To offset a $37 million budget reduction, the state Department of Transportation has announced fare hikes and reductions to planned rail and bridge improvement.
Road and bridge program reductions total $19 million and public transportation program reductions total $18 million.
The highway and bridge reductions include decreasing maintenance work related to items such as tree cutting, joint and crack sealing, and drainage work. Additional plan savings include delays in hiring personnel, anticipated fuel savings and anticipated reduced salt purchases based on larger than normal starting inventories resulting from last year’s mild winter. Other savings include $100,000 in subsidy reductions to Municipal Planning Organizations.
Effective Dec. 1, DOT is planning to increase fares by 5 percent on the New Haven commuter rail line, including the New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury branches, and Shore Line East, which the agency said would generate about $5.9 million in new revenue. On the New Haven Line, the increase would be combined with a 1 percent previously scheduled fare increase that supports the purchase of the new M-8 rail cars that the state put into service beginning in 2010.
DOT said in a statement that another $7.2 million would be saved through Shore Line East fuel savings, reducing New Haven Line overtime costs through reduced after-hours maintenance, and closing underused ticket windows at the Greenwich, South Norwalk and Bridgeport stations. At the New Haven station, two ticket windows will be open on weekday mornings, down from three currently.
The standard one-way fare on the statewide CTtransit services would go up 25 cents, from $1.50 to $1.75, and the express bus fares and other pre-paid fare types would rise a proportional percentage – generating an estimated $2.3 million. Approximately $1 million will be saved through subsidy reductions to local transit district operations and other reductions.
DOT also plans reductions of staffed hours at seven highway rest areas and closing the Westbrook welcome center completely. The seven staffed rest areas will be closed overnight, but truck parking will be permitted. The budget proposal is also based on obtaining sponsorship funding to sustain the CHAMP highway emergency service program.
