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Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

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Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

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There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

CT advocates want public transit investments in state budget

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Monday, February 5, 2024   

In honor of Rosa Parks' birthday, Transit Equity Day is today.

Connecticut advocates are calling for greater investment in public transit. In particular, they want the General Assembly to allocate $3 million dollars in the state budget to make public buses free for K-12 students. Eligible students would need to show their student ID to receive a free fare.

Jay Stange, coordinator for Transport Hartford Academy, said it could help children who rely on public transit. He noted the pandemic highlighted the pressing issue.

"One of the things that we learned during the pandemic is that fare equity does make a big difference to ridership," Stange explained. "We'd like to see more people on the buses in Connecticut, and reducing fares -- or making fares free for the folks that need them most -- makes sense for increasing ridership."

He added fare equity goes hand in hand with increasing service on weekends and evenings, better bus stop infrastructure, and adding rapid routes. A free-fare pilot program during the pandemic boosted ridership for the year it was active. While advocates and many residents wanted to keep the program around, it ended last April. Not long after, ridership saw a steep decline and took some time to bounce back.

Along with helping Connecticut riders, these proposals can benefit the state's climate goals. The state aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030. Since the transportation sector is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Connecticut, Stange emphasized it is an incentive for more people to ride buses.

"If we can get less people traveling through our cities in truck traffic, less people in single occupancy cars driving through our urban areas, then that will improve air quality for our residents who suffer from asthma," Stange pointed out.

Hartford residents are almost 2.5 times more likely to go to the emergency room for asthma compared to residents of nearby towns, according to Data Haven's 2023 Community Well-Being Index.


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