Getting around Connecticut could start costing more in 2018 as the Department of Transportation (CTDOT) searches for more revenue amidst a funding crisis.
Starting in July, the CTDOT is proposing a 10 percent hike for Metro-North and Shoreline East rail fares, followed by an additional five percent increase in 2020 and 2021. Bus fares would go up 25 cents.
Renee Pearsall from Meriden takes the train several times a year from New Haven’s Union Station to New York City’s Grand Central in order to visit her children.
"I think it’s a little bit excessive. I mean, every time we turn around the fares are going up," Pearsall said.
A round trip peak ticket on the New Haven Line to Grand Central would cost an additional $4.70 if the proposed fare hike goes through.
The CTDOT is also proposing reducing weekday off-peak service on Shore Line East, Danbury, Waterbury and New Canaan branch trains, as well as eliminating weekend service on those rail lines.
On Main Street in downtown Hartford, people who depend on the bus to get around told NBC Connecticut they do not like the idea of paying 25 cents more.
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"I don’t think it’s a good idea considering a lot of people already struggle for the bus," Shedalis Rijos of Hartford said. "$1.75 is enough already just to get from here to the corner."
Raising fares and reducing service is needed because the state’s transportation system faces a major financial crisis in part because gas tax revenues are going down, according to the CTDOT.
Gov. Dannel Malloy has also warned major transportation projects could be canceled without new revenue.
"Clearly, we are at a crossroads, we’re either going get off the road and stop what we’re doing because we won’t have the money to do it which means we will be uncompetitive with states like Massachusetts and New York," Malloy said on Tuesday. "Or we’re going to wake up smell the coffee and compete."
Some lawmakers have suggested adding electronic tolls to Connecticut’s highways as a new source of revenue, but it’s unclear how popular that would be during an election year.
Next week, the CTDOT plans to announce a schedule for public hearings on the proposed fare increases.
On Wednesday afternoon, Malloy and CTDOT Commissioner James Redeker are holding a news conference about the status of the Special Transportation Fund.
