New Haven Independent

Posted by: James | October 31, 2007 8:25 AM

$1.5 million in FTA money and this is the best we could come up with? Heated urinal... ... I mean, bus stops? Yes, heated stops are nice, but it's a luxury. With $1.5 million we could improve service to the disabled or add a bus route. Or fix the horrible signal timing that snarls traffic. Sorry, but it's just not that cold here for that long. This city's priorities are all f***ed up.

Posted by: i live downtown | October 31, 2007 8:57 AM

It would be nice if they could hurry up on the shelter at Temple and Crown. I've been staring at the "construction" for months now and it just looks like blight. They've seemingly started work in the past couple of days, but jeez. It's been in the same sorry state since I moved here in July. 4 months to build a tiny little structure? The Macy's building was what, 100x bigger and that came down in just a couple of weeks.

Posted by: on whalley | October 31, 2007 9:04 AM

Won't cost taxpayers a dime.

"$1.5 million project came 80 percent through the federal government's Federal Transit Administration and 20 percent through the state."

So, where did the fed and the state get that money? I can't be the only one in this country who understands that ALL of government is funded from my pocket.

At least its nice to know the drunks will have a warm place to vomit and urinate when the bars close and if the urge so rises within myself a warm place to go BM when the library is closed. The bums should rally around these now to prevent the ghetto kids from vandalizing them right away.

Posted by: Fedupwithliberals | October 31, 2007 9:46 AM

Yep! Anything but the best for our homeless and deranged!

Posted by: True New Havener | October 31, 2007 9:50 AM

This is a great idea and I am glad it is up an running. It gets cold here and much of downtown is a giant wind tunnel making it extremely painful to wait for the bus on some days, even when it otherwise would just be a bit nippy.

Investments that support bus riding are key to weaning the public off their cars. But in this case, they also respect all of our residents, not just those with money and political influence. Why should someone waiting to go to work on the bus sit shivering while others drive by in their heated cars?

BRAVO!!

Posted by: New Haven Tea Party | October 31, 2007 10:39 AM

Thank goodness for those federal and state taxpayers.

Posted by: fairhavener | October 31, 2007 11:24 AM

"The police, said the mayor, will make sure they are not abused."

HAHAHAHAHAH LOL OMG. HAHA. HA.

"This city's priorities are all f***ed up."

Yeah, shouldn't the cops be out stopping people from being shot - oh sorry - I mean "MARKED". I guess we just don't understand.

Posted by: transituser | October 31, 2007 11:32 AM

I agree with James about the more appropriate use of FTA capital improvement funds for added buses to get people places rather than these tiny 5-6 seat shelters.

I will add that during the six months these six simple shelters were under construction, fences around them took out of service twice the number of seats these shelters provide. Also passengers were delayed in their transfers, even missing buses as I did once, by the moving of two bus hub stops from the shelter construction areas.

These shelters are another example of elites who do not ride buses determining what is best for the "schleppers" (in their minds at least) who do. Never mind that the schleppers on the bus help save the environment and reduce global warming by their transit use.

Posted by: elmcityguy | October 31, 2007 12:08 PM

There might be priorities that are more important, but I'm glad I'll have a warm place to wait for the bus when I'm out of work this winter.

Posted by: charlie | October 31, 2007 12:29 PM

These are great, it's good to see the goverment investing in something that will last more than two years. An even better way to save energy would be to create a working bicycle infrastructure in the city, including paths from all neighborhoods to points downtown and Union Station.

Posted by: Transituser | October 31, 2007 12:31 PM

I do not know if this will be my first or second post but it will be my last on this topic.

I'll add three points about the misallocation of FTA and state funds for these five tiny shelters, in which standees will block the view of approaching buses for those in the 5-6 seats. Again my comments are focused on the issue of those who do not know nitty gritty transit issues from transit use experiences making decisions without proper research and wasting funds accordingly

1. The $1.5 million for the five shelters equals the price of five $300K homes!

2. The first Elm and Temple shelter opened with such ceremony will be empty when most needed as to less frequent service--the evenings and Sundays. On Septebmer 9 2007, the Elm and Temple bus hub/pulse stops were moved to Church and Center and Church and Chapel.

3. The operating funds spent to heat the shelters for the 25-30 of people using them at any one time would be better put to snow shoveling services for downtown sidewalks around all bus stops.

