By Jim Cameron  (Originally Posted here)

Our obsession with automobiles is not only creating gridlock and ruining the quality of our air, but it’s eating up our real estate and sending land costs upward.

Because, once we drive our cars off the crowded highways, we assume it’s our constitutional right to find free parking. Trust me: whether at rail stations or stores, parking comes at a price paid in more than just dollars.

by Ryan Lynch  Originally Posted here

A grant program to help municipalities plan around transit will include towns on the Hartford-New Britain Busway. Pictured is an early concept for the Ann Street busway station in Hartford.

CT Governor Dan Malloy went to bat for transportation during his administration’s first Bond Commission meeting on Friday, releasing over $250 million for transportation-related projects, with approximately $203 million of that going to transit and transit-oriented development initiatives.

Originally Posted at:  CivSourceOnline.com

February 21, 2011 @ Bailey McCann

Last Wednesday, Florida Governor Rick Scott turned down nearly $2 billion in federal grants for high speed rail. The Governor cited potential cost overruns and paying down deficits as reasons for his rejection – a decision which made national news and added to the debate on budget and infrastructure issues. The declaration also led Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood to give the state an additional week to find a way to utilize the funding but any option will still require the Governor’s approval. In light of this, states across the northeast including Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island and Maryland have sent letters to Secretary LaHood asking for the funding to go to rail projects in their states if transportation advocates in Florida are unsuccessful.

Originally posted at: CTPost.com

STAMFORD -- Echoing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's call to create more jobs as part of his state budget address this week, state Rep. Gerald Fox III, D-Stamford, said obtaining funding for transportation projects will help attract business.

Fox had been hoping the governor would include nearly $50 million in funding to replace the deteriorating rail station parking garage downtown and replace the Atlantic Street overpass where trucks delivering goods to the South End often get stuck.

(The following story by Don Stacom appeared on the Hartford Courant website on July 27, 2010.)

HARTFORD, Conn. — Within six years, workers living in Enfield could take a train to get to jobs in Berlin or Newington, while Meriden residents could ride to work in West Hartford or Windsor Locks.

By  Chuck Squatriglia

The average American household spent $5,477 on gasoline and other automotive expenses last year. That was 14.5 percent of our daily spending*, which was more than we spent on groceries or utilities.

Christine Woodside

June 16, 2010

In recent years, commuters crossing the Quinnipiac River on I-95 in New Haven have had more to distract them than veering out of exit-only lanes, avoiding potholes and dodging swarms of fellow drivers.

Cranes and work crews visible from the infamous "Q Bridge" are evidence of a massive, $2.2 billion project to replace the old and overcrowded span-a long-overdue improvement, most area motorists would agree.

But the project stands for more than a smoother ride to work: It is the last highway expansion of its size in Connecticut, at least for the near future, as the state Department of Transportation increasingly turns its attention from roads and bridges to mass transit.

Monday, June 07, 2010

The Connecticut Department of Transportation plans to apply for $400 million to $500 million in federal grants this summer to upgrade the New Haven to Springfield rail line, the Hartford Courant reports. Should the project receive funding, it would be a potential bonanza for central Connecticut residents who use I-91 to commute to Fairfield County or New York City.

The money would advance a high-speed rail network for the Northeast, but could more quickly jump-start a Metro North-style commuter train system through the heart of the state.

"We're looking at something [to start] fairly soon," said James Redeker, a senior official with the DOT.