Reimagining transit in post-COVID world
Connecticut’s infrastructure is like an aging Lego creation. It’s gotten a little too much use. Some parts just don’t lock in anymore. Others have been replaced with similar pieces that don’t quite fit. It’s just getting old. The impulse is to keep putting the pieces back where they used to be. Back to normal.
Some impulses need to be resisted. Metro-North Railroad doesn’t look much like the original 1832 model, but a little too much like it did when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority took over the line five decades ago.
You may not know it because you haven’t been riding the rails in the last year, but neither is anyone else. In April of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a 95 percent drop in ridership from the previous April. A year later, it’s still down 78 percent from 2019 figures.
Federal funding has helped keep the railroad intact, anticipating the eventual return of commuters.
Highway patterns offer a more visible barometer of how Connecticut residents have adhered to social distancing mandates. They are getting congested again, feeling more “normal.”
In anticipation of a post-COVID world, Connecticut is prioritizing its infrastructure needs as it seeks a cut of funding from President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure package. Of that $2 trillion, $621 billion is intended for transportation.
Connecticut has struggled to fuel funding for transportation, mostly notably with Gov. Ned Lamont’s fumbled plan to revive tolls. As Biden’s funds offer the lure of a lottery jackpot, state officials are outlining priorities the average commuter could recite from memory.
Interstate 84 in Danbury is a red zone, along with a trio of bridges along the New Haven Line. Also on the wish list are new bus systems for Bridgeport, New Haven and Stamford and an upgrade to the woeful Stamford Transportation Center, traditionally the busiest stop on the line.
The idea is to get America moving again. The question is, do Americans want to move the way they used to? Do they need to?
There are nods to the potential for a true transformation. Connecticut has welcome strategies to swap diesel buses for electric ones and form a statewide electric vehicle charging network. Officials have not forsaken cyclists and walkers, including plans to upgrade sidewalks and signals.
But is that really enough? Or is everyone just rebuilding the same Lego set? Metro-North Railroad President Cathy Rinaldi acknowledges that most traditional commuters continue to work from home.
Employers have had a year to evaluate productivity while many workers got their jobs done from home. There are benefits for both, but also for the fatigued roads and rails.
A new framework for conducting business should be factored in when planning the future of transportation. Business leaders must become partners in launching policies to reshape the commuting experience, even as they face the obstacle of Biden seeking to identify funding through corporate tax increases.
We don’t need to return to the old normal, but to something better.
In anticipation of a post-COVID world, Connecticut is prioritizing its infrastructure needs as it seeks a cut of funding from President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure package. Of that $2 trillion, $621 billion is intended for transportation.