State proposes Metro North fare hike

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan to raise Metro-North fares by 5 percent to cover cuts in the state transportation budget is already running into a freight train of opposition.

“The hits just keep on coming for beleaguered Connecticut commuters,” said state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, and ranking member on the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee.

Over the weekend, the state Department of Transportation quietly announced plans to raise fares for Metro-North’s New Haven Line, as well as its Danbury, Waterbury and New Canaan branches and Shore Line East. It would also raise bus fees, close highway rest stops and limit ticket windows at some train stations. The proposed increase will be the subject of public hearings in September, and comes as train fares were already set to rise by one percent in December. If the hike is approved, commuters would effectively be handed a 6 percent hike this fiscal year.

“These increased fees are tax hikes, plain and simple,” said Boucher, who vowed to fight the proposal.

Compensating for cuts

The announcement came after Malloy sent a letter Friday to the General Assembly’s leadership advising them that $37 million cut from DOT’s budget during a compromise earlier this year to plug a growing state deficit had to be restored if the state is to operate an effective transportation system. The budget compromise reduced state spending by nearly $1 billion and laid off thousands of state workers.

“These are not decisions anyone takes lightly, but are nevertheless necessary to avoid significant reductions in service,” Malloy said, referring to fare increases. “I believe we should let this be a reminder as to what happens when transportation funding is cut, our economy suffers, and because our systems deteriorate, consumers face higher costs and lose more time in traffic.”

James Cameron, founder of the Commuter Action Group, said he’s urging commuters to come out in large numbers to oppose the fare increase.

More Information Hikes instead of cuts? Here’s the state Department of Transportation’s plan to offset $37 million in budget cuts: Raise fares for all Connecticut Metro-North lines by 5 percent in December Increase bus fares 25 cents. Close rest areas at night to passenger traffic Reduce staff at highway welcome centers Close Westbrook welcome center Delay hiring personnel Find fuel savings Reduce salt purchases due to mild winters The public hearing on the proposed changes will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus Auditorium, One University Place.

“It’s not by chance that they chose a summertime Friday to slip this bad news over the transom, hoping nobody would notice,” Cameron said. “Commuters on Metro-North are a captive audience and we really have no alternative to taking the train and Hartford knows that. The governor and DOT need to explain why this fare hike is needed.”

“Responsible plan”

Along with the proposed Metro-North increase, DOT also wants to raise bus fares by 25 cents, from $1.50 to $1.75, along with a similar increase in express and prepaid bus fares.

The plan would close under-utilized ticket windows at the Greenwich, South Norwalk and Bridgeport train stations. Two ticket windows at the New Haven station would be open on weekday mornings instead of three.

Other cost cutting moves include reducing staff hours at the state’s seven highway rest areas and closing the Westbrook welcome center completely. The rest areas would be closed overnight, but truck parking would be allowed.

DOT commissioner James Redeker said the plan generates enough revenue to cover $19 million in road and bridge program reductions and $18 million in cuts to public transportation programs. Redeker labeled the proposal a “responsible plan that ensures a balanced budget in this fiscal year and positions DOT for the new economic realities that will be faced in the upcoming biennial budget.”

Malloy warned that highway work could stop if the fare hikes and other adjustments are not made.

“We are all watching transportation work come to a halt in New Jersey, where hundreds of projects have stopped and where more than $3 billion in transportation upgrades have been suspended,” Malloy said. “If we want to improve our economic outlook and grow jobs, letting our infrastructure languish and deteriorate is simply not an option.”

Held ‘hostage’ by hikes

Lawmakers and commuter advocates wasted no time objecting to Malloy’s plan, and social media sites quickly lit up with with complaints.

“Not a fair solution to a problem created by incompetence in Hartford,” Lance Gill of Norwalk wrote on a Facebook page.

State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton and a transportation committee member, said commuters have no choice but to swallow fare increases and vowed to fight the plan.

“The total 6 percent increase is substantial and will hit Metro-North rail commuters particularly hard,” Lavielle said, noting commuters already absorbed 5 percent fare increases in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and a 1 percent increase in 2015.