There appears to be an increasing consensus on the state and federal levels that public transportation and transportation infrastructure like rail need more investment and promotion.
The Biden administration has made clear its intentions to invest in rail, including potentially connecting Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York via high-speed train — a move many say would be a game-changer for Greater Hartford.
Promoting forms of transportation other than cars could be seen as a threat to a parking-lot operator’s business model, but LAZ Parking CEO Alan Lazowski said he supports the initiative. First of all, he said investing in public transportation is good for society, and secondly, many of LAZ’s garages and lots are used by rail passengers who park their cars near mass transit sites like Metro-North.
Lazowski said he also basically sees eye-to-eye with Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who has publicly supported expanding public transportation in the city.
And after a dustup with Hartford’s city council earlier this year, he said communication between his company and city officials has improved.
In December, city councilors proposed — with no input from the business community — and were prepared to vote on a measure that would have significantly increased fees on downtown parking-lot operators. Proponents hoped the measure would spur owners to redevelop some of their vacant lots.
But the move drew the ire of the business community whose backlash eventually killed the proposal, at least in the short term.
That situation boiled down to a lack of communication, said Lazowski. He added that he and other downtown business leaders bore some blame, since they hadn’t been attending council meetings or doing much to keep up with what was going on in city government.
However, Lazowski and city councilors now say they view the situation as a blessing in disguise because it has opened new avenues of dialogue that didn’t previously exist.
For example, the Hartford Chamber of Commerce has established a policy working group with various stakeholders, and Councilor Shirley Surgeon has become a liaison to the downtown business community, and will now regularly attend monthly meetings of the Hartford Business Improvement District. Councilor John Gale, the main proponent of the parking-lot fee increase measure, said he’s been in contact with officials from LAZ Parking and other stakeholders, and thinks the increased communications bodes well for the city.
“It’s a great thing, and I’m glad that something positive happened where we’re now communicating with each other,” Surgeon said. “I always believe in dialogue with all of our constituents.”