Opinion

Commuters are NOT Coming Back. A New Train Riding Era Now Begins: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | January 11, 2021

I have one belated prediction for the new year and you’re not going to like it: After we all get vaccinated and things “return to normal,” regular weekday commuters on Metro-North will not be coming back as hoped. Why should they? Who wants to spend $400-plus a month and waste two-plus hours each day, five days a week riding a train into New York City if you don’t have to? If this pandemic has shown us anything it’s that going to an office isn’t necessary to doing our jobs. Sure, there are some people who have to show up in person to do their work (healthcare staffers, auto mechanics etc.), but that’s never been the bulk of Metro-North’s ridership.

By 2025 a Quarter of All Drivers Will Be Older Than 65 (Hey, They're Still Safer Than Teens): Cameron on Transportation

With Left Wing in Charge, State Lawmakers Rush Out Some Poor Legislation

The Engineering Marvel Beneath Your Car: Cameron on Transportation

How Red, Yellow and Green Became the Colors of Traffic Lights: Cameron on Transportation

Cameron on Transportation

What Can You Do With an Empty Parking Lot? — Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | September 7, 2020

There’s another part of our transportation network being seriously affected by COVID-19 beyond our roads and rails: parking lots. Parking is something we take for granted, giving us access to rail stations, shopping and offices. It’s hardly glamorous, but the parking industry represents an $11 billion business nationwide, one third of it privately owned. In Connecticut most rail station parking is owned by the Connecticut DOT but administered by the local towns, each of which sets its own rates and terms. The money collected from commuters is supposed to be spent on station upkeep and amenities while the state takes its share. Pre-COVID, the demand for rail station parking was so high that some Fairfield County towns had five-year waiting lists for annual permits.

Cameron on Transportation

The Problem With CT’s Preparation for Massive Storms Goes Way Beyond Eversource: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | August 31, 2020

Welcome to Connecticut, the home of third world infrastructure. Tropical storm Isaias has shown, once again, that we don’t want to invest in our state’s physical plant and we don’t learn from our mistakes. But we are all so ready to blame somebody else when stuff goes wrong. Every time a Metro-North train pulls down old catenary (overhead power lines), commuters scream, “Where are the replacement buses?” as if a fleet of buses is kept on permanent standby waiting for such strandings. If we did better maintenance on the trains and wires, such accidents might not happen.

Cameron on Transportation

How Connecticut Officials Look at Fare Prices for Trains vs Buses: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | August 26, 2020

Ridership on Metro-North is still down 85% from pre-pandemic levels, but in-state bus ridership is coming back — up to 70% of normal from a March low of 40%. Why the difference? Because bus riders and rail riders are very different. Surveys by CDOT and Metro-North showed the average income of a Metro-North rider was about $150,000, given that many were living in affluent Fairfield County towns and commuting to good paying jobs in New York City. Bus riders are predominantly working class, urban dwellers who make less money and, in many cases don’t own cars.

Cameron on Transportation

In Praise of Oz Griebel, Who Successfully Pushed the State to Get M8 Rail Cars: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | August 17, 2020

Every commuter on Metro-North owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to one man: Oz Griebel. He is the reason we can ride the new M8 rail cars. Much has been written since Oz’s passing (at age 71) recently from an auto accident while jogging, especially about his two unsuccessful runs for governor. I remember distinctly in the debates with Bob Stefanowski and Ned Lamont how Griebel would take off his suit jacket, roll up his sleeves and jump into the fray. His energy and passion were electrifying.

Cameron on Transportation

China Moving Ahead of U.S. on Roads, Rails, Shipping: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | July 27, 2020

Which is the number one country in the world for transportation? Certainly not the United States. Not even countries in the E.U. No, you have to look farther east, as Marco Polo did in 1271, to find the future — in China. I’m so tired of ignorant Americans chanting “We’re Number 1,” when we are not. Not in healthcare, education and clearly not when it comes to using transportation to bolster our world trade.

Cameron on Transportation

CT Legislature — Not Doing Their Lawmaking Job, But Beware When They Do: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | July 13, 2020

Where the heck has the Connecticut legislature been for the past few months? With so many pressing issues, why haven’t they met? Oh, they’ll tell you it’s because of safety that they couldn’t convene. But we know better. Plenty of state legislatures — even the U.S. House of Representatives — have carried on the people’s business virtually or well-masked while our pols went AWOL.

Cameron on Transportation

Metro-North train railroad cleaning COVID-19 2020 Coronavirus 2020

We’ll Still Need Metro-North, and We’ll Need It To Be Safe: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | June 25, 2020

As New York City businesses reopens it’s expected that one million people will get back to work, some of them from Connecticut. But how they get to those jobs is the big question. While I’ve written for weeks that I expect many Nutmeggers will opt first for their personal automobiles, the resulting traffic mess will soon have them reconsidering a return to Metro-North and the city’s subways. The big issue, of course, is keeping everyone safe by maintaining social distancing and requiring face masks for all riders. More Trains and Subways

Metro-North has already expanded rush hour service by 26% over their scaled-back “essential service” levels.

