Bus GPS, Expanded Service Promised

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy plans to propose expanding bus service in cities throughout the state and equipping buses with GPS devices so waiting riders can track their progress.

Malloy (pictured) made those promises before a press conference on lower Orange Street Tuesday convened to build support for his upcoming statewide transportation improvement plan.

The governor is readying the transportation plan as his top new initiative and legacy-building project as he begins his second term. He plans to unveil the details in coming weeks, he said. he described the plan as ​“massive” and ​“comprehensive,” aimed at modernizing the state’s highways, rail lines, bus system, bike routes, and pedestrian pathways over 25 years.

At Tuesday’s press conference, he said the plan will present Connecticut with a choice about its future ability to compete for jobs.

“We’re going to decide if Connecticut wants to be best in class in transportation or not,” Malloy said. ​“Transportation is holding our state back.” He called for ​“turning one of our great weaknesses” into a ​“great strength.”

He held the press conference at the corner of Orange and North Frontage Road, where the state is footing most of the cost of a $33 million reconfiguring of a neighborhood-killing mini-highway into a pedestrian- and cycling-friendly ​“boulevard” as part of a broader effort to reimagine downtown in a new urbanist mode. (Read about that reconfiguration, phase two of the Downtown Crossing project, here.)

Asked about how much the plan will help modernize New Haven’s distressed bus system — read about some of that here, here, here, here, and here—Malloy noted that he has already announced that it will include money to put the GPS devices on the buses.

He said the plan will include money for ​“expanded bus service in urban areas” — i.e.,more buses running in cities like New Haven. He did not disclose a dollar figure.

He referred other specific questions to James Redeker, his transportation commissioner.

In New Haven riders and non-riders have complained that rush hour schedules end too early — around 5:30 p.m. in some cases — making it difficult to rely on bus service if you leave a job later than that or choose to spend time downtown at night. On weekend or after hours it can take hours — or be impossible — to travel to a suburban job; a new NAACP study showed that a quarter of New Haveners don’t own cars and, and many of them can’t reasonably commute by bus to the suburbs, where many jobs now lie. Redeker (pictured) said the plan will probably not specify which routes will get expanded service or when, or what routes might be added. Those detailed decisions would come later.

Another complaint from New Haven-area commuters centers on the ​“hub-and-spoke” bus system: Because lines run from distant points to the Green, it can take hours to travel short distances. Redeker said he’s aware of that complaint. The new transportation plan doesn’t address this issue because the state needs to study the problem first, he said.

That’s going to happen: New Haven is about to embark on a study of how to improve mass transit. The $950,000 study —paid for with $760,000 in federal money, $100,000 in state money, and $90,000 from the city — originally was to focus on a light-rail ​“trolley” but has expanded to include buses and bike routes. City transit chief Doug Hausladen (pictured) said the study is about a month away from beginning, after neighborhood management teams offer input on its parameters.

Malloy and Redeker also said the upcoming transportation initiative will pour money into developing more bike paths — bike lanes and ​“cycle tracks” — like the ones the state has been building for New Haven as part of the $2 billion Q Bridge rebuild. And like a new separated bike lane (i.e. cycle track, pictured) that the city is planning along Edgewood Avenue from Westville through Edgewood and Dwight to downtown. Click here to read all about those efforts.

Asked about the long-promised, never-delivered second parking garage for Union Station, Malloy told reporters Redeker would offer details after the press conference. Asked after the press conference, Redeker said reporters would have to ask Malloy — or rather wait until next month. ​“You need to wait for the announcement,” Redeker said. ​“It’s all in the plan. You’ll have to wait for the details.”

The governor and commissioner spoke as well about the plan boosting pedestrian pathways; Malloy said he’d like to see the East Coast Greenway run continuously from the Rhode Island border to New York State. Here in New Haven, work could begin late this spring on the final local phase of the Farmington Canal Trail, according to City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg. She said it took longer than expected to negotiate seven easements required just to extend the trail from its existing terminus at Temple Street over to Orange and Grove. The city’s isn’t paying for the easements, but it took time to draw up the legal documents, she said. Meanwhile, the city has begun repaving one side of Olive Street as part of the final phase, which will connect the trail above ground (through bike lanes, cycle tracks, and sharrows) to the harbor.