The CTfastrak is celebrating its third anniversary.
Many criticized the $570-million project from the start, but Gov. Dannel Malloy said Wednesday that it’s surpassed expectations.
Shuttling 15 million riders to date by state estimates, Malloy said those numbers are proof the cost to taxpayers was money well spent.
“We’ve actually exceeded our own predictions with respect to success. To reach ridership numbers that we had not expected to reach for years to come is really quite spectacular,” Malloy said during a news conference celebrating the rapid transit system.
Detractors were quick to point out their belief that ridership numbers have been inflated by including routes previously in use before construction and counting roundtrip users twice.
Republican leaders, like Senator Len Fasano called the governor’s statement misleading, adding, “We see the CTfastrak buses every day in Hartford; they’re big, they’re green, and they’re empty.”
“Public transit doesn’t make money,” Jim Redeker, Transportation Commissioner explained. “The investments being made by the private sector in housing and mixed-use development and commercial development are going to ultimately exceed the cost of this system.”
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State leaders point to a surged in economic growth, such as a subsidized apartment building going up a block away from this West Hartford stop, growth around the CTfastrak in New Britain, and projects the governor said are planned up and down the Fastrak corridor.
Malloy said to continue that growth investors need to know that the system will be viable for years to come. However, a big budget shortfall could push future expansion off track.
“There are lots of things that we want to do, including bus service by about 40 percent over the not-too-distant future. You need money to do that and the transportation fund is not projecting a five-year surplus,” Malloy said.
The governor said the regional rapid-transit service was developed to give people access to jobs and our cities.
That’s just what one rider said it’s doing for her.
“I love the convenience of the bus. I mean, when I can’t get a ride I know I can jump on the bus,” Tanisha Bonner, of Hartford, said.
The Commissioner of Transportation said 80 percent was paid for with federal grant money.
Many state transportation projects are on hold because of the budget gap and Fasano said the millions in state taxpayer dollars that helped pay for the project would have been better spent investing in roads and other infrastructure that serve more commuters in Connecticut.
