Cameron on Transportation 2018

10 Years After Panel’s Report on ConnDOT — Improvements, Missed Opportunities: Cameron on Transportation

These Are a Few of My Favorite Hacks for Grand Central: Cameron on Transportation

Jets With Faster, Longer Flights Seem the Way of the Future: Cameron on Transportation

End the Summer With a Daytrip to the Danbury Railway Museum

Restricting Trucks on I-95 or Raising Their Tolls Further Won’t Help Traffic: Cameron on Transportation

Instead of Working on the Transportation Mess, CT Politicians Demagogue About It: Cameron on Transportation

Helping Disabled Riders Navigate Public Transit: Cameron on Transportation

Hot Weather Can Stifle Airplane Takeoffs: Cameron on Transportation

Beware the ‘Automotive-Construction Complex’: Cameron on Transportation

‘Hello Everyone. My Name is Jim Cameron, and I Am a … Rail Fan.’ — Cameron on Transportation

CT’s Lousy Job of Selling Itself to Potential Tourists at Darien North Rest Stop: Cameron on Transportation

Air Marshal Service, Created to Prevent Trouble, Is Itself Troubled: Cameron on Transportation

Other Than DC-to-Boston, Long-Distance Train Travel’s Days Are Numbered: Cameron on Transportation

Train Ticket Scofflaws Avoid Eye Contact With Conductors and Are Seldom Challenged: Cameron on Transportation

Forestalling Tolls and Tax Increases Won’t Keep Bridges from Rotting: Cameron on Transportation

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | September 17, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | September 10, 2018

News

By JIM CAMERON | September 3, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | August 26, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | August 19, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | August 13, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | July 29, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | July 15, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | July 8, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | July 1, 2018

Business

By JIM CAMERON | June 24, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | June 17, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | June 11, 2018

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | June 4, 2018

Opinion

By David Gurliacci | May 27, 2018

In the “land of steady habits,” we don’t fix problems — we study them, over and over again. It’s been 10 years since then-Gov. Jodi Rell’s “blue ribbon” Critelli Commission report studying the reform of the state Department of Transportation. You’ll remember that the study came after a construction scandal on I-84. And while much of the report addresses the dysfunction of ConnDOT, I was pleased that the Commission’s chairman, then-Pitney Bowes Chairman Michael Critelli, also picked up on some suggestions for improving rail service. Rail Service Recommendations
Among the key recommendations were:

—Expand parking at all rail stations, but leaving the towns to price and administer the issuance of permits.

There is possibly no more beautiful railroad station in the world than New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. As the destination of more than 55,000 daily rail commuters from Connecticut, it’s a place where many of us spend a fair amount of time. I’ve been riding in and out of Grand Central for more than 50 years. So to help you maneuver the station’s labyrinth of tunnels, ramps and stairs, here are some of the secrets of Grand Central. Underground access

Sure, you can enter Grand Central from street level, but in bad weather you can get there underground from blocks away.

I hate to fly, but I have to, sometimes. Sure, I can tolerate a trans-con to California in business or first class. My wife and I once flew to Japan on a surprisingly tolerable 10-hour flight that just felt like a really long day. But now the big international carriers have newer jets capable of much longer distances non-stop, and the race is on for the bragging rights of “the world’s longest flight.”

In the early days of jet aircraft, an El Al 707 traveling 5,677 miles non-stop from JFK to Tel Aviv in nine and a half hours was quite a feat. But in the mid-1970s when Boeing introduced the 747-SP, a stubby version of the famous jumbo, Pan Am was making it all the way from JFK to Tokyo (6,772 miles) non-stop.

Looking for a summer day trip to find some fun that will teach your kids about transportation? Just hop a Metro-North train (or drive, if you must) to the Danbury Railway Museum. I usually find railway museums a bit depressing as they tend to be dusty monuments to the past. But not this one. In addition to a beautifully curated collection of memorabilia, it also still has a working railroad.

“Why don’t we just ban all trucks from our interstate highways in rush hour?”

A mayor of a small Fairfield County town recently asked me this question. He’s a smart guy who obviously had given a lot of thought to resolving our traffic woes and believed he had the answer to the transportation crisis. He wasn’t in favor of tolls, but liked them as a traffic mitigation tool. Charging truck drivers more during rush hour would incentivize them to travel during other times of the day. He was just taking the idea a step further: ban them completely at certain hours.

