Transport Hartford Academy

– Action Teams – Summit – Policy – Articles – Climate –

Road to Zero – Walk Audits – Discussion Group – BiCi Co –

What is the Transport Hartford Academy?

The Transport Hartford Academy deepens resident engagement and is supporting a growing group of active and informed residents who will shape future transportation developments.

Transport Hartford educates residents in the region that are passionate about biking, walking, transit, and multi-modal transportation as part of a sustainable and socially just region.  For Hartford to succeed and grow it has to move beyond single occupancy vehicle travel both culturally and with well designed infrastructure. The Transport Hartford Action Teams and empowered citizens improve the region’s economic vitality, quality of life, and environmental sustainability.

Join our e-mail newsletter – Transport Hartford will keep you up to date on forums, workshops, policy issues, and advocacy opportunities.  Select ‘Transport Hartford’, and if you love bikes, you can also select ‘All BiCi Co.’

Our movement is powered by people.  That’s you.  There is a vibrant and active Transport Hartford Facebook  discussion group that gains in strength with each new member.  

The Transport Hartford Action Teams – Email to Join a Team

• Transportation Climate Initiative – Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, Connecticut coalition
• Multi-use trail connectivity – (1) Wethersfield to Hartford, (2) Hartford to Windsor (3) East Coast Greenway through Hartford
• Bike Share Action Team – Keeping Hartford on the forefront of urban mobility (CRCOG regional proposal, summer 2019)
• Tactical Urbanism Action Team – Finding and implementing quick and low cost safety improvements, Hartford 2019 projects
• Vision Zero / Road to Zero Team – Traffic Enforcement, Speed Limits, and Crash Data.  Reducing road crashes, injuries, and fatalities. (2020 proposed legislation)
• ZipCar-Type Car Share – Working to get Downtown Hartford locations
• Transit Equity Action Team – Fighting for transit improvements and affordable fares, #TransitEquity4CT, 2021 Transit Equity Day Event on Feb 2nd
• DMV Hartford Location – Hartford sorely needs at least a DMV satellite location.  Possible resolution in 2021.  Stay tuned!
• Transit Pass Benefits for State and Municipal Employees – Advocating for sustainable transportation alternatives
• Protected Bike Lane Advocates and Intersection Improvements – Hartford’s Bicycle Master Plan, approved 2019
• Parking Craters Must Die – Working toward policies and tax structures that spur redevelopment of wasteful surface lots
• Commuter Rail Action Team – Improving rail transit, Bikes on Board 2018 announcement and Amtrak bikes-on-board (2020)
• You can –> Propose and Form a New Action Team

Road to Zero

In 2018 we were awarded a Road to Zero Grant (July 2018 – June 2019).  Transport Hartford worked with Blue Hills Civic Association, the Police Activities League, and the Hartford Police Explorers to reduce crashes with injuries and fatalities in Hartford.  The program was a combination of teen internships, community outreach, and crosswalk traffic calming.  More info here.

Walk (and Bike + Transit) Audits

“Walk audits are a great tool to gather information about street conditions, engage community members, and inform planning and traffic safety projects. Through walk audits, you can help improve walking, health, and quality of life in your community! In a walk audit, community members go for a walk together, noting what makes their streets feel comfortable for walking and what is missing. Walk audits can be informal and casual events with just a few friends, or can include city council members, traffic engineers, and detailed forms.” – from the National Safe Routes to School Partnership

Walk Audit Resources:

• AARP Walk Audit Toolkit and Leader Guide and America Walks YouTube Video
• Nov 17th, 2020 – How to Do a Walk (Bike + Transit) Audit Training – Webinar Recording and Presentation Slides

