Jim Cameron 2017

By 2020 You’ll Need a ‘Verified’ Drivers License If You Want It for ID Before a Flight: Cameron on Transportation

Think Gridlock on the Roads Is Awful? Wait’ll You Consider Political Gridlock: Cameron on Transportation

Services with a Human Touch Can Help Seniors with Transportation Challenges

Who’s Watching You in Your Car? The Authorities: Cameron on Transportation

The Bygone New Canaan Club Car on the Railroad: R.I.P., 1976: Cameron on Transportation

How Connecticut Repaves Its Roads: Cameron on Transportation

One of the Slipperiest Substances Known to Man or Computers on the Train Tracks: Cameron on Transportation

Big Transportation Improvements? CT Needs To Play Budget Catchup First: Cameron on Transportation

New State Budget ‘Castrates’ CT-N, Connecticut’s CSPAN-like Cable Channel

To Vermont by Train: Slow, But Relaxing and Weatherproof: Cameron on Transportation

Despite Problems, Catenary Wires Beat Third Rails for Metro-North: Cameron on Transportation

Long Haul Trucking’s Bedbuggers, Chowder, Suicide Jockeys, Robots and More: Cameron on Transportation

Death at RR Crossings: Publicity Needed, But State Didn’t Apply for Grant: Cameron on Transportation

Think Air Travel’s Crazy? You Don’t Know the Half of It: Cameron on Transportation

If You’ve Never Taken a Long Distance Train, You’re Missing Out: Cameron on Transportation

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | December 17, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | December 11, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | December 3, 2017

Opinion

By David Gurliacci | November 27, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | November 26, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | November 24, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | November 19, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | November 17, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | November 1, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | October 29, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | October 23, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | October 13, 2017

Opinion

By David Gurliacci | October 9, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | October 7, 2017

Opinion

By JIM CAMERON | September 24, 2017

Something like 1.73 million Americans board airplanes every day. Each of them must go through a very necessary screening by the Transportation Security Agency. But beginning in late January, a lot of passengers will be denied boarding because they don’t have the right kind of identification. You can thank (or blame) the Real ID Act passed by Congress in 2005 after 9/11 to make sure people are who they claim to be. As any teen can tell you, it’s too easy to obtain a fake ID.

Five words I never thought I’d write: “I feel sorry for Dannel Malloy.”

Sure, we’ve had our differences. And yeah, the governor does have the personality of a porcupine and the disposition of a bully, sometimes. But the man is not evil and he doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him now. Nor do we. Our governor is a lame duck.

None of us is getting any younger. Which is why we should all start thinking now about the challenges that seniors face when it comes to “getting there.”

That’s one of the top priorities of the SWCAA, the Southwest Connecticut Agency on Aging. Because, to maintain an independent life, seniors need to be able to get from their homes to doctors appointments, social engagements and even volunteer work. And their care-givers need to be able to get to their clients’ homes. In the SWCAA region (Greenwich to Stratford) 20 percent of all residents are over age 60. By 2020 that proportion will be 25 percent. And with aging come issues of vision and cognition, especially behind the wheel. Giving up your private car is a much-feared rite of passage for seniors, usually prompted by coaxing from their kids who start noticing dented fenders. The DMV has no mandatory retirement age for driving, though if you accumulate enough points on your license you may need re-testing.

“Here in my car, I feel safest of all

I can lock all my doors. It’s the only way to live, in cars.”

— “Cars”, Gary Numan 1979

You may feel that your car is your last private refuge in this busy world. But there’s someone along for the ride: Big Brother. And you’d be surprised what he knows about you, thanks to modern technology. CELL PHONES: Your cell phone is constantly transmitting its location, and services like Google Dashboard’s location history can show exactly where you were at any date in time. Don’t want to be tracked? Turn off your cellphone. E-ZPASS: Even when you are nowhere near a toll booth, E-ZPass detectors can monitor your location. Want to stay anonymous? Keep your E-ZPass wrapped in aluminum foil in your glove box.

