CT Busway Protest

[Mergingtraffic]

From the Associated Press:
"Opponents lobby against Conn. bus-only highway
     
     NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) - Opponents of a $572 million bus
corridor linking New Britain and Hartford are lobbying to kill the
project or delay it until after the next governor takes office in
January.
     The president of the Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce,
Michael Nicastro, says the busway is not the right mass transit
solution. He calls it a waste of money.
     The Chamber of Commerce, with the Sierra Club of Connecticut, an
environmental group, and two rail-advocacy groups, have launched an
ad campaign against the project.
     Planners say it would handle 15,000 riders a day, relieving
highway traffic. New Britain Mayor Timothy Stewart and other
supporters say the busway would spur residential and business
development around the proposed stations in New Britain, West
Hartford and Hartford."

Of course the busway comes from a study examining traffic issues on the west side of Hartford.  This, in part, replaces the widening of I-84.  The DOT will only add aux lanes around exits 40 & 42.  Amazing isn't it?  

On a related note:There have been some rumblings with the proposed rebuild of exits 47 & 48 (Aetna Viaduct) that there is a need for a western bypass....Public comments have indicated that the state should build the western part of the beltway to take traffic off of I-84.  This is what happenes when NIMBYs kill projects (ie: I-291)

[shadyjay]

I agree - the busway (and its 10-20 years of studies) is a huge waste of money.  It would operate on the former railroad right of way from New Britain to Newington Jct, then alongside present Amtrak trackage to Hartford.  It effectively cuts out the possibility of commuter rail down the line in Plainville, Bristol, and such.  While commuter rail from these points to Hartford would still be possible, it would have to operate on a more roundabout route via Berlin, since the direct route would be taken up by the busway.

To relieve the traffic, I'd build I-291 around the NW quadrant of Hartford (I'm sure it CAN be done without impacting the reservoirs greatly), AND start up commuter rail on the Bristol-New Britain-Hartford route, extending it west to Waterbury as demand/resources warrant.

[Alps]

15,000 riders a day between New Britain and Hartford?  What are they smoking?  The entire volume of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York is somewhere between 2 and 3 times that, I believe (and I could be wrong, going from memory).  That's coming from all points to the biggest city in the nation.

[iwishiwascanadian]

I agree, I hate the concept of the busway, it seems to be a giant white elephant for Greater Hartford, I don't think that residents of New Britain significantly add to the traffic mayhem that is I-84.  The state should be trying to do something with the Aetna Viaduct and work on Commuter Rail in Greater Hartford instead of a busway that will never reach capacity.  

[froggie]

Not familiar with this particular project, but was LRT considered as a possible mode?

[Duke87]

15,000 riders a day between New Britain and Hartford?  What are they smoking?  The entire volume of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York is somewhere between 2 and 3 times that, I believe (and I could be wrong, going from memory).

PA handles about 200,000 people a day. So, 13 times.

Still, there's a different sanity test failed here. Consider the bus ridership of every route combined in some other cities in Connecticut of similar size...
Bridgeport: 16,819
Stamford: 9,617
Waterbury: 6,782

So, 15,000 on one line leading into Hartford? Yeah right.

[Alps]

15,000 riders a day between New Britain and Hartford?  What are they smoking?  The entire volume of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York is somewhere between 2 and 3 times that, I believe (and I could be wrong, going from memory).

PA handles about 200,000 people a day. So, 13 times.

Still, there's a different sanity test failed here. Consider the bus ridership of every route combined in some other cities in Connecticut of similar size...
Bridgeport: 16,819
Stamford: 9,617
Waterbury: 6,782

So, 15,000 on one line leading into Hartford? Yeah right.

Whoops, I was thinking buses, and I was off by a factor of ten.  At the Port Authority you're talking about roughly 4K-5K buses a day, many/most of which are commuter buses.  Figure 20 buses arriving per line on average and you have at least 200 bus lines.  That gives you daily ridership of about 1,000 per line.  Into New York City.

[iwishiwascanadian]

I do

Not familiar with this particular project, but was LRT considered as a possible mode?

I'm not sure, but I doubt it, ConnDOT doesn't have the cash to front for a project like that, and frankly it would have been a waste of money anyway.