Walk Audit Reports, Hartford Metro Region

• 5/1/2018 – East Hartford, Burnside Ave (rt 44) and Main Street Bike and Walk Audit
• 5/22/2018 – Hartford, Albany Ave (rt 44) Construction Walk Audit – In response to resident complaints of safety and ADA issues around the Albany Ave construction work
• 6/5/2018 – West Hartford, Bike and Walk Audit of North Main Street
• 7/18/2018 – Glastonbury – Bike and Walk Audit of the Hebron Ave / New London Tpke Roundabout
• 8/30/2018 – Walk and Bike Audit of Broad Street (Route 159) and 75 in Windsor’s town center
• 9/26/2018 – Silver Lane in East Hartford, Main Street to Simmons
• 10/11/2018 – Wethersfield Avenue, Hartford – In response to a daytime pedestrian fatality
• 10/20/2018 – Hartford’s Union Station Area
• 11/19/2018 – Main St, Park St, and Pulaski Circle – Ahead of the 2018 Multimodal and Transit Summit
• 1/26/2019 – North Main Street, Hartford – Near Parker Memorial Recreation Center
• 3/19/2019 – Asylum Hill Neighborhood, Hartford
• 4/11/2019 – Newington and New Britain, from the Cedar Street CTfastrak station to CCSU
• 5/8/2019 – Downtown North, Dunkin Donuts Stadium, and Clay Arsenal Neighborhood, Hartford
• 6/21/2019 – Charter Oak Landing and Coltsville in Hartford, including bridge to East Hartford
• 6/22/2019 – Weaver High School and Bowles Park, Hartford – School, this school re-opened in the Fall of 2019
• 8/18/2020 – Washington Street Walk Audit, Hartford – From Retreat Avenue to Russ Street
• 11/7/2020 – Hampton Street, Hartford – Photos from a community walk (and ride) along the first neighborhood Slow Street in Hartford
• 4/19/2021 – Walk/Bike (and Transit) Audit of Hartford’s Coltsville Neighborhood – Summary Report & CT DOT Report by Patrick Zapatka
• 2021 Windsor – Wilson Neighborhood Walk Audit – Report Link Soon
• TBD Future Date – Park Street Walk Audit, Hartford – From Main Street to Broad Street. Stay tuned.

Policy, Funding, and Legislative Priorities

Many of the goals of the action teams require something beyond local workshops and community meetings.  Here is the list of 2020 policy, funding, and legislative priorities that Transport Hartford identified along with help from action teams, residents, and other partners working on biking, walking, transit, and multimodal issues.

2021 Transportation and Climate Initiative – Enabling Legislation

2021 – Proposed Speed Camera Pilot

2020 Legislative Priorities (expanding U-Pass bill, safety bill, & related article)

2019 Legislative Priorities

2019 Legislative Survey Results

2019, Two Bills Stalled in CT Senate

If you have feedback or questions, send an email to Transport Hartford.

Transport Hartford Articles

The Transport Hartford team’s recent research and related writing on sustainable transportation in Connecticut and beyond.

• City Observatory – Why parking should pay its way instead of getting a free ride
• COVID-19 Gave Connecticut A Taste Of Cleaner Air – Can We Keep It That Way? – A proposal for e-bike rebates
• What Can We Learn From an Interactive Crash Map? – A tool for evaluating traffic violence in Hartford
• Thinking Outside the Box – COVID-19 for Families Without Cars and a similar op-ed by Mary Donegan, Are we using our streets properly? Coronavirus gives Connecticut a chance to reassess
• Choose Your Own Recovery – Responding to the COVID Crisis
• Gov. Lamont, CT leaders can light the way toward lower emissions
• State On Pace For 84 Pedestrian Deaths; 2 Safety Bills Stalled in 2019
• How to Get Away with Murder in Hartford – Use Your Car (2018 Crash Fatalities)
• Connecticut Men, Deadly on the Road
• CTtransit Could Save Your Life
• Did the 2008 CT Teen Driving Law Save Lives?
• Happy Speed Hump Day, Hartford!
• Let’s Get Wet – Green Infrastructure
• Connecticut Needs a YIMBY NIMBY Alliance
• Why is CREC Building Schools to Accelerate the Climate Apocalypse?

Transportation Climate Initiative

The cap-and-invest Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) is a multi-state collaboration to reduce pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, the state’s largest contributing sector.  Participating states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are expected to propose TCI legislation in 2021, with the program going into effect in 2023.

Current and Upcoming Events:

• What’s Next? –
  • Proposed legislation in the 2021 session – CT Senate Bill 884, An Act Reducing Transportation-Related Carbon Emissions
  • Public hearing on the Transportation and Climate Initiative legislation – March 8th, 2021 Link to Testimony.  Take Action – Email your legislator now
  • Email us at transporthartford@ctprf.org to get onto our TCI announcement list.
• Stay tuned to Transport Hartford – Talking Transportation for announcements and opportunities to act

Past Meetings and Resources:

