Talking Transportation 2024
Darien School Bus

Solution to the ‘SUV Parade’ to and from Schools: Two Feet and Sidewalks

By |
Download PDF

In our small town we call it “The SUV Parade”, the weekday ritual-like procession homing in on a handful of targets, carrying that most precious of cargos — our kids — heading to school. But why the private car parade when the town already spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on school buses? Why aren’t the kids on the yellow buses? Sure, sometimes they have early activities or don’t want to shlep their tuba on the bus. But often its because the kids don’t think its cool to “bus” when mom (or increasingly, work-from-home dads) can drive them?

Cameron on Transportation
Stamford Train Station aspirational image

Lots of Smiling for the Public, But Not Enough Improvements on Metro-North

By |
Download PDF

It was billed as a “Transportation Summit.”

But the gathering last week in Stamford was more of a PR event than anything else, as Gov. Ned Lamont, the leaders of the state Department of Transportation, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak, Metro-North and the ever-smiling Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons sounded mostly like cheerleaders for the multi-billion dollar spending to come for our rail system. Sponsored by the Northeast Corridor Commission, the invitation-only confab attracted about 60 people, most from the business community. Noticeably absent: anyone representing commuters. Needless to say, I was not invited, but neither was the Commuter Council. Fortunately, you can watch the entire hour-long event thanks to Connecticut Network television.

Cameron on Roads 2024
Use Ya Blinkah! sign

Signs of the Times: Highway Exits Renumbered, Wordplay on the Roadway

By |
Download PDF

“Are we there yet, Dad?” cried Junior from the back seat. “Only two more exits to go, son,” said the father, scanning the roadway ahead of him. Many miles later, Junior was moaning again. “You said two more exits, not dozens of miles!”

Well, Junior, that’s about to change. the Connecticut Department of Transportation, pressured by the Feds, is about to renumber all of the exits on the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways and our interstate highways.

Cameron on Transportation
Dudaweyll Dietmar Rabich

Faster Trains Are More Dangerous Trains, and When They Have a Lot of Railroad Crossings …

By |
Download PDF

Much has been written in praise of Brightline, the modern, stylish privately owned railroad serving Miami to West Palm Beach to Orlando with fast, comfortable trains. But the railroad also has the highest death rate of any railroad in the U.S., having killed 108 people since it began operations in 2017 — not its passengers but people crossing the railroad’s tracks. Last week alone at one grade crossing in Melbourne, Florida there were two accidents causing three deaths in as many days. Those “accidents” are under investigation by the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board. But all indications are these deaths, like the others, were caused by stupidity: people driving around the crossing gates that lower before the train roars through.

Cameron on Transportation

Lawmakers: Have You Taken a Train or a Bus Lately?

By |
Download PDF

Do the folks in state government know what it’s like to be a commuter? When’s the last time that Gov. Ned Lamont took a train — not for a photo op, but for real? He does have a home in Greenwich so he could be enjoying the great service on the Hartford Line and Metro-North. But it seems he’s always driving around in that big (chauffeured) SUV which, by the way, is not electric (despite his calls for Connecticut to “go green” and all-electric by 2035!)

C’mon Governor: walk the talk! Or how about our lawmakers?

Talking Transportation 2023
Fireworks over Highway July 4 2019

Readers Comment on the Woes of Interstate 95

By |
Download PDF

Last week’s column (“Why We Love To Hate I-95”) apparently struck a nerve, generating a lot of comments, some of which I thought I’d share here. Carolanne wrote “I-95 needs to be re-paved. Ever notice how uneven the interstate is? It’s very unsafe. As for (lack of State) police, thank you Democrats (for defunding law enforcement.)”

Commenting on the highway’s condition, Pam from Darien said “I need to follow up with CDOT about the claim I put in for $350 for repairs to my car after driving on freshly laid pavement this summer.

Talking Transportation 2023
Highway traffic congestion Stamford Interstate 95 I95

What’s Wrong With I-95? Let’s Count the Ways

By |
Download PDF

Someone recently described me as “the Lewis Black of transportation” — angry, cynical and sarcastic. That’s high praise, in my view. So imagine my surprise that when Lewis performed recently in Waterbury and New London he riffed on the highway we love to hate: I-95. “I lived in Connecticut for five years,” attending the Yale School of Drama he told the crowd. “There’s nothing more joyous than driving up I-95.

Talking Transportation
Planes Trains and Automobiles

Even Walking Can Be Dangerous

By |
Download PDF

Over Thanksgiving I’ve been musing on some recent developments. TRAINS:
Are you heading into NYC to go shopping? Veteran riders will remember when Metro-North would offer “Shopper Specials” trains to handle the crowds, but no more. The trains may be seeing more passengers but the railroad tells me only that they are “monitoring ridership carefully and (are) prepared to quickly add trains to any of (the) lines if demand calls for it.” Tell that to the standees on many rush-hour trains. PLANES:
If you’re one of the 3 million Americans who flew on Sunday, congratulations.

