:

• Things people create, like books, articles, or videos.
• Sensors, cameras, or microphones that gather real-world information.
• Interactions, like how we use apps, websites, or devices.
• Databases or other stored information, like maps, medical records, or customer reviews.

The more data AI has, the better it can learn and perform, but it’s only as good as the data it’s trained on!

So AI is great for finding information and creating fantasy images.  But have you ever stopped to think about how it might affect your commute?  I have… and yes, I also used AI to help come up with some predictions.

THE GOOD NEWS:          On the plus side, AI could improve commuting by better handling rail scheduling, matching train capacity with demand.  Driverless buses and trains (using AI) will save money and avoid the “human error” factor tied to potential mistakes. 

Apps using AI will be able to personalize your travel planning, alerting you to delays and immediately offering suggested alternative routes.

Traffic signals and variable tolling could be modified to meet changing demands.  The NY-NJ Port Authority already uses AI to monitor traffic flow, adjusting their reversible traffic lanes to meet demand.

Sensors tied to AI and built into our roads and bridges can alert engineers to potential defects and schedule maintenance before critical systems might fail.

Soon you’ll be able to chat with your AI, even in your car.  Need a charging station for your EV?  Or looking for cheaper gas than at the service areas?  Just ask.

AI is already being used to keep you safe, detecting weapons that are being carried onto subways in NYC.  Maybe those TSA security lines at airports will move faster, too.

THE BAD NEWS?:          AI may be threatening your job.  If you’re an information worker, especially one working from home, your job may be in jeopardy.  AI is increasingly being integrated into business and is cheaper than paying humans.

We’ve already seen the impact of WFH (work from home) on our trains.  Fewer jobs will mean fewer commuters.  That could mean even bigger operating losses for transit operators, provoking service cuts and higher fares.

While AI can teach itself, it still needs some human supervision, so dozens of new job titles are being created from the engineering, design, training and yes, even ethics perspectives of working with AI.

How to adapt your career and survive?  Well, maybe you should ask AI.

THE GRANDMOTHER WHO SAVED OUR TRAINS

Jodi Rell saved our trains.  There is no Governor in recent decades who did more for rail commuters than she did. 

Governor Jodi Rell

Governor Rell, who died this past week at age 78, came to office (when she was Lt Governor) in the midst of a scandal as her predecessor, Governor Rowland, resigned when caught accepting illegal gifts and did ten months in a Federal prison.  Rowland, you should remember, was no fan of Connecticut’s railroads.  He actually proposed replacing the trains on Shore Line East with buses due to that line’s high subsidies.

Rell’s attitude toward mass transit was just the opposite.

In Governor Rell’s first budget address to lawmakers in February 2005 she told lawmakers they must order 300 new rail cars, and they did.  Mind you, she told us then the cars would be in service by 2008. That proved a bit optimistic.

I watched the Governor ride the first of the new M8 rail cars in March 2011, and was struck by it had taken her entire six and a half year tenure in office to order, design, build, test and finally deliver these new cars.

The Governor suggested that rail riders should pay a small part of their cost with a modest fare hike, and that too was passed by lawmakers.

But Governor Rell also said that commuters shouldn’t pay more until they were actually riding in the new cars… a promise she kept.  As manufacturing delays by Kawasaki slowed delivery of the M8’s, a planned 1.25% fare hike was deferred.   A politician who keeps a promise.  Imagine that.

Governor Rell also told the New York MTA, parent of Metro-North, there was no way she was going to raise fares in Connecticut to pay for the budget problems of New York’s own making.  

Governor Rell changed Commissioners in the Dept. of Transportation at a pace that left many people wondering who was in charge:  five Commissioners in six years.  One was a former State Trooper, another had run Bradley airport.  Two of them actually had experience in rail transportation.

Wracked by scandals, Governor Rell was embarrassed on several occasions by her DOT, eventually asking local businessman Michael Critelli to study the agency and issue recommendations for reform.  Sadly, few of the group’s suggestions were ever embraced.

Long promised repairs to our dilapidated train stations took four years to happen, thanks mainly to Federal stimulus money.  If that work wasn’t “shovel ready”, nothing was.

