Earlier this month, State House Speaker Moira Lyons (D-Stamford) announced plans for a statewide transportation summit, scheduled for September 28th. The summit will convene three working groups to generate innovative strategies for confronting growing gridlock and improving the movement of people and goods. At the press conference, Lyons criticized previous long-term transportation plans, saying that none approached transportation from a state-wide perspective or considered transportation improvements in the context of fostering and directing economic growth. Speaker Lyons told reporters that if transportation planning continued in the same vein, "Connecticut will become an economic cul-de-sac and a dead-end entity."

This summer the Legislature's Bi-Partisan Program Review and Investment Committee is conducting an investigation of the organization, structure, and decision-making process of the Connecticut Department of Transportation in light of its ability to respond to the state's "strategic economic concerns." Its central question is the extent to which ConnDOT looks to multi-modal strategies and land use concerns when developing long-term capital investment plans, as well as the way it works with other agencies when carrying them out (MTR #278). Its analysis will cover highways, railways, pedestrian and bicycle paths, as well as Bradley Airport and the state's ports. Results will be delivered to the Committee in two reports, the first in September and the second in December in time for the 2001 session beginning in January.

The first report sets out arguments for a balanced approach and will offer detailed descriptions of Conn-DOT's strategic planning process, the development of its internal priorities, and the role of federal funding, border state activities, and environmental considerations play in these decisions. The second report will evaluate Conn-DOT's process and priorities and offer recommendations for reform. Reports will be available at www.cga.state.ct.us/pri/priweb/prihome.htm

ConnDOT will soon undertake a review of the Metro North Railroad Operating Agreement it holds with the MTA, as directed by the Legislature during last session. Under the agreement, most recently renegotiated in 1998, ConnDOT pays 65% of the Railroad's operating subsidy costs for the main New Haven line and 100% of the cost of the three CT Metro-North north-south branch lines.

According to the legislation, the review is intended to determine whether the terms of the agreement hamper the agency's efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled and encourage rail ridership in the I-95 corridor and elsewhere. If the agreement is such a hindrance, the study is supposed to outline how ConnDOT can "exercise its legal rights" to remove constraints. The agency is close to hiring a consultant to begin the study, due to the General Assembly before February 1, 2001. CT says it must offer more intra-state service and provide better bus and shuttle connections to trains to encourage drivers to shift to rail. Some legislators say various details make the agreement a possible stumbling block for meeting this goal and cite the absence of formal procedures for discussing service issues and Metro-North's budget, and CT's lack of representation on the MTA Board.

These initiatives come as congestion becomes a central concern of Connecticut's major business groups and chambers of commerce. Member-supported groups like the Bridgeport Regional Business Council want faster progress on legally-mandated I-95 corridor traffic reduction (MTR #'s 134, 261). A report released last November by the CT Regional Institute for the 21st Century, a group of businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental representatives concluded that an "environmentally responsible" and "multi-modal" transportation strategy was essential to future economic growth in the state.