Cameron on Transportation

Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Everywhere Else — But They Dropped the Ball at Metro-North

By |
Download PDF

Why is Metro-North the only major commuter railroad in the U.S. that doesn’t offer its riders Wi-Fi? That’s a question I’ve been asking for many years and I still can’t get a straight answer. Four years ago the Connecticut legislature gave the Connecticut Department of Transportation $23 million to get Wi-Fi onboard, but it is still not there. Gov. Lamont promised us 5G Wi-Fi, but there’s still zilch. Why?

Cameron on Transportation
CDOT I-95 Westport bridge replacement 2023

Appreciate the Wonders of Engineering Around Us

By |
Download PDF

As a young man I wanted to become a civil engineer and design the railroads of the future. So I went to one of the nation’s best engineering schools, Lehigh University, only to find out in my freshman year that I’d need calculus, physics and chemistry. So I ran quickly to the Arts College and studied sociology. Still, my admiration of the work of engineers in designing and running our transportation network has never diminished. Here are a few recent examples:
CDOT & ABCs
As we rebuild our crumbling interstate highways, the CDOT deserves credit for learning its ABCs — “accelerated bridge construction.” Over two recent weekends they demolished and replaced two three-lane bridges at Exit 17 in Westport with, considering the enormity of the tasks, minimal impact on traffic.

Cameron on Transportation
Offshore wind farm windy

How’s Connecticut Gonna Rock Down to Electric Avenue? An Electric Car Mandate Would Need More Electricity

By |
Download PDF

There’s way too much news. I’m a like thirsty man trying to drink from a firehose. Every day I read three daily Connecticut newspapers, several Connecticut news sites, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and then catch the evening news on BBC, France24, Deutsche Welle and PBS. (I don’t even bother with the commercial networks or the ‘terror-tainment’ on the cable channels). But while drowning in content, I sometimes find disparate news items that present a pattern, often disturbing.

Cameron on Transportation
Brightline railroad train

Comparing a Shiny Florida Railroad to the Gritty Metro-North: Prepare To Be (Mostly) Envious

By |
Download PDF

The railroad world is abuzz with the opening of the new Brightline high speed rail service to Orlando, an extension of that private railroad’s existing train service down Florida’s east coast to Miami. This is really big news. The $5 billion expansion to Orlando was privately financed but with generous tax exempt bonds the railroad will have to pay back. Still, this is the first for-profit passenger railroad in the U.S. in forty years. How does Brightline compare with Metro-North?

Talking Transportation 2023
Diana Jackson Appalachian Trail end mountain

Four Hiking Boots and 40 Lost Pounds Later, Darien Native Walks the Entire Appalachian Trail

By |
Download PDF

This Darien native is one of over 3,300 people each year who try to walk the entire length of the Appalachian Trail (the AT), from Georgia to Maine. But she’s one of the 25% of them that actually completed the task. She learned to hike with her parents in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and at age seven announced her goal of making the entire trek. Her parents humored her, but on graduation from Wellesley College she got serious and spent six months in preparation. “I thought of this as my gap year,” she said.

Cameron on Railroads 2023
Commuters Riders at GCT Grand Central Terminal

Service Cuts and Higher Ticket Prices on Connecticut Trains — It’s a Done Deal

By |
Download PDF

How’s this for a double-whammy? The Connecticut Department of Transportation is proposing a cut in train and bus service while also raising fares — just as I predicted months ago. Blame both plans on Covid and what it did to ridership, still down about 30% on Metro-North compared with 2019 — but climbing, day by day. On Shore Line East, CDOT’s railroad from New Haven to New London, the ridership is down 68% from pre-Covid numbers. Low ridership like that, says CDOT, is unsustainable.

Talking Transportation 2023
Panama Canal container ship

Higher Prices, Longer Delays for Americans With Panama Canal’s Shortage of Water

By |
Download PDF

Global warming is affecting shipping through the Panama Canal, delaying U.S. imports of everything from new cars to fuel. Every ship traversing the canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans requires 50 million gallons of fresh water, drawn from two man-made lakes in the middle of the isthmus. But reduced rainfall there this year has made water levels in the lakes drop precipitously, meaning less water to feed the canal, let alone fresh water to the locals. That’s led to a 200-ship wait on both sides of the canal, delaying passage of goods. And the ships that are being allowed through, some booked a year in advance, can carry less cargo because their draught (how deep the ships ride in the water) has been reduced from a 50-foot depth to just 44 feet.