Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • May 7, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Transportation/Logistics EXPERTS CORNER Transportation infrastructure is vital to CT's economy By Carrie Rocha A side from the current debate about funding transportation infrastructure needs, it's important to objectively understand how much we all rely on the transportation and logistics network for our jobs and quality of life. The Connecticut transportation network includes highways, local roads and streets, bridges, airports, transit and rail, freight railroad, and ports and waterways. Together, these facilities move Connecticut travelers, businesses and freight, driving the state's economic growth. There are more than 730,000 full- time jobs in Connecticut ranging from tourism and retail sales to agriculture and manufacturing that are complete- ly dependent on the state's transpor- tation infrastructure network. These jobs generate $34.8 billion in wages and contribute an estimated $6.3 bil- lion in state and local income, corporate and unemployment insurance taxes and federal pay- roll taxes. In the fore- seeable future, Connecticut's projected growth includes another 60,000 new residents and 110,000 new workers, according to a 2017 analysis from the Ameri- can Road & Transportation Builders Association. This growth will put ad- ditional pressures on our transporta- tion network for people to get to work, school and social functions, and allow our economy to continue to function. Emphasizing the relationship be- tween transportation and logistics is the fact that more than 75 percent of freight shipments by state businesses are carried by trucks on our highways and roads. It is estimated the value of truck shipments will reach $292 bil- lion annually by 2040, up from $139.1 billion in 2015. The average Connecticut driver traveled more than 12,000 miles in 2013 with most of those miles driven for commuting or work-related pur- poses. In fact, 87 percent of commut- ers in the state get to work by driving. With so much time on the road, Connecticut commuters, like those in many metropolitan areas across the nation, are familiar with the frustra- tion of congestion. In Hartford alone, each commuter incurs about 45 hours of delays annually due to congested roads and highways, at a cost of $1,038 per commuter, and with a total annual cost of $656 million, according to the Texas Transportation Institute 2015 Urban Mobility Scorecard. With a projected annual transporta- tion budget deficit of more than $388 million by 2021-22, the choices are stark, but Connecticut's transporta- tion challenges are not unique. Across the nation, the need to find sustainable, reliable revenue solutions to these transportation challenges is recognized. Public opinion polls Shifting Perceptions New Hartford parking czar Gomes prioritizes rebranding, technology development By Joe Cooper jcooper@HartfordBusienss.com N estled in a corner office f lanking Asylum and Main streets, Armindo Gomes is drawing from his private-sector days to try to rebrand the Hartford Parking Authority. Gomes, a management guru ap- pointed as executive director and CEO of the Hartford Parking Author- ity in January, said he's always been a believer in brand management and improving HPA's reputation is central to his thesis. The 61-year-old Suffield resident, who previously lived in the Capital City, spent more than nine years at En- field-based LEGO, serving as head of North American operations for its education division. During his tenure at the international toy giant, Gomes says he learned about the neces- sity of working with customers to improve LEGO's brand and image. "I'm looking at the Hartford Parking Authority as a brand. How do we change the percep- tion of the brand?" Gomes said of his thought process. City parking, he said, is oftentimes discredited as a headache. For Gomes, the uphill battle comes in upending that narrative. "Let's be honest, parking in any ma- jor city always takes a hit," Gomes said, adding that transparency, honesty and inclusion are the pillars to improving the community's perception of Hart- ford's parking. Beyond that, Gomes says the agency is taking a "commonsense approach" to parking under his leadership, which includes collaborating with the city council and engaging in community forums to gain feedback and acknowl- edge HPA's shortcomings and accom- plishments. While HPA is not planning to alter parking rates or unveil new ameni- ties in 2018, Gomes' chief initiatives include expanding recently launched technologies. In 2017, 258 of Hartford's aging curbside payment kiosks received a facelift with new technology that asks for license- plate information and no longer re- quires parkers to display payment receipts on dash- boards or wind- shields. HPA also unveiled a mobile app, powered by Woonerf, that makes it easier for users of the city's 1,800 curbside spaces downtown to remotely pay for parking or extend parking meter times. Gomes says his team is working to leverage the technology to provide additional services, including alerting parkers of critical information, such as snow bans, which HPA experimented with during a recent storm in March. Motorists also may soon be able to pay parking tickets at the kiosks. HPA is also looking into a program that allows business owners to validate customer parking using the app and kiosks, which can also be used as local advertising platforms, Gomes said. "We have to utilize the technology that we have first," he said, adding that other cities are experimenting with Carrie Rocha Hartford Parking Authority's Financial Performance Year Revenues Expenses 2013 $8,920,975 $5,611,170 2014 $8,792,666 $4,819,526 2015 $9,446,839 $5,666,382 2016 $6,873,803 $4,292,437 2017 $7,610,697 $4,871,443 Source: Hartford Parking Authority Hartford Parking Authority CEO Armindo Gomes stands in his office at the Corning Building, 11 Asylum St. HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER

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