OBSERVATIONS ABOUT TRANSPORTATION
Like everyone else traveling in the Northeast corridor or in any other big city around the country, I experience unexpected and long delays because of traffic congestion. We clearly have a crisis in terms of the gap between what we need and what we have.
Recently, I was asked by Governor Jodi Rell to chair an advisory group to make recommendations to improve Connecticut’s Department of Transportation. I was asked to do so because I have participated in volunteer advisory and advocacy work in transportation for nearly 22 years.
Consistent with my philosophy of taking the road less traveled and seeing a different game, I want to share some observations that you may not see elsewhere as often as you should.
Clearly, we should move more drivers into trains, on to buses, and into van and car pools, but these alternatives have been amply discussed elsewhere, so I will not comment on them here.
If we are going to address the transportation crisis, we have to manage demand on all modes, particularly the roads, as well as supply. With respect to highway congestion, the demand problem is not primarily a result of overpopulation or a significant increase in the population of automobiles on the road in our region.
There are three root causes to highway congestion: more vehicle trips, more vehicle miles traveled per driver, and more trucks delivering more items, particularly because of a combination of more global sourcing strategies and more remote, long-haul commerce.
This last trend will become more pronounced as we do more shopping over the Internet and we order products from more geographically remote places. But we can do something about the first two root causes, and, more importantly, the things we can do to reduce congestion are not particularly costly.
First, with technology available today, many more workers should be able to work at home or at satellite offices closer to home or to attend meetings by using video-conferencing technology. Tele-commuting stumbled in its early days because people trying it may have been too ambitious. Trying it one or two days a week, instead of every day, might work better, and it will have an immediate effect on rush-hour traffic congestion. It also is a great morale builder for employees who have personal errands to run near their homes.
Second, the Internet makes ride-matching much more workable for individuals who want to carpool, but do not know how. Connecticut has a program through Rideworks, and other parts of the country, like Northern Virginia, have well-developed systems for ride-matching, including areas where passengers can wait safely for their pick-up.
The federal government also provides tax credits for employers to give to employees for using public transportation and ride-sharing. These are called TransitCheck vouchers. This is a win-win for employers and employees, since employers also avoid paying Social Security taxes on the amounts employees pay for this alternative transportation, and employees pay with pre-tax dollars. Too few employers take advantage of this opportunity.
Third, many non-work-related trips that could be eliminated. Many errands could be handled over the Internet or via the mail. Many government transactions done face-to-face today could be done remotely, including the dispensing and payment of traffic tickets, motor vehicle license renewals, and permit and license renewals.
The most dysfunctional automobile trips in many communities are the ones in which parents take their children to school every day. In my community, many of us drive children to school for three reasons: the books are too heavy to carry on foot, the morning start times are keyed to the convenience of the teachers and administrators, not the body clocks of middle and high-school children, and, most importantly, the town does not have sidewalks or bicycle paths convenient and safe for children to get to school. So we miss the opportunity for our increasingly obese population of children to get a chance to walk.
Safety is a bigger issue in some communities for children to walk to school. When I was young, I had a short walk to school between 5th and 8th grades, but there were bullies along the way that I had to avoid. This is an even bigger issue today.
If automobile trips can’t be eliminated, we should make them more predictable and less stressful. For drivers, the biggest perceived problem, according to many surveys, is not the increasingly long trips, but the increasing unpredictability of trips. When the train is not a practical option and I am forced to drive from Stamford, Connecticut, to Manhattan or to one of the New York airports during rush hour, I could be looking at a one-hour, two-hour, or even longer trip. How much time do I allow? Allowing one hour is too risky, but, more often than not, two hours is too long, and I waste time waiting for the start of a meeting.
What causes unpredictability? Waiting times at toll plazas, accidents, construction, stalled cars, fires and building collapses and, in some cities, police blockades are some of the causes.
Some of these root causes are preventable.
