The Reserve in downtown Meriden closes amid parking worries

MyRecordJournal.com: "MERIDEN — The closure of a 93-space parking lot at 38-44 Colony St. is miring services for churchgoers and business customers, and according to one owner, contributed to the closure of The Reserve public house and concert venue."

CT Governor admits cars choking the economy, calls it unacceptable.

Governor Malloy: "We have more to do because traffic congestion still costs the average person an extra 42 hours away from your family each year.

And for our economy, it’s the equivalent of 97 million dollars in lost time and wasted fuel, each and every day.

All told roads and bridges that are either deficient or overly-congested cost Connecticut drivers a total of 4.2 billion dollars annually.

It’s harming us and the health of our children with additional air pollution and smog.

Simply put, our investments have not kept pace with our needs, and our residents and businesses are paying the price.

It’s unacceptable. We need a new approach."

The real problem: too many cars

Waltham Voices : "Recently, I attended a neighborhood meeting concerning future development at 1265 Main Street. In order for that development to expand, the developer needs to have a traffic plan approved that will get the traffic out of the Cedarwood neighborhood. New ramps to and from the highway as well as roadways parallel to Route 128 to move the traffic between Route 20 and Route 117 are part of the proposed solution.
This may help keep the traffic out of the neighborhood but really does nothing about the real problem, which is there are just too many cars. Adding more lanes to 128 or access roads beside it will simply allow more cars to be caught in a traffic jam."

Campaign for YouthPass in Boston -- decision of MassDot coming up soon.

Post by Youth Affordabili(T) Coalition.

More people using #publictransit in Rhode Island

brown daily herald: "The measure would address congestion at Kennedy Plaza and the lack of synchronization between the rail service and the bus service, said Scott Wolf, executive director of Grow Smart Rhode Island. “We are clearly seeing more people turning to public transit as a viable transportation form,” Wolf said. Without a good connection for transfers from commuter rail to the bus service, commuters are forced to “improvise,” which presents a hassle for commuters and paints Providence as a less attractive area for “young talent,” he added."

Attracting talent a zero-sum game. Got #transit?

Providence Journal : "Providence is struggling to reinvent itself. Attracting young college graduates will be essential to its success.
To reach this population, Providence must offer an updated transportation system, making it easy to move quickly from place to place. People now in their 20s and early 30s are showing a decided preference for going carless. Dependable bus and train service therefore figures strongly in their choice of where to live."

The high cost of freeways

There are many hidden costs to support the auto and sprawl, but we could have free public transit for $100 annual per person tax and easily recover ten time that amount.

masslive.com: "SPRINGFIELD — The average Springfield driver loses more than $1,600 each year as a result of driving on congested, deteriorated and poorly maintained roads, according to a report released on Tuesday by TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group based in Washington, D.C."