Still, Governor Rell was a big rail fan, realizing the importance not only of fixing Metro-North, but planning for the future.  Together with fellow lame-duck US Senator Chris Dodd, she secured a serious down-payment on “high-speed rail” between New Haven and Springfield.  Thus was born The Hartford Line, still CDOT’s favorite.

So the next time you’re on the train, pause to give thanks for Jodi Rell, the grandmother Governor who made your ride possible.

 

 

HOW CT COMMUTERS SUBSIDIZE NYC'S MTA

Heading to New York City?  Take the train, because driving is going to become even more expensive:  the NY plan for “congestion pricing” is back!

As everyone predicted last June when NY Governor Kathy Hochul suspended plans for a $15 toll for driving into midtown Manhattan, she has now reversed her decision.  She is now proposing a $9 charge for passenger cars ($2.25 off-peak, and $14.40 for small trucks).

It seems ironic that New York City doesn’t control its own mass transit system, but that responsibility is left to the state.  While Governor Hochul claimed just months ago that her decision to suspend the toll was a win for commuters (who drive), now she’s added a new twist.

By lowering the toll to just $9 she now claims she will be saving drivers $1500 a year.  That’s an amazing spin, no?

While the MTA is notorious for wasting money on multi-billion projects, there’s no doubt that the funding is badly needed to keep mass transit running.  But that agency’s $15 billion plans were dependent on the higher tolls, not the new reduced tolls to go into effect in January 2025.

New York Governor Hochul says this has nothing to do with President-elect Trump’s plan to kill the congestion pricing scheme, but her timing says otherwise.  Once initiated, these tolls may be difficult to overturn. Difficult but not impossible.

But these are not the only ways that Connecticut residents help subsidize the city’s mass transit.

Most Connecticut residents working in New York City contribute to the Payroll Mobility Tax, which is a significant source of funding for the MTA.  In 2020, this tax was expected to generate $1.1 billion annually for the MTA.

This makes perfect sense, as most Connecticut commuters depend on Metro-North and the city’s subways to get to their destinations. And those who chose to drive to Manhattan should clearly pay for privilege.

While New Jersey Governor Murphy is suing the MTA over its toll plan, Governor Lamont has been only mildly supportive of congestion pricing, but adds "it's a good thing for all if more people took the train".  According to the MTA, 3100 Connecticut drivers travel to the city’s central business district each workday.

Connecticut is dependent on Metro-North for running “our” trains and maintaining the infrastructure: we own the tracks between Greenwich and New Haven but it’s Metro-North that fixes them.  If / when we order new railcars (which also run in New York state), Connecticut pays two-thirds of the cost and New York picks up the rest. 

Meantime, we are enjoying a flood of federal money for our rails as part of President Biden’s infrastructure law… $291 million to be spent on our tracks and power system, bridge replacements, double-tracking of the Hartford Line and relocating Hartford’s Union Station.

Clearly, the rush is on to get as much money as possible invested in mass transit before the Trump team returns to power.  The President-elect seems determined to cut federal spending and prioritize road repairs over transit, pedestrians and cyclists calling the Hochul plan for congestion pricing “a regressive tax”.

NEW LOCOMOTIVES FOR METRO-NORTH

Finally, there’s some good news for Metro-North riders, especially those who take the Danbury, Waterbury and Hartford lines:  new locomotives are coming… eventually.

Meet the Siemens Charger model SC-42DM, the first of its kind in the US.

Being built in Sacramento CA, these new engines are the latest innovation in the long history of this German manufacturer.  It was Siemens that built the first electric tram in the late 1800’s.  They even partnered to build one of the first commercial maglev trains, in Shanghai.

The Charger is a great machine and there are hundreds already in use in the US and abroad, running on railroads ranging from Amtrak and Brightline to commuter lines in Maryland, California and many other states.  They’ve already accumulated 10 million miles of operation.

But our Charger locomotives will be different. 

The DM in their name means they are “dual mode”, operating under diesel power and third rail.  Unlike the older GE-built P32 Genesis locomotives, these new Chargers can “go electric” all the way from Pelham (in Westchester County) to Grand Central.

But they can’t run “under the wire” in Connecticut like our Kawasaki M8 cars (which are also dual-powered, equipped with pantographs and third rail shoes).  That means that when running in Connecticut, the Chargers be using diesel power.

The good news is that, even running diesel, these are some of the cleanest, least polluting fossil-fuel engines available. They are Tier 4 certified, meaning they reduce pollutants by 85%. They also accelerate faster.