Tolls are probably unavoidable if we want to pay for transportation assets, but governments should eliminate toll booths. Even if a traveler does not purchase an EZ Pass or similar system as an infrequent traveler, having a system for photographing license plates will eliminate the need for non-EZ Pass travelers to have cash in hand and to wait in a cash-dispensing line. It’s also not particularly good for the environment to have millions of cars idling as they take long periods of time to get through barrier tolls around the country.
Many governments use EZ Pass systems to raise tolls higher than they would otherwise be raised with a cash-based toll system. Doing this quietly, rather than openly, does not show government in its best light. We need governments to be forthright about how much revenue they need for transportation and what it will be used for. Voters are smarter about these issues than politicians give them credit for.
The frequency of accidents can be significantly reduced. Given the fact that excess alcohol usage and reckless driving by teenagers is a major cause, we should employ everywhere successful strategies for reducing teenage alcohol usage. As a parent with three children, a 21-year-old and two teenagers, I have mixed feelings about teenage driving. It makes our life easier since my wife and I are not chauffeurs as much, but our children do not have the experience to anticipate as many oddball driving challenges as we have learned over a lifetime of driving. Phased-in drivers licenses will help everywhere.
There are chronically reckless drivers, just as there are hardened criminals. We all experience them, and they create many accidents. New Jersey has a great program, by which any motorist can report reckless driver behavior by dialing #77.
Construction barricades and highway signage and design cause accidents. My mother died in an auto accident in Florida in 1994 partly because of a poorly-designed median strip that blocked visibility of oncoming traffic, and because of a poorly designed construction barricade.
If there is a source of delay, the Internet tools for communicating those delays to others should be more user-friendly and should be updated in real time. The other day, when there was a steam pipe explosion in New York near Grand Central terminal, the media incorrectly reported that Grand Central had been evacuated and closed. That was incorrect. Most entrances were closed and subway service was suspended, but commuters could still get on suburban trains. Metro North failed to communicate accurate information in real time. My son ended up unnecessarily taking an Amtrak train back up to Connecticut.
I will take another opportunity to talk about why our supply of transportation capacity is deficient, but this is just one set of ideas about how to reduce demand.
July 24th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
Dear Michael:
I used to take the train back and forth from Old Saybrook to Bridgeport (work) until a lay-off occurred; fortunately, I found a position in our Shelton facility.
Back in December 2006, PB did have plans on getting a shuttle bus that would provide transportation (two-way) from the Stratford train station to our Shelton facility. Unfortunately, that idea fell through the cracks due to budget constraints???
As suggested, I tried the Nu-rides and the Metropool programs, no commuters within the network commute from the East Haddam area (home). I even added a 10 mile search extension to my drive, no change.
The State promotes commuting due to the congestion on our hi-ways and stresses on taking the rail (one example) but, there is one problem. There needs to be more commuter parking (no charge) near the train stations. From my experience riding the train (3 ½ years), the rail that extends from Old Saybrook to Branford, the parking is free (‘Shoreline East’). However, the train stations that run from New Haven to Stamford (Metro North), the parking lots have either a long waiting list for parking which not free, or there are commuter lots that charge a costly fee in the surrounding areas.
On a positive note, many companies in the Stamford area provide shuttle buses for their employees that use the rail like PB head quarters and Barry place do. Why hasn’t PB offer a shuttle bus yet for their Shelton employees (i.e. Stratford train station to Waterview Dr., Shelton and back)?
Months of searching for alternate commuting options, I finally came to a dead end! I also contacted: Tom Cahill, Leo Petry (rideworks) and Marsha Aarons (metropool.com), no solutions were available other than ones mentioned above.
I also contacted Edward Houghton and Melissa Gardner from PB and proposed an idea. At our Shelton facility, we have security personnel driving around in a Mini-van that PB provides. If plausible, an employee (i.e. grounds keeper) could drive the van a couple times in the morning and in the afternoon Back/forth to the Stratford train station. The answer is in its pending stages.
I also looked at ways to telecommute but to be honest; it seems to be a touchy subject here at PB.
