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2016 | Doing Business in Connecticut 81 Transportation E very morning, Anne I. Hayes leaves her car at home and hops on a bus to get to and from her job at Travelers in downtown Hartford. It's a routine she's followed for 25 years. "It's convenient," said Hayes, director of parking and mass transit for the insurance company. "You can get work done, you can listen to music, you can have a conversation if you want to — or you can just look out the window and relax." Close to 25 percent of Travelers' 7,000 Hartford employees do the same, thanks in part to a company incentive program. Under the program, employees can buy company-subsidized bus passes at work and put money for commuting expenses aside through a pre-tax payroll deduction. In return, the program helps reduce traffic and parking congestion. "e bus is a great option for us because of where we're located," said Hayes, who administers the program. Travelers has bus drop offs and pickups near its Connecticut locations, including a stop for CTfas- trak, a bus line that utilizes a bus-only roadway along its route. Connecticut is well on its way to delivering more high-quality options for commuters like Hayes who want to ditch their cars and use public transportation, from the "Hartford line" commuter rail along the Interstate 91 corridor, set to open in 2018, to a proposed eastward expansion of CTfastrack. e state is in the second year of a five-year "ramp up" to Gov. Dannel Malloy's 30-year transportation plan, which, along with rebuilding Connecticut's aging bridges and highways, proposes major new investments in "alternative transportation," including railroads, buses, and pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths. "It's not just about doing what we do everyday, but about making the kind of future that people want," said state Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker. at, he said, means transforming Con- necticut into a place where you "don't need to own a car to get around." e five-year "ramp up" includes $2.8 billion in new state spend- ing on top of $3.8 billion already budgeted, plus $3.4 billion in fed- eral funding. While acknowledging the price tag is high, Redeker cited a recent report by the transportation research organization TRIP, which found motorists in Connecticut's three largest metropolitan areas lose $5.1 bil- lion a year due to traffic congestion and road conditions. Continued on page 82 > PHOTO/© RITU MANOJ JETHANI / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM CT continues to invest in its transportation infrastructure By Natalie Missakian