I used to believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and politicians. I actually thought the first two brought me gifts and the latter cared about me and my community. Well, those days are gone. We are now neck-deep in the primary round of campaigning for our state’s top officials and I hope you’ve been paying attention. The promises and the B.S. are piling up pretty fast, especially when it comes to the issue of transportation. A few candidates have been brave enough to endorse the idea of tolls while others just mouth vague platitudes like “we should have free-flowing traffic on I-95…”. No explanations of how or who’d pay for it, just the pandering promises. Why not a chicken in every pot, too? For the past few years I have had a standing offer to meet with anyone running for public office to talk about transportation. Republican, Democrat, independent … I don’t care. If you want to build an informed platform on this issue, I’ll give you the history and perspective and you take it from there. I’ll explain Metro-North’s complicated relationship with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. I’ll give you the facts about the pilfering of money from the Special Transportation Fund by both Republicans and Democrats. I know all this stuff, having immersed myself in it for over 20 years. And I know there are no easy answers.

Imagine being afraid to ride the bus, or being unable to read a timetable. Can you think of what your life would be like without access to a car or mass transit? There are hundreds of our neighbors who live in isolation because they are physically, emotionally or mentally unable to ride the bus or train. Some have physical handicaps while others are autistic or have learning disabilities. Shouldn’t they be able to travel like the rest of us?

Is it hot enough for ya? Even if you don’t believe it’s caused by humans, there is no doubt our planet is heating up. And as global warming increases, so will our travel problems.

Meteorologists agree that thunderstorms, tornados and hurricanes are all getting stronger and causing greater damage. Hardly a summer passes without extensive flight delays caused by storm-fronts, let alone hurricanes like Harvey and Maria. A stronger jet-stream also means slower going when flying west and bumpier flights at many altitudes.

How did Americans develop their love affair with driving? Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington and the transportation exhibit “America on the Move” will sell you on the commonly held theory that when Henry Ford made cars affordable, Americans loved them and demanded more and more highways. Of course, that exhibit is sponsored by General Motors, which donated millions to put its name on the collection. But University of Virginia history professor Peter Norton, author of Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in American Cities contends that’s a myth. Just as outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower warned us of the military-industrial complex, Norton says an automotive-construction complex took over our country, paving from coast to coast.

True confession (as if you didn’t know): I am a rail fan. But don’t call me a “foamer!” People who love trains come in all shapes and sizes, but “foamer” is a term they universally hate. “Foamers” is how railroad employees refer to rail fans because they think we “foam” at the mouth anytime we see a train. To them, railroading is just a job. To us, it’s a passion.

First impressions count. Arrive at any airport or train station, and you immediately start forming opinions of your destination. Is it clean and modern, warm and welcoming? How does the place make me feel? Are the locals proud of themselves?

Do you feel safe when you fly? Forget about exploding jet engines, cracked aircraft windows and clear-air turbulence. What about terrorists? We haven’t seen a domestic case of terrorists attacking jetliners in years, thanks to increased scrutiny of passengers by the Transportation Security Administration. From the moment you book a flight, you are being screened.

We are all familiar with Amtrak’s local operations in the Northeast: The sleek Acela zooming along to Boston at up to 145 mph and the slower, traditional trains making local stops along the Connecticut coast. But Amtrak is a national railroad and some of its long-distance trains face delays of several hours — not minutes. The problem is Amtrak owns and operates the trains, but not the tracks. From Washington to Boston, the Northeast Corridor is owned, maintained, dispatched and operated by Amtrak. The one small exception is here in Connecticut, from Greenwich to New Haven, where the track is owned by the state, but run under contract by Metro-North.

In mass transit, there is no such thing as a free ride. But there are various ways of making sure everyone pays their fair share. For example, Connecticut’s innovative bus rapid-transit system CTfastrak, which runs between New Britain, Hartford and Storrs, requires passengers to pay before they board. Riders can purchase tickets — $1.75 for two hours of use — at the bus stations or online. This reduces the bus “dwell time” at each stop as passengers can board through any door.

« August 2022 »

The recent debate over tolling our highways should remind us of just how divided the state has become. It’s not red vs. blue and not even just upstate vs. downstate. The real divide is between those who commute by car vs.