A collection of maps produced by RPA illustrates the variation in commuting patterns across Connecticut. The maps show the home locations of commuters to Connecticut's largest employment centers. In the case of Hartford, Connecticut's largest center of employment, workers come from all directions, with the heaviest concentration of workers living west and south of Hartford. In contrast, Greenwich's workforce lives primarily within the towns of Greenwich and Stamford along the heavily populated I-95 corridor.
A new groundbreaking study released today by Regional Plan Association shows how the Access to the Region's Core project (ARC), the new trans-Hudson passenger rail tunnel being built by NJ TRANSIT and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, will significantly increase New Jersey and New York home values near train stations on the NJ TRANSIT system and MetroNorth's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines by $19,000 on average if homes are within two miles of train stations and by $29,000 for homes within walking distance. Cumulatively, this increase in home value will be an astonishing $18 billion, creating a higher tax base and relieving pressure to increase tax rates in communities across New Jersey and New York. The report also shows that, because ARC shortens commuting times, the number of people who live west of the Hudson River within a reasonable (50-minute) commute of Midtown Manhattan will double when ARC is completed, expanding the workforce for New York City's highest-value businesses.
(New York, NY) A new report released today by Regional Plan Association explores redevelopment strategies for six New Jersey municipalities. "Designing for Success: The New Jersey Regional Design Institute," resulted from a two-day-long intensive planning exercise in which mayors worked with a resource team consisting of experts in planning, design, sustainable development, transportation, and planning law. Key recommendations that arose include clustering development around transit; connecting people to the water; designing for safety and a mix of incomes and fostering connections between municipalities.
Regional Plan Association and 
Growing Economy, Shrinking Emissions: A Transit-Oriented Future for Connecticut's Capital Region illustrates a strategy for growth in Greater Hartford that expands housing and transit options while reducing our transportation-related carbon emissions. At last May's Redesigning the Edgeless City workshop, a diverse group of planners, environmentalists, community advocates, and business people met in Hartford to discuss the link between transportation and development and to test how coordinated land use and transportation policies could impact Greater Hartford. RPA has analyzed existing zoning regulations of each town in the CRCOG region and found that housing and commercial development produced by current policies would raise emissions by 22% without even meeting the anticipated needs of our residents or supporting pending public transit investments. The report documents alternative transit-based scenarios developed at the May meeting which would reduce the projected growth in emissions by 11% and provide access to transit necessary to reduce our dependence on automobiles, saving the average household in the region approximately $360 each year in gas costs alone.
RPA's Amanda Kennedy testified Friday to the Connecticut General Assembly Transportation Committee to promote road pricing that would reduce congestion and vehicle miles traveled. The committee was considering a bill that would require payment of tolls at the state's borders, and voted on Monday to strike the word "border" from advancing legislation. The new bill requires the DOT to prepare an implementation plan for tolling state highways. Legislators and supporters have insisted that Connecticut's toll-free highways give through-drivers a "free ride," but border tolls would unfairly impact labor markets near the state border that rely upon workers from out-of-state and would burden Connecticut residents who travel to out-of-state jobs.
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