Darienite (https://darienite.com/tag/cameron-on-transportation-2018/page/3)
A secret project, defying the government, helped build America’s first subway. It only ran for three years but carried hundreds of thousands of passengers, even though it only spanned 312 feet. And it was powered by air. In the 1860s, New York City was in a transportation crisis. The streets were jammed with horse-pulled trolleys and wagons, as many as 1,000 an hour passing a single point on lower Broadway.
It was the British folks at the Cunard cruise line who said: “Getting there is half the fun.”
Crossing the Atlantic in style on an ocean liner certainly was great, but whatever your mode of transportation, getting the right seat can make for an enjoyable or miserable trip. On Metro-North, I usually go for a window seat. However, on crowded trains, any seat is better than none. But I can still get an “upgrade” if I pay attention. Heading into New York, I watch for people getting off the train in Stamford.
Whether you’re a daily commuter, an occasional day-tripper or have friends visiting from out of town, everyone can save money when you go into New York City on Metro-North by following these tips:
TransitChek
Ask your employer to subscribe to this great service, which allows workers to spend up to $260 per month on transit using pre-tax dollars. If you’re in the upper tax brackets, that’s a huge savings. A recent survey shows 45 percent of all New York City companies offer TransitChek, which can be used on trains, subways and even ferries. Go off-peak
If your train arrives at Grand Central Terminal weekdays after 10 a.m. and you can avoid the 4 to 8 p.m. peak return hours, you can save 25 percent. Off-peak fares are in effect on weekends and holidays.
Many people these days love Uber (and other ride-sharing services like Lyft). But what’s the real cost of this business-disrupting technology? Connecticut’s taxis have long been regulated by the state Department of Transportation. Now they are on a more level playing field with ride-sharing companies, thanks to new regulations. Insurance is required, passengers must be picked up and delivered anywhere without discrimination, drivers undergo mandatory background checks, there’s a limit on “surge pricing,” and drivers must collect 25 cents per ride, which goes into the nearly bankrupt Special Transportation Fund.
I’ve been criss-crossing the state for weeks, talking to folks about our transportation crisis: The proposed fare hikes on trains and buses coupled with service cuts on the branch lines, and the state Department of Transportation’s multi-billion dollar spending cuts. I call it the “winter of our discontent” magical misery tour. From Woodbridge to New Canaan, and Old Lyme to West Haven, I’ve talked to crowds large and small, explaining what’s going to happen on July 1. Most folks knew something about our impending doom, but they all left unhappy about the cuts’ specific impact on their lives. Like the first selectwoman from Old Lyme who said taxpayers were going to have to spend $600,000 repairing a local bridge because, for the third year in a row, the state DOT doesn’t have enough money to share with municipalities.
Don’t look now, but someone is joining your travels: Big Brother. You assume you’re alone, traveling in your car to and from work, but you are actually being watched. All along Interstate 95, there are TV cameras are looking for accidents and slowdowns. Though there are specific state laws prohibiting the use of those cameras to write speeding tickets, they can follow your car by model, color and license plate number. Many local police cruisers have license plate readers, scanning every plate and sending its information to a national database that can alert the officer of outstanding warrants, lack of insurance and other stoppable offenses.
There has not been a profitable passenger railroad in the United States. Amtrak and commuter lines like Metro-North operate at a loss as a public service, their deficits borne by tax dollars. But that changed last month with the launch of Brightline, a privately owned, for-profit passenger railroad in Florida. Running between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, the railroad is owned by Fortress Investment Group. The group has ties to Florida East Coast Railways, which owns the freight tracks that the new passenger trains will use.
It might not be the most glamorous means of mass transit, but Connecticut’s 12,000-plus local and commuter buses form a vital link in our transportation network. “We’re not just a service for the needy few,” said Greater Bridgeport Transit’s CEO Doug Holcomb, the feisty young leader of one of the state’s largest and most successful bus systems.
In other words, single-occupancy car drivers’ perceptions notwithstanding, it’s not just poor folks and the car-less who rely on the bus. According to Holcomb, 90 percent of GBT’s ridership is either going to school or work. Like rail commuters, some bus passengers own cars, but prefer to take the bus for various reasons. Each of GBT’s 40-foot buses average 30 passengers an hour, an impressive number when you consider it includes rush hour and lower-ridership times.
Am I the only person in the state who thinks Gov. Dannel Malloy’s plan for tolls and gas taxes makes sense? Probably. But let me try once again to overcome the usual objections and myths and explain why Malloy’s plan is fair and necessary. Tolls are taxes
No, tolls are user fees. Train fares aren’t taxes, are they?
“Commuting on Metro-North is like getting hit with a 2-by-4. Service is getting worse and now you’re hitting us with a 10 percent fare hike.”
Those comments came from Jeffrey Maron, vice chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, a usually mild-mannered, two-compliments-before-any-complaint kind of guy. But Maron’s tone changed, as he quizzed state Department of Transportation Commissioner Jim Redeker at the recent CCRC meeting in Stamford. The transportation czar outlined the reasons for pending service cuts and fare hikes, explaining the Special Transportation Fund is running dry and he has no choice but to cut expenses and raise revenue. Maron reminded the commissioner that council members offered fund-raising suggestions, but never received a reply.
It should have been done by now: 2018 was the expected completion year of the new railroad tunnels under the Hudson River. When it was proposed in 2009, the $9 billion project was the biggest infrastructure initiative in the country. Now it’s just a footnote to history. Why do rail tunnels from New York’s Penn Station to New Jersey matter to us here in Connecticut? Because they are the weakest but most crucial link in the Northeast corridor, the $50 billion heart of the U.S. economy.
Fare hikes, rail service cuts and a freeze on transportation projects. As he promised in December, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced them all last month. Rail commuters and highway drivers are understandably outraged, but they should direct their anger not at the governor or the state Department of Transportation, but instead at the Legislature. Why now? This funding crisis has been years in the making, exacerbated 20 years ago when lawmakers’ political pandering saw them lower the gasoline tax.
I recently reviewed my transportation predictions for 2017 and gave myself a B+ for a final grade. Not bad for a guy who doesn’t even own a crystal ball. This week, I’m doubling down on some predictions and offering a few new ones. So tuck this column away and give me a prognostication grade this time next year. Metro-North
Commutes: You’re not going to like this one.
We’ve seen a number of reports lately about “disruptive passengers” forcing a plane to divert after exhibiting some sort of frightening behavior. Imagine being along for the ride when something like this happens:
—An Air Canada flight to Tel Aviv lands in London after a female passenger starts randomly choking people on board. She is restrained in-flight and arrested upon landing. —A Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Houston detours to Corpus Christi, Texas, after a woman tries to open the emergency exit door mid-flight. Seen before departure screaming at people in the terminal, passengers wondered why she was allowed to board the plane.
This is the time of year when some commentators kick back and do end-of-the-year wrap up stories, as if you haven’t been paying attention for the past 12 months. Bah, humbug. I don’t review the past… I predict the future! So let’s review my prognostications as published one year ago and see how good my crystal ball really was. Metro-North
I said the new M8 cars would perform well, which they did.