Susan Bigelow is an award-winning columnist and the founder of CTLocalPolitics. She lives in Enfield with her wife and their cats.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has said that his big focus for 2015 is going to be transportation infrastructure. This is excellent news; our state has lagged behind in transportation for too long. We don’t yet know where he’ll focus transportation spending, so here’s a list of suggestions:
Expand bus rapid transit
CTFastrak is going to be a success; in fact, if you look at the economic activity and investment it’s attracting, it already is. Because buses can easily enter and exit the busway at many points along the route, it’s incredibly flexible, and will work with many of the area’s busiest lines.
We should be looking at expanding bus rapid transit (BRT) services. There are a few possibilities for clear expansion to the north and east. For example, there is a disused rail line running up through Bloomfield toward Bradley Airport. This line was the focus of a proposed light rail project called the Griffin Line back in the 1990s. It should be repurposed for bus rapid transit traffic and stations, and finally provide the mass transit link between the airport and downtown that the state needs. BRT could also be expanded east toward Manchester on disused rail lines there. BRT lanes can also run in dedicated, separated lanes on major streets. This is what Cleveland did, with much success.
See the complete story at CT News Junkie.
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