Connecticut’s branch lines, especially the meandering Danbury line, will never match the speeds of the mainline.  But with so many stations, on a steep upward grade, if every departure can be quicker, there will be time savings.

The new Chargers are equipped with electronic monitoring and diagnostics to alert the crew to any problems. They’re even quieter, thanks to active noise cancellation technology.  

But all of this innovation comes with a hefty price tag: $15 million per locomotive.

Metro-North has 27 of the new Chargers on order and just received their first two.   If testing on the new Chargers goes well, the railroad has an option to buy dozens more.  CDOT is also buying six of the same model.

Siemens has also built dual-mode Chargers for Amtrak. But in that case they operate “under the wire” on the Northeast Corridor.  Realistically, the third-rail version makes much more sense for Metro-North which has over 100 miles of electrified track (on its Hudson and Harlem lines) where third-rail is the only power source.

The Metro-North locos were ordered in 2020, paid for in part by a grant from the Federal Transit Administration which is pumping $1.5 billion into new rolling stock for mass transit nationwide through 2026.

These first two new Chargers for Metro-North now have to undergo testing, first at the FRA test track in Pueblo CO, then running on Metro-North tracks. 

This first duo of the new model should be in service, they say, by 2025.

 

 

LIFE AS A VAN NOMAD

Lorrie Sarafin is a van nomad in the American Southwest, one of the estimated three million Americans who live on the road.

For three years she has been without a house, but not a home, not just surviving but thriving in the desert and mountains of Arizona and New Mexico, living in her van “LokiMotion”, named after her cat.  Now in her mid-60s, Lorrie is living off her Social Security checks.

Raised in central Connecticut she describes herself as a “small town girl, but not rich”.  Not loving the big city, she moved to Arizona in 1993 and reinvented herself as a self-taught musician and artist, recording two CD’s of native American flute music. She even took extension classes through Julliard.

In 2014 she discovered minimalist and van-lifestyle guru Bob Wells and she started thinking about different housing options.

Unlike the van nomads whose lives were so well documented in the 2021 Oscar winning movie “Nomadland”, Lorrie didn’t lose her job and house, but walked away from both, choosing instead to spend her retirement living on the road.

“I asked myself ‘why am I doing a job just to have money to pay rent?’”.  (Doubtless there are housing-squeezed folks around here who may be asking the same thing.)  “Now I don’t have to pay rent or utilities, just car insurance and van payments.” 

After working all through Covid (without vaccination or getting sick), in 2021 she fitted out her new van’s interior herself complete with a bed, cabinets, shelves, a small refrigerator, Sirius XM radio and lights.  It’s all powered by a 500 watt battery she charges with solar panels for about six hours each day.

Solar cells charge up her battery

She can’t cook in her van but has mastered campfire cuisine.  Her biggest worry is bears so she keeps her bear spray close by and is considering getting a gun.

In the winter she heads to the warm side of the state where overnight lows are in the mid 30’s and daytime highs in the mid 70’s.  In the brutal summer heat she abandons the desert for the mountains.  “Above 8000 feet it stays in the mid 80’s,” says Lorrie. “But when it’s cold and raining, it’s not a lot of fun (being cooped up in the van).”

She can camp for up to 14 days on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) or US Forest Service land, then has to move on.

Sanitation depends on buckets, her laundry being done at a laundromat.  She takes sponge baths in her van and says that daily showers are over-rated.  As for her health, “I haven’t seen a doctor in 20 years but take a lot of supplements and must have a great immune system.”  She swears by Wild Oregano Oil as a preventative.

While she prefers to camp alone or with her friend, she actually likes being out of cellphone range.  She visits a small town PO Box for her snail mail and uses her cellphone for internet and email.

Camping in the mountains

She describes her fellow van nomads as “really nice people” who share her love of being alone. 

“If you’re a curl-up-on-the-couch and watch Netflix kind of person, this life is not for you,” she warns.   “But for me, I just have so much freedom and am in love with nature.”

TRANSPORTATION ON THE BALLOT... BUT NOT IN CT

The polls are open for early voting in Connecticut.  And while the national and state races occupy most of voters’ attentions, there is one thing noticeably absent on their ballots:  transportation.