In closing, if the State is so concerned on getting cars off the road, why don’t they provide more shuttle busses to and from companies? Any assistance you can provide on the road “most traveled,” I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for your time and concerns,
~Paul Michael
July 30th, 2007 at 5:33 am
Whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake that Seattle’s in the process of doing: make driving so expensive and such a hassle that people, in theory, won’t drive. If you give people sensible, regionally-supported options they’ll accept them.
While it’s not a perfect parallel to the transportation problem (that would be health care, probably), take a look at how recycling programs have evolved. When they were first instituted, people complained about having to wash and sort recyclables, haul more stuff to the street, etc. It was so much more work! As a result, compliance was slow and difficult. I don’t know how the program works in Fairfield County, but in Seattle they eventually started using one big bin for recycling and another for yard waste. It was a simple switch, a no-brainer that offered more convenience for the same cost. Of course the background processing became more complex, but the main selling point was that the end user saw only the benefit — wow, no more sorting! Compliance went up and so have the ambitions for the program.
A multi-step plan, implemented over time so a benefit is realized at each stage, can work very well. If the concept could be applied to other systems, we might actually get somewhere.
July 30th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
To Paul Michael:
Paul,
You have made two points: first, that there needs to be enough parking for people to access trains; and, second, you have wondered why a company like ours so committed to public transportation would not provide a shuttle service from Stratford, Connecticut, to Shelton Connecticut.
Wherever there are rail stations, there needs to be sufficient and safe passenger access that people who want to travel by train can do so. On the New Haven train line, there is insufficient parking for many stations, but there are specific challenges in increasing parking.
The major challenge is that many stations are in congested downtown areas in which rail station parking ties up spaces that could be used by shoppers or others who need to transact business during the day. When you think about it, a parking space at a train station is often occupied for 10-12 hours and cannot be used for any other purpose. The second major challenge is that people coming to a crowded urban rail station by car create traffic congestion during morning and evening commutes, which results in environmental hazards.
In the long run, we need to have alternative ways for people to get to and from rail stations. Amsterdam has ample room for commuters to use bicycles and scooters. We also should look at golf carts in warmer climates or during warmer seasons in more temperate climates. We should also encourage car-pooling to and from train stations, as well as providing parking away from the station and shuttles to and from it.
As for your second point, I should note that we have been a leader in providing transportation subsidies and services to our employees. We have shuttle services to our Stamford facilities, and we have had a TransitCheck program for employees anywhere that public transportation, car-pooling and van-pooling are viable options. Several hundred employees participate.
With respect to the idea of a shuttle between Stratford and Shelton, shuttles do not work well when the distance between a rail station and the destination is 15-20 minutes driving time away (as it is between Stratford and Shelton), especially when that trip can be lengthened by traffic delays. Shuttles work best over short distances when they can do a continuous route back and forth from multiple trains. Unfortunately, like many companies, we built the Shelton campus in the late 1980’s when mass transit was not a priority. The better solution is for you to find a car-pooling or van-pooling alternative from where you live to Shelton.
Thank you for your comments.
- mike
August 14th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
>> The most dysfunctional automobile trips in many communities are the ones in which parents take their children to school every day.
September 12th, 2007 at 7:04 am
Anton Wrote: ” The most dysfunctional automobile trips in many communities are the ones in which parents take their children to school every day.”
I could agree with you to a point however. Some parents need to leave early for work before the child’s schedule bus pickup, what would your solution be?
Thanks,
~PM
September 14th, 2007 at 9:15 am
To PM:
I am sure you are right. However, having seen the traffic approaching the schools in our community and others close to the time school starts, the heavy traffic comes after the buses have passed by, not before. As in my household, many children cannot get up soon enough to catch the bus. In high school, it is not cool to use buses. By junior or senior year, many students want to drive to school, for no other reason than that they have after-school activities or want to have the freedom to drive. Having teenagers drive early is a whole other subject on which I should do a future blog.
- mike
September 17th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Hello Mike:
“Having teenagers drive early is a whole other subject on which I should do a future blog.”
I’m looking forward to that discussion!
~PM