CT: The biggest joke...

[Mergingtraffic]

I saw this website the CT DOT put up asking the public to weigh in their thoughts on how to improve transportation in the state.



http://www.transformct.org/activity

A couple things:
First off it's a little challenging to get to the lists of ideas people post.

There are more mass transit and pedestrian/bike posts than I expected. They are vocal but when you speak to somebody in person 9x out of 10 they say build more roads.

if anyone thinks they will actually use this site to design future planning is crazy.  If you'd noticed "Transform CT" and Stephanie, the project planner, responds to certain select posts.  Sometimes they say it was forwarded to the appropriate party.   The result? They respond to mostly mass transit or bike/ped posts.

To me that says they are only really considering those type of posts. They already have their ideas.  Do mass transit and the busway and satisfy the vocal minority while ignoring the masses. In my travels and I get around a lot most people complain about highways and expanding of fixing them rather than saying we need more bike lanes or light rail.

However "Melissa" gets it:
http://www.transformct.org/ideas/103157/start-with-changing-minds-at-the-dot

[southshore720]

They could follow-through with their abandoned highway projects and make the proper connections that were intended.  US 7, CT 25, CT 11, and I-384 most notably.

[PHLBOS]

I've said similar before and I will say it again: the biggest impact one can have is at the ballot box.  One needs to pay attention to their respective local races as well as the national & statewide ones and vote even in those so-called off-year elections and even if the only position on the ballot is the proverbial dog-catcher.  That dog-catcher could become a future governor (who decides on tranportation projects) years later.

That's the best way to keep these bike & transit-only advocates at bay.  Ask you local state rep. their thoughts & views on transportation projects.  If you don't like their answer; you vote them out in the next election cycle, plain & simple.  If they're running unopposed; do show up at the polls and either leave that part of the ballot blank or write-in somebody.

If more people did the above, IMHO; such would overpower the vocal minority.

[Duke87]

All this is is an online equivalent of public meetings. Which means you have the same deal: the only people showing up and talking are the people with an axe to grind.

Some people do have some good ideas with regards to roads. Although I will grant you it seems that the "forwarded to appropriate authority group" consists mostly of transit/bike/ped ideas, and ideas to increase road safety, while ignoring ideas to increase road capacity. This, of course, goes to show you where the DOTs priorities are.

Although they did forward this idea, which is a good one.