Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • October 17, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS TRANSPORTATION/CONSTRUCTION Traffic Jam CT takes steps to address one of nation's worst gridlock problems By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal S tate Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Nursick understands Americans' fascina- tion with their cars. "The freedom that the automobile provides is part of Americana," he said. "It's a mindset that's pretty entrenched." But increasingly in Connecticut and nation- wide that freedom is coming at a price: traffic congestion. In fact, according to two recently-released reports, Connecticut has among the worst traffic congestion in the country. According to the Urban Mobility Scorecard, a report released by the Texas A & M Transportation Insti- tute and traffic monitoring firm INRIX, Hartford was the fifth most congested medium-sized city in the U.S., with drivers spending an average of 45 hours a year in traffic delays; New Haven ranked 11th, accounting for roughly 40 hours spent in congestion. Additionally, a report from TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based national transportation organization that tracks both congestion and conditions of America's interstate highway system, found Connecticut ranked eighth nationally for traffic congestion, with more than 60 percent of its interstates classified as congested. And that congestion comes at a price, with traffic collectively costing Americans more than $124 billion a year, which is expected to increase by more than 50 percent — to $186 billion — by 2030, according to the Center for Economics and Business. In part, crowded highways — in Connecticut and nationwide — are due to over usage of the interstate sys- tem. While interstate highways represent only 2.5 per- cent of lane miles in the U.S., they carry 25 percent of the nation's vehicle travel. In Connecticut, the root cause of congestion, Nursick contends, is two-fold. "One challenge is that in previous years, there's been underinvestment in infrastructure," he said. "The other is the number of single-occupancy vehicles during peak commute times." Connecticut is working to address both challenges and with good reason. According to the TRIP report, 14 percent of the state's interstate highways are in poor or mediocre condition, compared to 12 percent nationally. And 7 per- cent of Connecticut's bridges are structurally deficient, more than twice the national average of 3 percent. Cur- rently, the state is in the early phases of a 30-year, $100 billion initiative — "Let's Go Connecticut" — to improve and in some cases widen major statewide arteries. But Nursick says improving congestion also requires a cultural shift in the commuting mentality. He points to the latest census data showing that nearly 80 percent of Con- necticut workers — or roughly 1.4 million people a day — drive alone to work, while 5 percent use mass transit and 8 percent rely on carpooling, a number the state wants to increase, and has been investing the resources to do so. "We have a substantial program called CTrides, which is designed to encourage employees to com- mute to work any way other than driving alone," said Jim Stutz, transportation supervising planner for the state Department of Transportation, who helps man- age CTrides' business partnerships. "We currently have 393 employers working with us to promote carpooling." Margaret Romaniello, who manages the Hartford branch of the Internal Revenue Service, started part- nering with CTrides in 2014, when the IRS moved its Wethersfield employees to Hartford as part of a consoli- dation. "I knew the move would be difficult for some employees who drove because there is no free parking in Hartford," Romaniello said. "So I wanted to educate colleagues about commuter options." That's involved hosting several promotional exhibit events with CTrides personnel who, Romaniello says, can show employees individualized carpooling or mass- transit commuting options. Like many CTrides partners, the IRS offers small incentives — from raffle prizes to free bus passes — to encourage employees to start trying pub- lic transportation. "If people can try it, even once or twice a week, that's what I encourage," Romaniello said. "People need to get past the need to have a car." And while they may represent a fraction of the total commuting population in Connecticut, the number of state residents leaving their cars behind for their com- mute has grown, says Russell McDermott, program manager of CTrides. McDermott is quick to point out that the program, which was founded in 2005, has grown most substantially since the introduction in 2011 of NU Rides, the state's transportation incentive program, which offers a range of prizes, including gift certificates to retailers statewide, in exchange for members' using and tracking carpooling or mass-transit usage. Last year, the program eclipsed the 40,000 