Transportation Briefs: $3 Added to Your Electric Bill, More Flights fromTweed Airport, Gaps in Highway Lighting

It may be the dog days of summer, but there’s still news on the transportation front …

WHO WANTS AN EV? According to a recent AAA New England survey more than half of respondents said they would never buy an electric vehicle.

SO WHY ANOTHER ELECTRIC RATE INCREASE? Yes, PURA just voted another rate increase — about $3 a month for all electric customers — to pay for EV charging stations. But why are we paying for gear we may never use? Why don’t the utilities pick up the cost? After all, gas stations don’t make non-drivers pay for their gas pumps, do they?

NYC SUBWAY SAFETY: The Feds have come down hard on the MTA, parent of the city subway system. An audit shows 38 “near miss events” where subway workers could have been struck, injured or killed (one was killed last November). And there were 228 other close calls where customers could have been injured.

The Federal Transit Administration warns the MTA that they risk losing some federal funding if they don’t comply with new safety guidelines. A separate investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board continues.

TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT ON STEROIDS: As Metro-North develops four new train stations in the east Bronx for the planned 2027 service to NYC’s Penn Station (and Connecticut), the city has announced plans for 7,000 new apartments nearby, 25% of them affordable.

This is huge news for Connecticut, which may be able to harvest residents for jobs in our state as we still struggle with our own housing problems.

TWEED AIRPORT: Following on the massive success of discount airline Avelo, another recent startup airline, Breeze, is adding flights from the New Haven airport. Despite short runways, an over-crowded terminal and maxed-out parking, Breeze is adding flights to Florida and points south this winter with fares starting at $69. Locals are still upset with the noise and traffic at what used to be a quiet little airport.

WHITE PLAINS AIRPORT: Greenwich and neighboring towns are working to renew a cap on traffic at this Westchester County airport, limiting passengers to 240 boardings and unloadings every half hour. The neighborhood airport is a favorite of folks in Fairfield County but local officials don’t want it to turn into another LaGuardia… or Tweed.

UBER ADS: In addition to your fare for taking an Uber or Lyft, expect to pay more with your eyeballs. Just as NYC’s 13,500 licensed taxis have small TV’s in their backseat showing ads, now the city’s 83,000 ride sharing vehicles will also be running ads en route to your destination. But in this case, 25% of the revenue from ads will go to the driver. Now where’s that mute button?

LIGHTS OUT: Has anyone else noticed how many of the 25,000 street lights on our state’s interstate highways are not working? The CDOT says some of the dark spots may be tied to replacement of the old orange-colored high pressure sodium lights with brighter, more energy efficient LEDs. But if you see lights that aren’t working, they encourage you to report them to the agency’s Customer Care Center. Or just send an email to DOT.CustomerCare@ct.gov.