State officials who oversee Connecticut's Fastrak admit that they can't say with certainty whether the less than year-old bus rapid transit system has been making enough revenues to cover operating costs.
Transportation Commissioner James Redeker says that's not a bad thing, and added that the system wasn't designed to differentiate ticket or pass purchases from Fastrak to other CT Transit Buses.
“We sell passes and tickets. People use that system very freely on and off and in a month, frankly as many times as they want" Redeker explained during an interview Monday. "We don’t track the revenues because we don’t sell most of the system on board.”
Critics of the bus system say the fact that state officials can't determine how much has gone toward tickets and passes is unacceptable.
Rep. Whit Betts, a Republican from Bristol, says the busway may be successful in a place with a major hub like New Britain or Hartford but he says he's seen no benefit on his part of the line.
“When you’re in Bristol there are so many times when you can drive by and there is virtually nobody in the bus. Maybe there’s one or two people" Betts said.
Betts added that he's heard from constituents who never use the busway who are looking for answers regarding its profitability.
“They’re still really upset over this project because they don’t understand how the government can spend $60 million a mile where they would have rather had that money spent on repairing local roads and bridges.”
Redeker says people are purchasing tickets and not just riding the bus for free, which may sound simple, but he insists is a key point considering an honor system is used on all trips.
“What we’ve found is that people are paying exactly what they should be and there’s no abuse to that system and that’s terrific news. We’ve found that people are paying. They’re carrying their appropriate ticket or pass and that’s exactly how it should work.”
Redeker also pointed out that the line has seen ridership that has far-exceeded expectations in the first year.
Funding for the line increased from $10 million to $17 million for the next fiscal year.
Betts says with an increase like that, taxpayers deserve answers.
“What business could ever operate with a 70% deficit in one year?" he asked.
