nothin Chris Murphy Commutes, & Communes, On The 33W… | New Haven Independent

Chris Murphy Commutes, & Communes, On The 33W Bus

Carl Jordan Castro photo

The rain began to drizzle as Senator Chris Murphy boarded the 33W bus in Hartford.

He glanced at the passengers sitting down, walked directly to the back of the bus, approached a woman with four children and held out his hand.

Hello, I am Senator Chris Murphy,” he said. 

It was the start of his bus office hours, which Murphy holds occasionally to get to know which issues his constituents want to address as a U.S. senator. 

I try to find what people want in Connecticut,” he said. What they like and don’t like, and to do research.”

The senator took a 5:35 p.m. bus leaving from the intersection of Main and Pearl streets in Hartford, riding to Westfarms Mall in West Hartford.

Carl Jordan Castro photo

During the bus ride, Murphy heard from commuters on issues ranging from bullying to bus problems. 

The schools are just crazy,” said the woman Murphy first approached. My son gets bullied a lot.”

A postal worker named Mark Hubbell told Murphy CT Transit should also cater to outdoorsmen.

If I wanted to get to the Appalachian Trail, I couldn’t rely on these buses,” said Hubbell, who is an avid hiker. I don’t think we should be condemned to the city.”

Murphy told Hubbell he is trying to drum up support to get new buses for CT Transit, so the routes can be expanded.

I’m trying to build a case in order to create funding for CT Transit,” he said.

Other passengers said they’d like to see bus monitors on CT Transit.

Carl Jordan Castro photo

Awilda Gonzalez, however, had no complaints. 

I don’t really see anything wrong,” she said. I think they look good on the inside.”

The bus pulled into Westfarms mall on time at 6:10 p.m., though only Murphy and his personnel remained. 

In the past, Murphy has held bus office hours in Bridgeport, Waterbury, Wethersfield, and Stamford. He plans to continue these mobile meetings in the future.

The the biggest problems with CT Transit, Murphy said, are the amount of seats and the scheduling.

Honestly, the biggest problem is probably capacity,” he said. Also, the gap in inner-city service is hit or miss.”

The CT Bus Diaries project is a collaboration between the New Haven Independent, the Valley Independent Sentinel and students from the multimedia journalism class at Southern Connecticut State University. The students are blogging about experiences on CT Transit’s bus lines in order to give a glimpse into the commutes of the people using the bus system.

Share your CT Transit experiences with us by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) photos or videos to Jodie Mozdzer Gil or tagging #CTBusDiaries on Twitter posts.

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