Cameron on Transportation
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

This Could Help the State With Transportation, Economic, Jobs Woes: Cameron on Transportation

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Here’s a possible solution to Connecticut’s transportation and infrastructure problems and the state’s current unemployment woes: a WPA-style building project. You’ve heard of the Works Progress Administration, right? It was FDR’s plan that put millions of unemployed Americans to work building public projects like roads, water mains, firehouses and dams. Look around you and you’ll still see us benefiting from that investment. But fast-forward 80 years …

Any reader of this column is all too familiar with the need for transportation investment in our state: our 7,000 miles of roads and bridges in “poor condition”, the $4.6 billion needed for wastewater treatment not to mention our rusting railroads. And everyone in Connecticut is aware of the unemployment crisis brought on by COVID-19 — 8.2% of the state’s labor force is out of work, translating to 153,000 people without jobs, most of them now drawing benefits from our rapidly depleting Unemployment Trust Fund.

Cameron on Transportation
Jim Cameron Jim Cameron 8-2-16

We’ll Need to Finance the CT Transportation Fund, It’ll Be Painful, But Candidates Avoid Discussing It

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When it comes to COVID’s impact on transportation in our state, we are in the eye of the hurricane. That’s been the theme of my recent virtual talk to various Connecticut’s libraries and civic groups, comparing the calm eye of an intense storm to how we’ve become complacent about our transportation future. We kid ourselves if we think the winds have passed. The worst is yet to come. Commuters who’ve returned to the rails tell me ridership is slowly coming back but many still fear for their safety on mass transit, and with good reason.

Opinion
Joseph Giuletti, Connecticut Transportation Commissioner ConnDOT square thumbhnail

CT Transportation Commissioner Says Faster Train Times Coming, Delivery Late for New M8 Rail Cars: Cameron on Transportation

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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. “You’ve always been fair, Jim. You’ve hit me hard, but you’ve always been fair,” the commissioner said. That’s music to my ears, and I hope he feels the same way after reading this column.