Construction on the New Britain-Hartford Bus Rapid Transit line has been delayed a year, according to the project’s website. The start of construction was originally scheduled for this month, but has been stalled until March of 2005.

Many factors contributed to the delay, according to project planners and transit advocates. Apparently securing permission to use rights of way from Amtrak has been a barrier as far back as last summer. Planners assert they have been working with Amtrak to find solutions to the problems. Also, alignment and technical details also had to be redesigned, further slowing the project. For example, some parts of the route that were originally planned to be above street level are now at grade, or vice versa. Planners report that the local communities and elected officials along the line support the project.

The project will run from Hartford’s Union station to New Britain through Newington and West Hartford, stopping at 12 stations. It is Connecticut’s first experiment with bus rapid transit, and is one of ten of the Federal Transit Administration’s BRT demonstration projects. The Federal Transit Administration estimates that, by 2020, the service will have 8,800 average weekday boardings, 3,720 of which are expected to be wholly new transit riders. The project is expected to be in service in early 2007.

Encouragingly, the Capitol Region Council of Governments is working with municipalities along the BRT system to create transit oriented areas around the 12 stations, and a station access study for the system is also underway. See www.ctrapid-transit.com