“Transportation in Connecticut is like the weather,” said one cynic.  “We all complain about it but don’t think there’s much we can do to change it.”

Mind you, Connecticut voters have had ballot questions focused on transportation issues in the past.  In 2018 they approved a Constitutional amendment to put a “lock box” on the Special Transportation Fund, hopefully guaranteeing that money raised through the gas tax is spent only on transportation, not treated as a petty cash box for legislators looking to balance the budget as it has been in the past.

That initiative was approved by an 88% margin.

But a September poll of Connecticut voters commissioned by CTMirror showed that the economy was top-most on their list of worries along with immigration, housing and the deficit.

Of course, fixing our transportation woes is really just a matter of money and how to raise it.  And with utility costs soaring (and the Governor apparently unmoved by 68,000 petition signatures gathered to protest that issue), the idea of doing something like raising taxes doesn’t seem to be on the table in the Nutmeg state.

Not so, elsewhere.  November’s ballot will see a number of such initiatives across the nation, totaling $50 billion in possible spending.

Take Nashville TN for example.  That burgeoning city has some of the worst commuting delays in the US.  While in 2018 a proposal to spend $5 billion on a transit system was defeated by a two to one margin, residents are reconsidering the idea this year. The new “Choose How You Move” plan would spend $3 billion on roads, traffic signals, pedestrian infrastructure and, yes, rails… using federal money and a half-cent sales tax.

Phoenix Light Rail

Similarly fast-growing and gridlocked Phoenix AZ has had a half-cent sales tax for transportation for 40 years, allowing construction of its ambitious light rail system covering 30 miles and 40 stations connecting Phoenix to Tempe and Mesa.  But that tax is set to expire next year if the upcoming November ballot question (to extend the tax another 20 years, raising $15 billion) doesn’t pass.  Recent polling says it will.

In Seattle that city voted to tax its residents for transportation spending in 2006, 2015 and they’re back again.  Seattle’s Proposition 1 would raise $1.55 billion over eight years through a property tax levy of about $44 a month for the typical home.  Polling looks like it, too, will be approved.

While some cities turn to sales or property taxes to fund transportation, not so in Connecticut where we depend on “user fees” (gasoline taxes).  But as more drivers convert to electric cars, a gas tax alone won’t cut it.  We will have to find other funding sources… if there is any appetite for anything that raises the cost of living in our beautiful, but road-clogged state.

Meantime, what the heck is going on with this October drought?!

 

 

CONNECTICUT'S TRANSPORTATION "THINK TANK"

UConn is best known for its basketball team, maybe even its academics.  But did you know there’s a think-tank on campus doing interesting research on transportation?

Now celebrating its 50^th anniversary, the Connecticut Transportation Institute’s mission is to innovate on hardware and software to make our travels faster, safer and cheaper.

CTI’s Executive Director Eric Jackson says “we have access to a huge network of experts from all disciplines on campus”, though most of their $7.5 million annual budget comes from CDOT and federal agencies involved with highways.

But this “think tank” does more than just “think”.  They also train, offering dozens of courses for public works staffers doing everything from snow plowing to highway maintenance.

CTI’s pavement lab is designing better road surfacing that will grip your car’s wheels without wearing out the pavement.  Highways that don’t wear out as fast means a saving on your taxes.

More recently they’ve demonstrated a truck equipped with reflectometers measuring how well the lines on the highways are visible at night.  By prioritizing repainting the line marking that don’t adequately reflect headlights, there’s more tax savings. That high-tech truck will inspect every state road in Connecticut by mid-2025.

In anticipation of self-driving vehicles, CTI is opening a testing ground on UConn’s Depot campus to test the electronics that will let driverless vehicles talk to each other.  They’ve already partnered with the Feds and CDOT to soon test driverless buses on the CTfastrak busway from New Britain to Hartford.

Some of the Institute’s most important work is number crunching.  They log 110,000 police reports each year on vehicle crashes by location and time, looking for patterns.  Too many incidents at one intersection may suggest a roadway redesign, hopefully saving lives.  CTI can even work with local police crash investigators to gain access to newer cars’ black boxes, which record speed and braking before a crash, seeing if it’s the road or the driver that may be at fault.

“We’re also testing ‘wrong way rumble strips’ at highway on-ramps to prevent cars from entering the roads in the wrong direction,” says Jackson.  But he admits that if drivers are impaired, the bumpy road may not even be noticed. “Those drivers would probably drive head-on into a police cruiser with its lights flashing.”