member mark and has since its inception provided more than $1 million in prizes. But the return on investment has been substantial. Since 2005, according to CTrides statistics, the program has helped save more than $89 million in commuting costs, conserved nearly 7.5 million gallons of gas, and prevented more than 73,000 tons of emissions that would have been caused by solo commuters. Nursick and Stutz are encouraged by those numbers but know the ultimate solution to traffic congestion won't only come from wider highways, but from shift- ing a well-ingrained mindset about commuting. Slowly the state's efforts are finding converts like that IRS's Romaniello, who sees not only the cost sav- ings of alternative approaches but the mental benefits of having someone else take the wheel. "I do my best to avoid driving to work now," she said. n Q&A CT's transportation infrastructure ranks among bottom 10 in U.S. Q&A with David T. Hartgen, senior fellow, and Baruch Feigen- baum, transportation policy analyst, with the Reason Foundation, which just released its 22nd Annual Highway Report that ranks how state-owned road systems are performing relative to others in categories like traffic fatalities, pavement condition, deficient bridges and spending per mile. Q: The Reason Founda- tion's 22nd Annual Highway Report finds that 40 states now have traf- fic delays that cost drivers at least 20 hours per year; states made progress on defi- cient bridges; state highway spend- ing decreased slightly; and pave- ment conditions worsened margin- ally. Of those four points mentioned, which is the most troubling? A: All are of con- cern, but in our view the greatest concern is traffic congestion, which increases com- muter travel times and reduces regional and national productiv- ity. With the economy growing and total vehicle-miles trav- eled increasing, traf- fic congestion has increased much faster since 2012 than it did during prior years, where the recession was playing a role in reducing travel and congestion. Without adequate improve - ments in road capac- ity, congestion is likely to continue to worsen in many states, which would negatively impact quality of life and the economy. Connecticut currently ranks 31st in congestion delays. Q: Connecticut ranks 44th in overall performance and cost-effectiveness rankings in your report. What drives the state's low rankings? A: Connecticut has a rela- tively small state-owned road system, 4,079 miles, but it spends three times as much money per mile ($478,000 per mile) than the average state. Per-mile expen- ditures for capital work, main- tenance and administration are also high. As one of the states that is spending the most per mile in these categories, taxpayers might expect superior results. But the system's condition ranks 46th out of 50 in percent of deficient bridges and 44th in rural prima- ry road condition. Connecticut ranks better on Interstate pave- ment condition (24th), narrow lanes on rural roads (12th) and fatality rate (9th). Q: From your national perspec- tive, what can Connecticut do to improve its standings? Are there any "easy" solutions to the issues it faces? A: The number of deficient bridges and the pavement conditions on rural arterial roads are clearly hurting the state's overall rank - ings. A greater focus on those problems would almost cer- tainly help the state's rankings. Overall, the state can look for ways to have its higher-than-average spending numbers translate into bet- ter results or it can reduce its costs. Q: According to the report, on aver- age, states spent $10,000 on admin- istrative costs for each mile of road they control. In contrast, Connect- icut spent $83,282. What makes our roads so much more expen- sive to administer? A: Generally, states with smaller road systems, like Connecticut's, tend to have somewhat higher per- mile administrative costs. However, this difference is very large so Con- necticut could look into office costs and non-essential spending that it may be able to reduce. Q: What would the impact be if the state got its admin- istrative costs down to the national average? A: If Connecticut's adminis- trative costs were equal to the national average, its overall rating in this report would've improved from 44th to 35th. DAVID T. HARTGEN Senior fellow, Reason Foundation BARUCH FEIGENBAUM Transportation policy analyst, Reason Foundation How CT residents commute to work The chart below is a breakdown of how the 1.7 million commuters in Connecticut get to work, based on 2014 U.S. Census data. S O U R C E : T H I S D A T A O R I G I N A T E S F R O M T H E A M E R I C A N C O M M U N I T Y S U R V E Y ( A C S ) F I V E - Y E A R E S T I M A T E S . Drove Alone 78.65% Carpooled 8.19% Public Transportation 4.70% Worked at Home 4.23% Walked 3.04% Other Means 1.18% I-84 remains one of the main arteries to get workers to and from downtown Hartford. P H O T O | H B J F I L E Continued

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