New Haven's gift: improved transportation

There are many things I love about Christmas. Singing the soprano part of "Carol of the Bells" until the cute girl across the fire door threats to kill me. Reading dirty stories about Santa Claus on my favorite erotic fiction sites. Receiving oversized clothing from my mother, ever optimistic that I'll grow another few inches. But my favorite Yuletide tradition is forking over $50 to have Connecticut Limo carry me a thirtieth of the distance of my $200 flight home. It's a real treat.

But, for those of you who might find living in the transportation backwater that is New Haven onerous, there's hope, and it's not Dean Kamen's new scooter thingy. Just in time for the holidays, the region has seen a flurry of progress in various transportation initiatives.

Some of them, to be sure, are lacking in vision and do not sufficiently decrease New Havenites' dependence on automobiles. Tweed Airport is considering lengthening its runway, but not enough to accommodate a full 737. A committee is thinking about widening Interstate 91 and reintroducing tolls. CT Transit is cutting back routes. New Haven is finishing the Oak Street Connector. And Congress is allocating a couple of million bucks toward Connecticut's $300-million, 12-year plan for fixing up the I-95 corridor—a plan that has "Big Dig" written all over it.

Amidst these uninspiring projects, though, two particularly bright ideas have emerged. First, the Greater New Haven Transit District is purchasing electric trolleys to transport people around downtown. And, unlike the futuristic personal rail transportation envisioned in the Advocate a while back, these trains will be available next year. Coupled with the $5 million State Street Shoreline East station to be finished in May and plans to build a bus depot across from it, the trolleys will provide long-awaited help in connecting downtown to Union Station and the waterfront. If the routes are chosen well, they could provide a significant boost to the revitalization of Ninth Square. The only dangers these trolleys pose seem to be directed at my waistline (why walk when I can get most of the way there for 25 cents?) and the cab companies.

The second exciting development is investigation into a commuter rail link between New Haven and Hartford, suggested by Connecticut's new Transportation Strategy Board. Sure, there's the obvious advantage of taking the train to Super K while sloshed at three in the morning. But perhaps more important, it will allow Yalies to circumvent Connecticut Limo's costly and slow conveyance. Such a rail link would alleviate traffic on Interstate 91 while opening up the Connecticut River valley for development as a bustling commercial corridor.

I hate driving, particularly in Connecticut. Besides contending with unruly traffic, I live in constant fear of getting a $300 ticket from the ever-so-reasonable-and-fair highway patrol. Mass transportation, on the other hand, is good for the environment, avoids needless roadway expansion, and can preserve riders' sanity, safety, money, and time.

Sadly, the recent history of public transit in southern Connecticut is fraught with stupidity, ranging from the debacle of the Acela's so-called Express—which is only marginally faster than the regular trains, even when it manages to be on time—to the proposal a few years ago to make the streets in New Haven two-way. Although changes will take time, at least transportation development seems to be looking in the right direction—away from cars.

Architecture professor Alan Plattus sees this improvement in public transportation as part of a national trend. "In some places, the change is more dramatic than others," he explains. "There are a lot of us who hope that Connecticut will make that shift." In conjunction with growth management and land use planning, it may be possible to turn New Haven into a functional transportation hub. And that would make for a very merry Christmas.

Kushal Dave, PC '02, is a senior editor of the Herald

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