Need for transportation plan won’t wait

Considering the extent to which transportation and its funding dominated the early part of Gov. Ned Lamont’s time in office, it’s striking how much of an afterthought it appears to be in the unveiling of his new two-year spending plan. Lamont’s administration had a plan for major reconstruction and new work on Connecticut’s highways, bridges and rail lines, much of it financed by tolls that would for the first time in a generation be charged on interstates. This would have moved some of the financing for these necessary projects onto the back of out-of-state drivers, who otherwise use our roads for free.

But that logic wasn’t enough to convince skittish lawmakers, who declined to pass any toll plan at all, even a radically scaled-down version that would have applied only to trucks. And so all that work that everyone agreed was so pressing was put on hold.

There are noteworthy transportation funding mechanisms in Lamont’s recently unveiled budget. Among them is a highway mileage fee on trucks, which the trucker lobby predictably hates, and the state’s inclusion in a regional initiative to limit emissions of greenhouse gases by, among other things, increasing gasoline taxes.

Combined, they would, according to Lamont’s administration, put off insolvency for the state’s Special Transportation Fund, and could even keep it in business for the foreseeable future. But that’s a far cry from paying for the myriad projects we were not long ago told were necessary to maintain the state’s competitive edge in getting from place to place.

It’s a small state, but if it takes all day to get around because of traffic and century-old transit connections, then any benefits that might accrue from our compact size are gone. That’s the situation we find ourselves in now. We can’t afford to rebuild what needs rebuilding, let alone construct a better replacement system.

The state’s long reliance on fuel tax receipts to support the Special Transportation Fund has its own complications, and if people continue to drive more fuel-efficient vehicles, and drive less overall, then support for the fund falls, as well. But since cutting down on miles driven is essential to controlling emissions that cause climate change, the state is left working at cross purposes with itself. Less driving is a good thing, unless you suddenly can’t pay for needed improvements.

That’s why a major rethinking of our transit needs is in order. It’s not enough just to rebuild what we have; we need to plan for a different future, one that won’t necessarily be driven by single-occupancy cars. There are many ways to get around, and the system we’ve been using doesn’t have to be the one we use going forward.

All that requires creative thinking. A cross-state plan to limit emissions is a good start, while the previous spending plan focused mostly on highways was not. State planners need to be looking toward the economy of the future as they make spending proposals.

Aid from the federal government will be a big help on transit needs. But to truly move ahead, Connecticut needs to rethink its sprawl-centric ways. That will help bring the state where it wants to be.

It’s not enough just to rebuild what we have; we need to plan for a different future.