Completion of the Hartford-New Britain busway has been delayed until 2009, according to a recent newsletter by All Aboard!, a Hartford transit advocacy group. In MTR #453, we reported that due to right of way issues between Amtrak and ConnDOT, the service would not start open 2007, instead of 2006. The busway will run next to Amtrak’s double track line between Harford and Newington, and in an abandoned rail freight corridor further south. Apparently that conflict has been resolved, but the resolution comes with a $10-12 million higher price tag and delayed project schedule. The total cost for the busway is now expected to be about $230-$240 million.

It is unclear why the addition of $10 million to the project cost should also carry with it an additional two or three years of implementation time. Part of the issue may be that Connecticut’s general underfunding of mass transit may be causing the schedule to drag out. Only $20 million is programmed for the project in ConnDOT’s 2005-2009 transportation improvement program.

When (or if) completed, 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 initial Federal Transit Administration BRT demonstration projects. The FTA 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.

As she considers priorities for her new administration, Governor Rell should think about fast-tracking the bus-way project to show that Connecticut can in fact deliver transportation innovations. For now, the project’s delay seems of a piece with the state’s continuing inability to come to grips with chronic gridlock and decaying mass transit infrastructure.

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