Darienite (https://darienite.com/tag/talking-transportation-2021)
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 that 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 one that ran from New Canaan from 1908 to 1976 — Car # 5113.
Building and maintaining our highways is expensive. But here’s a quiz question: on Interstates 95 and 84, what costs a half-million dollars a mile to construct? The answer: sound barriers. Why are we spending that kind of money to surround our interstate highways simply to protect the peace and quiet of their immediate neighbors? Living that close to a highway built in the 1950s comes with the twin costs of increased noise and air pollution along with the benefits of proximity to the highways.
Ah, winter in New England! One day it’s foggy and mild, the next day it’s a blizzard. How can we get through the next few months and still get where we’re going? Here are a few tips crowd-source from your fellow commuters:
If You Take the Train
First, never assume your train will be operating on time. Though Metro-North’s new M8 cars do much better in snow than the older cars, the railroad is quick to amend its schedules and reduce service as conditions warrant.
Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe Guilietti has a holiday gift for rail commuters — and maybe a lump of coal for the stockings for highway speeders. Once a year I get a sit-down with the commissioner. We’ve known each other for many years since his days as president of Metro-North. He knows I always ask him the tough questions but once told me “You’re always fair, Jim”, a comment that brought a tear to my eye. So when I asked him when train service was going to get faster, he didn’t blink — or over-promise.
Looking for the perfect holiday gift for a friend who misses their daily commute amid the pandemic? Consider an item from the exclusive Cameron Commuter Collection:
SCENTED CANDLES: Nothing says the holidays like a fragrant candle to remind you of the old days of commuting. How ’bout the “M2 Lavatory” scent to revisit the pungent smell of the railroad’s old bathrooms? Or the “Bar Car Memories” fragrance that smells faintly of stale beer and cigars? For sports fans, there’s the “Yankee Express-ions”, which smells like sweaty baseball fans tailgating on their way to the game.
Don’t look now, but we’re making history. The changing forces now at work in our society, including our transportation network, will have a profound effect on our lives for decades to come. THE BIG QUIT: According to federal statistics, 4 million people quit their jobs in July of this year, with almost 11 million jobs nationwide now unfilled. As a result, our ports are jammed, the supply chain broken and holiday purchases seem in peril. Don’t expect any bargains for Christmas.
It sounds like a question on a kid’s quiz show: “How do you stop a train?” A) Hail it like a cab? B) Pull the emergency brake? C) Put wet leaves on the track? If you chose “C”, you were correct … and you must be a regular commuter on Metro-North. This is the time of year that tries train engineers’ souls and commuters’ patience.
Last week was a good one for our transportation future, on several fronts. First, of course, was Congress finally passing the massive infrastructure bill. This once-in-a-generation, trillion-dollar package will bring a massive rebuilding of our crumbling bridges and highways as well as expansion of the nation’s power grid and internet infrastructure. It will also invest in the ways we must prepare for the impact of global warming. The bill will also mean thousands of construction jobs over the next decade, what the White House called a “blue collar blueprint” for decades-delayed repair and enhancement of the nation’s infrastructure.
Are you paying too much to ride Metro-North? Maybe. As we slowly return to semi-regular commuting by commuter rail in Connecticut, ridership on Metro-North is about half of pre-COVID levels, below the railroad’s hopes and its consultants’ predictions — but not mine. But however often you’re taking the train these days, here are some money saving tips:
Buy Your Ticket Before Boarding
First tip: Always buy your ticket before boarding the train. Conductors can charge you a hefty on-board surcharge up to $6.50 (but not for seniors) if you don’t have a ticket.
Imagine this: using an app to book a car, a train ride and another car to your destination in one step. Such a service has just been announced by the innovative Brightline rail service in south Florida. It’s the “last mile” that’s always been a challenge for would-be rail riders. Assuming you can get to your “home” train station (maybe if you’ve waited 5+ years for a parking permit), when you get off the train in an unknown town, how do you get to your final destination? Visit the smallest town in Europe and on arrival at the train station there will be a map to help you orient yourself.
A friend of mine got hit by a car last week walking on Norton Avenue. He’s OK, but could have been killed. Speeding on our roads is linked to over 38,000 deaths each year in the U.S. That’s almost 730 deaths a week — 100 a day. If a hundred people die in a plane crash, we go nuts. (Never mind that COVID deaths average about 1,400 per day).
Like many, I love Vermont. But I’m not crazy about getting there. From my home to Burlington is about 300 miles. By car, that’s at least five hours and about $50 in gas roundtrip. Flying may seem quicker, but with the airport drive it’s not much faster and will set you back about $250.
Have you noticed how terrible our traffic is lately? Not just in comparison to the empty roads and blue skies during the pandemic lockdown, but even compared to pre-COVID times. The rush hour on Interstate 95 starts earlier and runs later, pretty much all day long. The increased volume is due in large part to the return to the office but by car, not mass transit (where ridership is still only 50% of the good old days). If there were easy answers to this congestion, they’d have been implemented by now.
Some big changes are coming for pedestrians and motorists alike starting this week: a new set of Connecticut laws giving far more power (and, hopefully, safety) to those traveling on foot vs. vehicles. Long before we had cars (or even horses) and trains, folks took to the roads on foot to get where they were going. But with motorized transport came the inevitable conflicts. Why the new laws now?
Why is Metro-North shooting itself in the foot? While adding more trains and encouraging (no, praying!) that commuters will come back to the rails, the railroad is still refusing to make those passengers feel safe by enforcing the federal and state mask rules. Sure, they’ve been passing out masks on trains, but what good are they if they’re not worn? I hate to keep harping on this issue, but we’re talking about a serious public health threat. Unmasked passengers, even if they’re vaccinated, can be asymptomatic and spread the COVID-19 virus to hundreds of fellow riders in a matter of minutes, let alone the hour-plus ride to NYC in a sealed tube.