by the RPA Staff
Governor M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut did an unusual thing last week, at least in contrast with her neighboring governors in New York and New Jersey: she proposed a budget that squarely addresses her state's most urgent transportation needs.
More specifically, she sent a budget to the state legislature that included the largest capital investment in transportation in the last 10 years. Rell proposed to invest $1.3 billion in transportation infrastructure, most of it for the transit system. The Governor would have the state buy 342 new rail cars ($667 million) to replace the dilapidated failing ones on MetroNorth; she would spend $300 million for new rail maintenance facilities: and spend other money for new buses and interim interstate highway improvements.
These investments would help upgrade the state's transit system - one of the cornerstone's of the state's prosperity and quality of life. Not incidentally, these investments would not only help the state's economic future, but would also make life a lot more pleasant for the state's thousands of commuters.
Given the need, why are the Governor's actions so unusual? Because they contrast with those of her fellow leaders in New Jersey and New York. In those states, perhaps even more so than in Connecticut, the transit and highway systems are facing crises because of a lack of long-term funding. But their respective governors have shied away from the challenge, apparently out of a fear of having to figure out where the money would come from.
They should look to Governor Rell for both an infusion of political backbone and some ideas on raising money. In Connecticut, Rell put together a package of revenue generators that include a six-cent gas tax increase over the next eight years, as well as surcharging riders $1 a trip on their tickets after the new rail cars go on-line.
Rell's plan may not do everything. But it's a positive and aggressive start. It comes in start contrast with the absence of any suggested paths thus far from her colleagues in the neighboring states of this Tri-state region.
Governor M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut did an unusual thing last week, at least in contrast with her neighboring governors in New York and New Jersey: she proposed a budget that squarely addresses her state's most urgent transportation needs.
More specifically, she sent a budget to the state legislature that included the largest capital investment in transportation in the last 10 years. Rell proposed to invest $1.3 billion in transportation infrastructure, most of it for the transit system. The Governor would have the state buy 342 new rail cars ($667 million) to replace the dilapidated failing ones on MetroNorth; she would spend $300 million for new rail maintenance facilities: and spend other money for new buses and interim interstate highway improvements.
These investments would help upgrade the state's transit system - one of the cornerstone's of the state's prosperity and quality of life. Not incidentally, these investments would not only help the state's economic future, but would also make life a lot more pleasant for the state's thousands of commuters.
Given the need, why are the Governor's actions so unusual? Because they contrast with those of her fellow leaders in New Jersey and New York. In those states, perhaps even more so than in Connecticut, the transit and highway systems are facing crises because of a lack of long-term funding. But their respective governors have shied away from the challenge, apparently out of a fear of having to figure out where the money would come from.
They should look to Governor Rell for both an infusion of political backbone and some ideas on raising money. In Connecticut, Rell put together a package of revenue generators that include a six-cent gas tax increase over the next eight years, as well as surcharging riders $1 a trip on their tickets after the new rail cars go on-line.
Rell's plan may not do everything. But it's a positive and aggressive start. It comes in start contrast with the absence of any suggested paths thus far from her colleagues in the neighboring states of this Tri-state region.
@RegionalPlan