HARTFORD, Conn. — For many in Connecticut, public transportation is crucial.
"Public transportation, bicycles, scooter programs, the CTfastrak it’s all really important to people who want to get to work, get to school and get to community resources in Hartford it’s really important," said Jay Stange, coordinator for the Transport Hartford Academy.
Soon, there could be changes coming to the buses and trains people use to get around.
The Department of Transportation’s proposal involves eliminating some bus routes, restructuring others, and decreasing some service frequency to match current needs.
"What we look to do is make the best use of our resources so where you might see bus routes being removed what we did was we consolidated bus routes to try and serve as many riders as possible," said Benjamin Limmer, bureau chief of public transportation for CTDOT.
That means adding new routes too. One in the CTtransit Hartford division, two in the New Haven division and improvements to frequency on two CTfastrak routes.
"Really broadly the goal is to connect more people to major job centers not necessarily during the 9-5 hours. We heard from a lot of people they have not traditional work hours, so more service at night, more service on weekends," Limmer said.
When it comes to trains, ridership on the CTrail Hartford line is back to 90% of what it was before the pandemic. Service won’t change there but there are proposed cuts in other parts of the state.
The Shore Line East which has only seen 30% of ridership return could see some of the largest impacts.
"I just really want to make sure they don’t cut any service as well as our big challenge is to see if they can maybe provide a bus from New London where the train comes in to Groton," said Andrew Palaia of Branford.
The DOT's proposal is based on the state budget that calls for cuts but advocates argue there should be more funding for transportation.
"We should be spending more money on trains, more money on public transportation, we need better air quality, and we need better service for people that can’t afford to drive a car in Connecticut," Stange said.
The next two public hearings will be held on Wednesday, October 4th via Zoom:
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Webinar ID: 819 3851 5237
Passcode: 026281
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Webinar ID: 819 3851 5237
Passcode: 194387
There are several other ways to submit comments, more information on how to do so and on the proposed changes can be found here.
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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