Darienite (https://darienite.com/category/opinion)
The Merritt Parkway Conservancy appreciates and fully supports U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s strong initiative requesting providers of GPS navigation software to add no-truck warnings for roads where trucks are banned. For most of the last 80 years, you could drive your car on the Merritt Parkway with reasonable confidence that you were safe in a stream of other cars, protected by prominent signs at each entry point prohibiting trucks. (more…) Continue Reading →
Joseph Giulietti is finishing his first year as commissioner of the state Department of Transportation. He’s been busy and less visible in recent months, so imagine my surprise when he offered me a one-on-one, no-holds-barred interview. (more…) Continue Reading →
Speed kills — and I don’t just mean methamphetamines. Speeding on our roads is linked to more than 36,000 deaths each year in the United States. That’s almost 700 deaths a week — 100 a day. (more…) Continue Reading →
Did you know that Bridgeport was once the home of “the car of the future?” It was the Tesla of its era, but only three were ever built. (more…) Continue Reading →
Since 1971, you’ve been able to travel by train to Florida with your car, avoiding the mayhem of Interstate 95. And although the service is now run by Amtrak, it actually started as a private enterprise. (more…) Continue Reading →
Hardly a week goes by that an over-height truck and a low-slung bridge on the Merritt Parkway have a close encounter of the worst kind: a collision. (more…) Continue Reading →
Connecticut’s Senate Democrats are gutless weasels. There, I said it. They have put a stake through the heart of Gov. Ned Lamont’s CT2030 transportation plan, not because they didn’t understand its reasoned approach and necessity, but because they cannot support its funding through tolls. They are more interested in their re-elections than their constituents’ future. (more…) Continue Reading →
Diana Jackson just walked 2,192 miles. The 23-year-old Darien resident is among 3,300 people each year who try to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine. But she’s one of the 25 percent of them who complete the task. (more…) Continue Reading →
As we review the details of Gov. Ned Lamont’s CT 2030 transportation plan, I have a strange sense of déjà vu. Haven’t we been through all this before? (more…) Continue Reading →
What do Ayn Rand, Hollywood and Adolph Hitler have in common? They all dreamed of building super-trains. Maybe it was because their visions for giant, high-speed trains came before the era of cheap flights moving large numbers of people over great distances, but each of them had a grandiose vision of fast, luxurious rail travel. (more…) Continue Reading →
You should never drink coffee or tea prepared on an airplane: You may get very sick. (more…) Continue Reading →
Just when I thought Gov. Ned Lamont was getting it together to launch a thoughtful, considered “take two” on his transportation vision, bam — along comes another nonsensical idea. (more…) Continue Reading →
I love reading timetables. Not the new ones on smartphone apps, but the old printed ones. Reading about a train or plane’s journey on paper is almost like taking the ride itself. (more…) Continue Reading →
Have you ever flown in a helicopter? They seem such a glamorous (if expensive) way to travel, bypassing the traffic en route to the airport or sightseeing over rugged terrain. (more…) Continue Reading →
I’m a big fan of high-speed trains, which means I often ride Amtrak’s Acela to Boston or Washington. It’s the best train in North America, though it pales in comparison to true HSR (high-speed rail) in Europe or Asia. (more…) Continue Reading →