Posted by: king james v | October 31, 2007 12:45 PM

The money would have been much better spent providing 60 or 70 non heated, rain proof shelters with a bench inside. There are only a few shelters outside of downtown, and often the riders waiting at those stops must wait with no place to sit and no simple cover over their heads. A lot of money was wasted on extras that were not needed. And what happens when groups of homeless folks take up residency in these shelters within the next few days? Poor choices once again for a city and transit district so far out of step with it's constituents.

Posted by: FAIRHAVEN DAVE | October 31, 2007 2:02 PM

The only hope we have of keeping these locations nice is to pray that the current apathy of our law enforcement community continues long enough to allow bored teenagers to drive the hobo-blight out of town for fun.

FUN FACT: Back when you could starve to death for being an idiot, there were fewer idiots.

Posted by: on whalley | October 31, 2007 3:26 PM

"FUN FACT: Back when you could starve to death for being an idiot, there were fewer idiots."

LOLOLOLOL

Oh man, that's gold. I hope you don't mind me using that.

Posted by: Nick Evans | October 31, 2007 4:39 PM

They're, uh, nice bus shelters and all, but...$300k a pop? What are we thinking...?

Posted by: charlie | November 1, 2007 2:27 PM

It is a small price to pay if people feel more comfortable using the bus. The price of another car on the road, when calculated out over 100 years, is much more than $300K in terms of its effect on real estate values and health. The gas tax needs to be raised to $10 per gallon to correct for the ACTUAL price of cars in our cities.

Posted by: robn | November 1, 2007 3:48 PM

I'm all for public transportation, but wait a second...hmmm? $300K per shelter...if they're ten feet by thirty feet thats 300 square feet...so thats $1000 per square foot...
just slightly over the $750/SF that the 2.6 million square foot Freedom Tower will cost.

Posted by: DingDong | November 1, 2007 9:19 PM

I am a huge supporter of mass transit and don't mind seeing tax money spent on improving it, but I want to add my voice to the many others here saying that this is a terrible idea. There are far better things this money could have been spent on.

Is there any relationship between the architect and someone in City Hall that we should know about?

Posted by: charlie | November 2, 2007 1:18 PM

It's not about square footages, Robn, it's about the site work, demolition, infrastructure and design costs. In addition to the shelter they resurfaced & repaved very large areas around the shelter. Ask how much it costs to repave the sidewalk on your block and you'll have a valid cost comparison. Again, the price is tiny compared to the cost benefits of having just one or two fewer cars on the road - and it's probably much more than that, in fact.

Posted by: New Haven Tea Party | November 2, 2007 5:33 PM

Charle...are your ever escalating costs of keeping one car on the road based on fact, or the latest cocktail you're sipping?

And sorry, but you can build an extravagent house for $250 a square foot - $1,000 a square foot is just absurd. Site work, demolition? Please. I'm glad to support public transportation. But like the schools, I'm sure it didn't need to cost anywhere close to $300K per unit and I'm quite sure, whoever oversaw and approved this project, couldn't have cared all that much. After all..it's the feds money. Thank god for those federal taxpayers.

Posted by: Wowser | November 2, 2007 10:52 PM

I just walked by the Temple Street bus shelter, (the one not yet completed.) And now matter how much I try to stretch my brain, I can't see anything that should cost more than $80K.

Honestly, a 2000sqft house costs $300,000. But a bus stop with some limited sidewalk work? It's just impossible.

Did a million dollars just disappear out the back door? Or was this just a case of money being spent in the most irresponsible of manners?

I hope some aggressive reporter will attempt an audit.

Posted by: DingDong | November 3, 2007 9:19 PM

Charlie,

The relevant comparison is not to the costs of the cars this is supposedly taking off the road but to the costs of the many more cars a different project WOULD HAVE taken off the road.

Other ideas: 1) more frequent bus service 2) on-line and/or automated 24-hour number giving bus schedules and route recommendations 3) consultant study of streetcar feasibility in New Haven 4) better connectivity between Union Station and rest of network (i.e. a bus meeting trains at non-rush hours). Any one of these, I think, would have been far better than a heated bus shelters.

Posted by: ROBN | November 4, 2007 5:37 PM

Charlie,

Transituser put it best.. "The $1.5 million for the five shelters equals the price of five $300K homes!" Homes need infrastructure, plumbing and electrical brought in from the street, paving for driveways, landscaping, design, etc... Questioning $300K of cost for a 300 sf structure is not only legitimate but a neccesary in these years of doubling taxes.

Posted by: FAIRHAVEN DAVE | November 6, 2007 8:08 PM

Sheesh, let's not be so quick to judge, gang. $300K is probably a steal after they get that moss on the roof.

(Sarcasm implied)