Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker doesn’t know what the state’s transportation future will be. He wants you to tell him.
Through its TransformCT initiative, DOT is relying on input from residents and stakeholders, including the business community, to help decide whether Connecticut needs more roads, rail, buses, or Zipcars — or all of the above — to maximize the state’s economic output and quality of life.
“We are here at the will and the funding of the taxpayers,” Redeker said. “Our job at the DOT is to understand what the people want us to do.”
To prevent this unique planning methodology and the future of perhaps Connecticut’s most important economic infrastructure from becoming dictated by mob rule, DOT is striking a balance in both who they are soliciting opinions from and how seriously they are taking each recommendation, Redeker said.
To ensure one small group doesn’t overly influence the decision-making process, DOT is including people from different geographies, backgrounds, and preferred types of transportation.
“We are being very thoughtful,” Redeker said. “We are making sure we are doing a representative sample of the needs of everyone in the state.”
The information is being gathered through the website www.TransformCT.org, along with public hearings. The recommendations from the public have varied widely, although people are expressing interest in transit-oriented development and a robust public transit infrastructure with buses and rail.
After all this information has been gathered, experts at DOT will ultimately create a 50-year outlook plan for the state’s infrastructure. The initiative launched in June 2013 and expects to have recommendations ready by January.
Information residents and stakeholders provide is important, but DOT has to be the voice of reason at the end, Redeker said.
Agency experts will know what is financially feasible and capable of being done within the existing infrastructure.
“If it doesn’t make economic sense, then it is not going to happen,” Redeker said.
Efforts to include public input in DOT planning include figuring out what improvements people are willing to pay for. The state and the country are nearing a transportation funding crisis as user fees and taxes are not keeping up with the transportation system’s financial needs, much less the desired plans for the future.
“They aren’t going to pay for it if you just say, ‘It is an old system that needs replacing,’” Redeker said. “You need to tell them that the system will be key to their livelihood, to get to work, get home, get to the doctor.”
The public needs to see how vital a robust transportation infrastructure is to economic growth and how disruptive a breakdown in the aging system can be on their lives and jobs, Redeker said. China has invested more money in building roads in the last three years than the U.S. has in the past 100 years, which helps fuel China as the world’s fastest growing major economy.
“The value of a Starbucks per day could fund our transportation plan with stable funding year after year. That is just the regular Starbucks, not even the fancy Starbucks,” Redeker said.
The 50-year outlook starts with what people want, Redeker said, because once they understand the value, they will be receptive to taxes and fees needed to make the plan a reality.
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