We all dream about traveling first class. Big comfy seats, real food and free drinks. This is the only way to fly. But did you know there used to be a handful of private, first-class “club cars” on the New Haven Railroad’s commuter trains? Among the most legendary was Car 5113 that ran from New Canaan from 1908 to 1976.

Tired of driving on potholed roads? Who isn’t? We may not (yet) have tolls, but the terrible condition of our highways takes its toll on our vehicles with bent rims, alignments and other repairs. There are more than 10,000 lane miles of state highways in Connecticut, of which only 300 are repaved each year. But that work involves more than just slapping a new layer of asphalt on those roads.

What is more beautiful than fall in New England? The autumn leaves make even the most mundane daily commute seem idyllic — unless you’re taking the train. Yes, it’s time for our annual battle against “slip slide,” that dangerous rail condition caused by wet leaves on our tracks. Mind you, this is no small problem. In past years as many as 50 or 60 trains a week were delayed by the issue when sloppy, wet leaves turned steel rails into the railroad equivalent of a skating rink.

“Why don’t they build a monorail down the middle of I-95?”

So began the latest in a series of well-intentioned emails I regularly receive from readers, anxious to offer what seem like smart solutions to our transportation crisis in Connecticut. Why no monorail? Because we don’t have the money. So let me ask — and answer — a few questions:

Why do we issue 20-year bonds to pay for highway repaving that, at best, will last 15 years?

Why does 40 percent of the state’s Department of Transportation’s annual budget pay for debt service on old bonds instead of buying new trains? Because we don’t have the money.

As our state lawmakers wrench their shoulders, patting themselves on the back for finally writing a budget (four months late), let’s stop for a moment. Put down the champagne and let’s ask ourselves: What really happened here? The past months of budget negotiations may have been bi-partisan, but they have been far from transparent. This budget was baked by a handful of politicians, far from public view. Not even Gov. Dannel Malloy was clued in on the details.

Like many, I love Vermont. But I’m not crazy about getting there. It’s about 300 miles from my home to Burlington, Vt. By car, that’s at least five hours and about $50 in gas each way. Flying may seem quicker, but with the airport drive it’s not much better and about $160.

There is hardly a season that goes by without Metro-North service disrupted by a “wires down” accident. That’s when the overhead catenary that powers the trains breaks or is ripped from its poles, cutting electricity and service — ruining the commute for thousands. But why do we rely on such fragile wires, some of them installed 100 years ago? Isn’t there a better way of powering our trains? Probably not.

Why do most motorists hate truck drivers? Is it because their big rigs are so intimidating? Or do we think they’re all red-neck cowboys, living the life on the range and we’re secretly jealous? I respect truckers and think, for the most part, they are much better drivers than the rest of us. They have stiffer licensing requirements, better safety monitoring and much more experience behind the wheel.

Nationally, more than 400 people are killed by trains each year, most at grade-crossings where highways go over railroad tracks. According to the Federal Railroad Administration “ the average victim is most often a 38-year-old Caucasian male under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, with a median household income of $36,000. More than 25 percent did not graduate from high school, and 18 percent were determined to be suicides.” In Connecticut last year the FRA says there were six deaths on the tracks, most of them involving Amtrak trains, but some by Metro-North. The question is: were they preventable? When I started researching this story nobody wanted to talk to me. The railroads told me that writing about suicides just provoked others to take their lives, even referring me to a psychologist who has studied this issue, Dr. Scott Gabree at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center. He also tried to dissuade me from writing about this. The less people wanted to talk, the more interested I became.

Have you ever wondered if airlines are telling you the truth about the safety of air travel? I have. Here’s a look at some areas that you might think twice about the next time you board a plane:

Seating

Why do seats face forward in the plane? Is it because we like to watch what’s going on in first class? Actually, research shows rear-facing seats are much safer in an emergency.

« February 2021 »

How did you spend your summer vacation? Probably by traveling, but hopefully without the disruptions my wife and I experienced. In August we flew to Chicago and drove to Wisconsin. That journey was relatively on time. But the return trip became an adventure when our return flight from O’Hare airport was delayed five hours, and then cancelled, due to bad weather.