CONNECTIONS: Linking Transportation and the Environment in Connecticut: May 9, 2011 Edition

– By Kirsten Griebel

At the LOB

• Last week the Senate referred Bill 720, the Vulnerable User bill, to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.  They now have to act on it within seven days (by May 12th) in order to keep it alive.   CTLCV, along with a number of other organizations, has been supporting this bill as it improves safety and encourages pedestrian/bike friendly streets, a tenet of smart growth.  It is currently on the CTLCV legislation watchlist. 
  
  This bill successfully cleared both the Transportation and Judiciary Committees with the Judiciary Committee voting 41 to 4 in favor.  As a positive for this bill, the fiscal analysis states a potential $75,000 in revenue gain (from new fines), so this is a win – win; a win for the economy and the environment.   Representative Pat Widlitz, a CTLCV environmental champion, is Co-Chair of the Finance Committee and it is our hope she will throw her support behind this bill this week.
  
• Governor Malloy and the Bond Commission released $89 million to fund the New Britain-Hartford Busway on April 29th.  This completes the state’s  20% matching funding commitment to the project.  Despite the potential for some very drastic federal transportation budget cuts, the New Starts funding for the NB-H Busway is still intact.  CTLCV joined a broad and diverse group of supporters to thank the Governor for his vision and leadership on this investment in the first new major public transportation project in CT in decades.

Around the State

• Connecticut’s Complete Streets policy was recently recognized by the National Complete Streets Coalition as one of the top fifteen best Complete Streets policies in the country.  The bill, Public Act 09-154, was authored and championed in the state legislature by former State Representative Tom Kehoe.  Complete Streets and the new Vulnerable User bill make for more liveable cities and towns by making our roads safer for people who are walking or on bikes or other non-motorized transportation.  Safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists is critical to changing Nutmeggers’ mindset of auto dependency and to get out of their cars and try walking or biking as alternatives.  A big part of this is a campaign to educate people about sharing the road and understanding that roads are for all users not just for cars.
• It looks like the current state budget will put an end to the state subsidy of Dial-A-Ride leaving it up to the municipalities to fund the program.  The budget also decreases municipal matching grants for transit by about $1 million or about 25% of forecasted expenditures.  Otherwise the bus operations budget for the state maintains its current level of funding. Karen Burnaska, Transit for Connecticut, considers this pretty good news given the major budget deficit facing the state.  Maintaining the state’s investment in public transportation is critical for the health of Connecticut’s environment.

Around the Nation

• Congratulations to the Michigan League of Conservation Voters on their recent success in getting out the vote to approve a bus system expansion in the Grand Rapids region that also includes the first Bus Rapid Transit system in Michigan. The ballot referendum to approve a property tax increase for expanding the region’s bus service passed by only 136 votes out of 34,432 cast! 
  
  Similar to the New Britain – Hartford Busway, the Michigan Bus Rapid Transit will have a dedicated bus-only lane for about eight miles and may cut travel times in half.  It is part of a larger comprehensive transit strategy that reinforces the need for regions to plan and build multi-modal transportation systems.
  
  As Ryan Werder, Political Director for Michigan LCV, said “It was an effort that tied us closely with business leaders, non-traditional allies, the mayors of every community involved. With the margin as close as it was, it was the ground game and GOTV work that made the win possible. We are now using this as an opportunity to highlight both the importance of politics in the process of advancing Michigan's environment as well as promoting the common agenda process that identified public transit as a priority.”