• Results from the post-pandemic CT Transportation Future Survey – Stay tuned! The summary results will be shared in Feb 2021, coming soon!
• Feb. 17th, 2021 – Transportation, Climate, and Racial Justice, with Dr. Cecilia Maria Pinto de Moura of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Collaborative Center for Justice and THA. Virtual meeting recording coming soon.
• Feb 2nd, 2021 – CT Transit Equity Day – At the Capitol,  a virtual event with State Rep. Roland Lemar and featured speakers – Virtual Meeting Recording
• CT League of Conservation Voters – 2021 Briefing Paper on the Transportation and Climate Initiative 
• Wed, Jan 20th, 2021 – CT Commuter Rail Council: Talking TCI – CT DOT and Johnny Dach from Gov. Lamont’s office discussed the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Link TBD.
• Dec 21st, 2020 – First states to sign on to the multi-state TCI agreement:
  • Connecticut TCI Coalition Press Release
  • CT News Junkie – State Invests In Climate Initiative For Cleaner Air
  • CT Mirror – CT Signs on to Regional Plan to Cut Transportation Emissions
  • Hartford Business Journal – CT Commits to Transportation Cap-and-Trade Program
• Dec 17th, 2020 – LISTEN: How Transportation Emissions Make Us Sicker (NEXT, New England News Collaborative)
• Dec 9th, 2020 – Multi-State TCI Poll Released and a good article from the Boston Globe, Mass., other states near historic agreement to curb transportation emissions – “Seven in 10 Voters Support Transportation and Climate Initiative As Part of the Recovery from the Pandemic”
• Nov 23rd, 2020 – Northeast Multimodal and Transit Summit – All sessions were recorded and are posted here.  Transportation and Climate Initiative sessions listed below:
  • Build Back Better: Cap-and-Invest in Sustainable Transportation
  • Clean Transportation for Rural Communities
  • The Future of Bus Transit and BRT
• Nov 12th, 2020 – 200 Organizations Urge Northeast, Mid-Atlantic Governors to Move on Ambitious and Equitable Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) –  Press release, and PDF of joint letter with logos
• Oct 1st, 2020 – Transportation, Equity, and Environmental Justice in Connecticut – Combined slides and the CT-N Recording
• Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 – Webinar on ensuring environmental justice and equity in a regional low-carbon transportation program – Slides from the meeting
• Wednesday, Sept 16th, 2020 – Transportation and Climate Initiative webinar on program design, modeling, and the implications of COVID-19 – Slides and the Webinar Recording
• August 12th, 2020 – Power of Place Wednesday Webinar – Cutting Emissions and Improving Mobility – Webinar recording link
• June 25th, 2020 – Essential (Bus) Transit, Panel Discussion and Q&A – Slides with links and the web panel / discussion recording
• May 27th, 2020 – Air Pollution, COVID-19 Mortality and Communities of Color – YouTube Video of the Webinar and a related article on how communities of color experience more motor vehicle pollution
• May 12th, 2020 – Telecommuting Webinar and Q&A – What is the future of teleworking and remote work in Connecticut? Slides and the Web Meeting Recording
• May 6th, 2020 – Article in the CT Post – “Pollution and the Pandemic Are A Deadly Mix. It’s Time to Fix That” by Lauren Bailey, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
• April 28th, 2020, 11:00 am – EV’s and Electric School Buses – Connecticut updates and how to organize with your community to speed the transition to clean, electric buses. Slides and the Web Meeting Recording
• March 23rd, 2020 – Connecticut Web Meeting with Business Leader, Legislators, and Advocates – Slides and the Web Meeting Recording, CERES Business Sign-On Letter
• March 20th, 2020 – Joint Letter on TCI Equity and Environmental Justice Issues – LINK
• February 24th, 2020 – Green For All Regional Web Meeting – Slides presented
• Dec 2019 – Polling finds voters in largest Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states are open to policy to reduce transportation emissions – “The research surveyed registered voters […] Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Overall, 66% of voters said they would support the policy, while 23% were opposed. Support ranged from a high of 71% in New York to a low of 60% in Virginia.”
• CT’s Transportation Future Survey Results (Oct/Nov 2019) – LINK
• Oct 29th Transportation and Climate Initiative Workshop – Presentation slides and Response Letter for Regional Framework
• Sept 26th Statewide Webinar – Presentation and Recorded Webinar (with audio + Q&A)
• August 13th, 2019 Kickoff Meeting – Meeting notes and the CT DOT / DEEP presentation

To join the Connecticut TCI Coalition or get a coalition meeting invitation email Tony Cherolis