Some Cities’ Development Around CTfastrak Highlighted On Busway’s 2nd Anniversary – Hartford Courant

Two years after CTfastrak buses started rolling through central Connecticut, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said on Tuesday that the transit system is paying off by spurring new residential development.

Malloy and several senior state officials rode a bus from Hartford to the Elmwood section of West Hartford for a press conference at the site of 616 New Park, a planned four-story apartment complex next to the bus station.

"We are seeing new mixed-used developments being created all along the route, bringing life to neighborhoods where just a few years ago there were eyesores," Malloy said.

Malloy's administration contends that 616 New Park and the proposed Columbus Commons 160-unit apartment complex in New Britain are evidence that CTfastrak is fostering transit-oriented development.

The $20 million project on New Park Avenue is expected to create 54 apartments and 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, additions that West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said will help the growth of Elmwood.

"This transformative project will bring new energy, activity and most importantly customers to New Park Avenue," Cantor told reporters.

The state transportation department used the event to announce that CTfastrak has provided more than 5 million passenger rides since it opened on March 28,2015, and was reaching 20,000 rides on weekdays in the late summer. Last month's ridership was up about 20 percent over the same period a year earlier, the DOT reported.

"The business community and residents are excited about the economic development opportunities a successful transit system can bring," said Michael Sanders, the senior DOT manager who oversaw the busway's construction.

When committing in 2011 to build the roughly $567 million CTfastrak system, Malloy predicted that a modern rapid transit operation connecting Hartford, New Britain and the suburbs of Newington and West Hartford would draw developers to nearby properties particularly the vacant storefronts and abandoned warehouses along the route.

So far, there has been no flood of private funding or procession of construction vehicles. Lyle Wray, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments, cautions that transit-oriented development takes years or decades. He's confident that reasonably priced apartments close to CTfastrak stations with stores, entertainment and services conveniently nearby will appeal to young workers who don't want cars or the burden of suburban home ownership.

"If we are going to attract the next generation of skilled workers, these are the kinds of assets we need to have," Wray said.

Critics still contend the project was too costly and that its more than $20 million-a-year subsidy is unaffordable. Some are dubious about glowing ridership figures when many buses on feeder routes appear to run empty or nearly empty at off-peak times.

Republicans in the General Assembly are trying to pass a law requiring the DOT to publicly provide detailed annual figures on how many people are riding and precisely what the system costs.

Even after two years, the DOT reports complete construction costs are still unavailable. Senior DOT officials, however, anticipate the final figure will be somewhere in the $560 million range about 1 to 2 percent lower than the project's $567 million budget.

Malloy dismissed the lingering opposition Tuesday, saying he's not surprised that wealthy country club members don't think bus service is a priority.

"People who don't use buses don't understand that other people do," Malloy said.

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Some Cities' Development Around CTfastrak Highlighted On Busway's 2nd Anniversary - Hartford Courant