Darien Obituaries 2020

Douglas Shaw, 65, Devoted Father, Loved Boating, Nature Trails, Walking Beaches,

By DARIENITE.COM | June 23, 2020

Former Darien resident Douglas Joseph Shaw, passed away early Monday morning June 15, 2020 at his home in Brielle, New Jersey.He was 65. Doug was born Nov. 26, 1954 to Joseph and Mary Shaw of Long Island. His career was in commodities trading, but his life was so much more than his work. When one thinks of Doug the first thought that comes to mind is his devotion to his children.

Opinion

‘I’m Desperate for a Reason To Be Bullish on Mass Transit … I Don’t See Any’: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | June 15, 2020

When coronavirus hit us this spring, more than just our normal rail commuting patterns were disrupted. One young entrepreneur’s business simply imploded, but now he’s coming back, stronger than before. Joe Colangelo is founder and CEO of Boxcar, the New Jersey-based company that bills itself as the “Airbnb of parking,” matching commuters with empty parking spots near train stations in Stamford, Darien, New Canaan and Stratford. Before COVID-19, his business was red hot. But by early March he knew it was doomed as people stopped commuting and demand for parking evaporated.

Education

One Longtime CT Telecommuter Who Misses the City: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | June 7, 2020

Joe Connolly has been a telecommuter for 20 years. You probably know him from his award-winning business reports on WCBS Newsradio 880 or his Small Business Breakfasts held annually in Stamford. But you might not realize that Connolly lives not in New York City, but in eastern Connecticut. He’s up and working weekdays by 4:30 a.m., driving first to pick up a print copy of the Wall Street Journal before heading to his office/broadcast studio near his home, where he seldom opens the window blinds. “I’m here to work,” he says, “not for the view.”
In his broadcast booth he has a big painting of the New York City skyline to keep him connected with his radio audience.

Opinion

Is Regular Commuting Into Manhattan Dead? The Governor Thinks So: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | May 31, 2020

Post-coronavirus, Gov. Ned Lamont predicts the end of daily commuting as we know it. Lamont told Bloomberg that his New York business buddies tell him they’re saving so much money by having people work from their homes they may cut office space in the city by 30 percent. “The old idea of the commuter going into New York City five days a week may be an idea that’s behind us,” Lamont said. “Maybe you have a great job that seems to be geographically located in New York City, you can do it two-thirds of the time from your home in Stamford.”
Or maybe you don’t need to ever go into the city. Twitter has told its tech workers they can work from home forever, assuming they can stand it. That means more time with the family and a lot less time and money spent on the train.

Opinion

About UPS, Now More Important During the Pandemic: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | May 25, 2020

You know those big brown trucks that are keeping us well-delivered during this time of COVID-19? Well, there’s some interesting history and tech to United Parcel Service, or UPS. Founded as the American Messenger Company in Seattle in 1907, the company made most of its deliveries back then to stores, not customers, and made them on foot or by bicycle. Adding a Model T to their fleet in 1913, the company started serving neighborhoods. By 1930 the company expanded to most cities in the East and Midwest, adding delivery by airline cargo partnerships to their modes of transportation.

Opinion

There ARE Transportation Silver Linings in the Dark COVID-19 Catastrophe: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | May 21, 2020

In the post-COVID-19 world (whenever that may be) commuters will be asking themselves one question: Is this trip really necessary? Sure, when the quarantining is lifted and the life threatening virus seems to have passed (at least until it returns next fall), we may look forward to getting back on the train and on the crowded highways. But the weeks of not commuting have changed our attitudes toward work and the necessity of travel. Going forward, I think we will be making that daily trek a lot less often and that will have a profound effect on transportation. Sure, plumbers can’t telecommute, but knowledge workers can. And they make up a large portion of southwest Connecticut’s population. They’ve been working from home just fine in recent weeks. So they’ll be asking themselves (and their employers) if a daily schlep into their New York City office is really necessary, or if they can continue to work from home two or three days a week. Being self-employed, I have worked from my home office for over 35 years. I sure don’t miss the daily grind, nor the office politics, and love my work so I end up doing it six or seven days a week: it’s not a job but a passion.

Opinion

‘Years, If Ever’ For Metro-North to Get Back to Pre-COVID Levels, Says Metro-North Chief: Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | May 17, 2020

The road ahead for commuters may be less crowded, or maybe more. One theory has it that, as people gradually return to work, they will shun mass transit out of safety concerns and commute, instead, by car. That could create problems on our roads if people try to drive five days a week. The other speculation is that the “new normal” will mean less commuting overall as people have found they can be just as productive from home and will commute less than the normal five days a week. Work hours may also be staggered, asking employees to go to their jobs every other day to avoid crowding in the office.

Opinion

Did the Governor Cut Back Rail Improvements to Get Back at a Rival? — Cameron on Transportation

By JIM CAMERON | May 11, 2020

Our “aw shucks, golly” Governor seems to have a mean streak. While he probably deserves all the credit he’s getting for his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, what he did recently at the Bond Commission seems uncharacteristically mean and vindictive. Somehow a promised $72 million investment in badly needed replacement rail cars for the Danbury and Waterbury branch lines of Metro-North got derailed as the item was deleted from the agenda. Those lines won’t be getting new cars anytime soon. What happened?