Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

With CT Tolls No Longer on the Table, Only Worse Funding Options Remain: Cameron on Transportation

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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. Never mind that, in a closed door caucus, they excoriated their governor in a 20-minute emotional attack that went on without a calming word by their leader, Sen. Martin Looney.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Gov Lamont’s Transportation Plan Hits CT’s Same Old Roadblocks to Reform: Cameron on Transportation

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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? Journey back with me to 1999 when the famous Gallis Report warned that southwestern Connecticut’s transportation woes were strangling the entire state. If something wasn’t done, they warned, we would become “an economic cul de sac” in the burgeoning northeast. The solution?

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Tolling’s Dead. Now How Will We Maintain Our Bridges, Highways, Trains? — Cameron on Transportation

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It seems pretty clear that Gov. Ned Lamont’s tolling idea is dead. The Republicans say “no way, never” and his own Democrats can’t muster the guts to take an up or down vote because they’re so afraid of public reaction. Oh, everyone in Hartford is still doing the usual square dance, posturing and politicking, but I doubt a special session to vote on tolls will ever happen: tolls are dead. But ‘lest the anti-toll forces should start to rejoice, they may have won this battle but the war is far from over. Because when tolls go down to defeat, there are still plenty of secondary options, none of which you (or they) will like.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

ConnDOT’s New Commish Should’ve Been Talking to More Commuters by Now: Cameron on Transportation

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A good boss cares about his customers.  He wants to keep them happy and actively seeks out their feedback.  Such is not the case at the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The CDOT’s new Commissioner, Joseph Giulietti, has missed several important opportunities to interface with riders in his first 100 days in office.  Not that he hasn’t been working. He just hasn’t been meeting with customers. Remember that Giulietti came to his new job after a stint as President of Metro-North and in that role he held a number of “meet-the-commuter” events, handling himself quite well in answering questions and defusing angry riders. A year ago, after leaving the railroad, he became a consultant to T Y Lin’s study of how to improve running times on the railroad to achieve the “30-30-30” dream espoused by the Fairfield Business Council’s Joe McGee.  That $400,000 study, using Giulietti’s input, said it could be done.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Colorful Comments from Curmudgeonly Commuters : Cameron on Transportation

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As I hope you can tell, I love writing this column. As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman once said, a commentator should be in the heating business and the lighting business — getting people fired up while providing factual support for his arguments. The comments I receive from readers each week reminds me that heat runs both ways. Here are some of the recent highlights:

When I wrote about the power failures on Metro-North, user cantchangestupid commented on the column: “I sure hope a thorough investigation gets done on why those transformers failed. I see sabotage as the democratic conclusion.” Gee, and I thought I was cynical.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Trouble for Tolls: Cameron in Transportation

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Gov. Ned Lamont’s tolling plan is in trouble. I knew it when I recently got a call from Dan Malloy. The former governor and I know each other going back to his days as mayor of Stamford, but he’s only called me once before (many years ago when he sought my endorsement in his run for a second term as governor). This time he was calling about my recent column on the Transportation Strategy Board, the panel tasked 18 years ago with prioritizing our state’s transportation needs and how to pay for them. It wasn’t my fawning over then-TSB Chairman Oz Griebel that prompted Malloy’s recent call.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

CT’s Great at Producing Transportation Master Plans, But Lawmakers Won’t Fund Them: Cameron on Transportation

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When are we finally going to do something about our transportation crisis? That question has been asked for decades, but never answered, or more importantly, acted upon. I remember in 2001 when Moira Lyons, who at the time was the Connecticut Speaker of the House, held a news conference about our state’s transportation mess. The six-term Stamford Democrat, who was long on power but short in stature, stood next to a stack of consultant studies and reports almost as tall as she was. Enough with the studies, she said.

Opinion
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

Predictions on Getting Around in Connecticut for 2019: Cameron on Transportation

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Each year, I share my predictions for the coming months — and grade myself on last year’s crystal-ball gazing. Upon reflection, I was way too pessimistic last year, predicting fare hikes, service cuts and delays in new M8 car orders for Metro-North. I must have had some bad eggnog when I said the Special Transportation Fund lock box would be defeated. Bah, humbug. I’ll admit it: I was wrong.