To prevent drunk driving, CTI is working with CDOT in testing passive alcohol sensors built into the vehicle.  Not a blow test like a breathalyzer but some new tech that would measure alcohol in your sweat when your thumb hits the start button.

And to keep us all safe from over-tired truckers, the Institute is developing an app to show the long-haul drivers where they can legally and safely pull over for the night when they’ve reached their maximum time on the road.  At night you’ve probably seen dozens of trucks parked on interstate shoulders, so this might keep them (and the rest of us) safe while drivers catch badly needed rest.

All of this work engages CTI staff as well as Civil Engineering students, some of whom may chose careers at CDOT after graduation.

 

 

THE UNGLAMOROUS LIFE OF A LONG HAUL TRUCKER

Why do most motorists hate truck drivers?  Is it because their big rigs are so intimidating?  Or do we think they’re all red-neck cowboys living the life on the range, and we’re secretly jealous?

 

I respect truckers and think, for the most part, that they are much better drivers than the rest of us.  They have stiffer licensing requirements, better safety monitoring and have much more experience behind the wheel.  And unlike most of us driving solo in our cars, they are driving truly “high occupancy (cargo) vehicles”… 22 tons when fully loaded.

 

For an inside look at the unglamorous life of a trucker, I can highly recommend the 2018 national best-seller “Long Haul” by Greenwich native Finn Murphy who’d been driving since he was 18 for the Joyce Moving Company, based in Oxford CT.

 

Murphy is what truckers call a “bed-bugger” because he specialized in high-end corporate relocations.  He was at the top of the trucker food chain, both in income and prestige, far ahead of car haulers (nicknamed “parking lot attendants”), animal haulers (“chicken chokers”) and even hazmat haulers (“suicide jockeys”).

 

While Murphy says a lot of long haul truckers do the job because they can’t find any other work, his career choice was an educated decision. He left Colby College before graduation, realizing he could easily make $100,000 packing, moving and unpacking executives’ prized possessions without his BA.

 

Since the start of COVID, millions of Americans have moved their homes and from this author’s perspective they all have too much stuff.  They covet their capitalist consumption of furniture and junk (what movers call chowder).  And it ain’t cheap to move it, averaging about $20,000 for a long distance relocation.   But as Murphy sees it, he’s more in the “lifestyle transition” business than simply hauling and he must be sensitive to clients’ emotional state.

 

Murphy’s African American boss nicknamed him “The Great White Mover” as, at age 62, he was one of the last few white drivers.  Most of the industry is now handled by people of color, especially the local crews that do the packing and unpacking. 

 

When self-driving trucks eventually hit the road, thousands of minority drivers are going to be out of luck.  Robots already do most of the loading and unloading of trucked merchandise bound for big-box stores.

 

As an independent operator, Murphy incurred all of his expenses.  His tractor (the detachable engine part of the truck) cost $125,000.  That’s not counting the $3500 he paid to register it or $10,000 to insure it.  A new tire (his rig had 18) costs $400 at a truck stop and maybe double that if he’s stranded on some interstate.

The average rig isn’t just a tractor hauling an empty trailer.  Even before loading, that trailer has hundreds of pads (each of which must be neatly folded), plywood planks, dollies, tools, ramps and hundreds of rubber straps for tying things down.  Loading his truck is like solving a giant Tetris 3D puzzle.

 

Murphy’s driving hours were regulated and carefully logged, then checked at every state truck inspection station.  But he thought nothing of driving 700 miles per day, usually parking at a truck stop and sleeping in his on-board bunkbed equipped with a high-end stereo and 600-count Egyptian cotton sheets.

 

On the road he listened to audio books and NPR, which is probably how he learned to write so well (the book is not ghost written).  Finn Murphy wasn’t the brawniest of movers, but he’s easily among the smartest and most articulate. 

 

After decades on the road Murphy retired and moved to Colorado, transitioning to a new career in the cannabis business… going $300,000 into debt but writing another book, “Rocky Mountain High: A Tale of Boom and Bust in the New Wild West”.

 

Even if you have no aspirations of life on the open road, Murphy’s well-written book may give you a new appreciation of truckers and may even change your stereotypes.