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Transportation
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Christopher and Assistant Secretary for
Transportation Policy Emil Frankel present the City of
Bridgeport with $8 million for construction of the new
Intermodal Transportation Center. Shays and Frankel also
delivered a $7.9 million check to the City of Stamford
for the Stamford Urban Transitway. |
TEA-LU* Moving Commuters to Public Transportation
* Reducing Truck Traffic
* The Commuter Tax Equity Act and the Mass
Transit Tax Credit Act * Aircraft
Noise *
I am committed to easing Fairfield County's transportation-related
burdens. Our location in the middle of the New York-Boston
corridor, less than an hour from the business center of the
world, as well as our own success in welcoming business, have
led to suffocating congestion on our roads and increased noise
from air traffic over our heads.
Fixing our transportation crisis is a top priority of mine
and has been for several years. The nightmare situation on
I-95 is a barrier to economic growth in the region, leads
to worsened air quality, and simply is a tremendous waste
of time for many commuters.
I believe the key to solving the traffic problems on our
highways and roads is two-fold. First, we must move commuters
from cars to other forms of public transportation, such as
trains or ferries. Second, we must reduce the amount of truck
traffic on the interstates.
TEA-LU
On April 2, 2004, I voted for H.R.
3, the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for
Users, which passed the House by a vote of 412 to 8. This
legislation provides significant benefits to Connecticut.
The legislation provides $286 billion over six years.
Over the next five years, TEA-LU will provide Connecticut
nearly $2.5 billion for highway funding, which is $100 million
more than the state received over the six year life of TEA-21,
the last authorization bill and a total increase of 19 percent.
The legislation will also provide $485 million over the next
five years for Connecticut's public transportation.
Most importantly, the bill maintains a needs-based funding
formula, as opposed to one that gives a minimum guarantee
of funding to other states. Since Connecticut received $1.48
in revenue for every $1.00 paid in gas taxes to the highway
trust fund, maintaining this formula was critical to the state.
We get more than $1 because our needs are greater, our roads
are older and we are more densely populated.
As anyone who lives in southwestern Connecticut knows all
too well, our transportation infrastructure is in dire need
of improvement. According to the Department of Transportation,
approximately $53 billion is needed annually just to maintain
the condition of federal highway and transit programs. To
maintain and improve them, $74.8 billion is needed. Currently,
we spend just $40 billion on these programs. Clearly, additional
resources are necessary
Click
here for information about funding for the Fourth Congressional
District.
Moving Commuters to Public Transportation
In fiscal year 2006 (FY 06), we obtained $15 million for
the Stamford Urban Transitway project to provide an additional
lane for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and direct access to
a new 1,200-car parking garage currently being constructed
at the Stamford train station. This will allow commuters and
travelers to take full advantage of ongoing improvements to
the station. This brings the total federal funding for this
project to $62 million.
We also obtained $6 million for the Bridgeport Intermodal
Center to consolidate access between several transportation
modes, including Amtrak passenger service, Metro-North, intercity
buses, bus and van service to New York airports, passenger
ferries from Long Island, taxis, pedestrian walkways and local
transit services. This brings the total federal funding for
this project to $51.5 million.
In FY 06, we also obtained $6 million for the City of Norwalk
to make improvements to the South Norwalk Intermodal Facility.
This, along with the $1.667 we have obtained for the Norwalk
Pulse Point project, will make several key Norwalk hubs much
more convenient for commuters.
In FY 02, we obtained $4 million for a new Fairfield train
station, which will provide another 1,200 desperately-needed
parking spaces for commuters.
I also believe we can make better use of our waterways to
move people. Currently, there is only one ferry in our area,
going from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Port Jefferson, Long
Island, but it has very little use for commuters because it
doesn't go to New York City and is slow. In FY 06, we secured
$2.75 million for a high-speed ferry in Bridgeport and $2.75
million for a high-speed ferry in Stamford.
High-speed ferries in New York already provide an excellent
alternative for many commuters to lower Manhattan. It is my
hope they can provide relief to commuters in our area, many
of whom won't use Metro-North because of the length of their
entire commute downtown, which includes the subway.
Reducing Truck Traffic
I believe we need to get trucks off of I-95 at all times
of the day, not just rush hour. We can do this without limiting
their access to the interstate by looking for alternative
ways to transport goods.
Reestablishing rail freight service in the New York metropolitan
area is a critical part of getting trucks off our overburdened
Connecticut highways. In 2001, I joined Congressman Jerry
Nadler in co-chairing the East of Hudson Rail Freight Operations
Task Force, which is working to build this tunnel and open
rail lines east of the Hudson to unrestricted use of freight,
including both the Hudson and New Haven lines of Metro-North
and Amtrak, and the entire Long Island Railroad network.
On July 30, I hosted a meeting of the Task Force in Stamford
Connecticut. We brought together regional planning agencies,
railroad companies, and officials from all levels of government
to discuss this issue of critical importance to our region.
New York City is the only major port city in the United States
to never build a rail freight connection across its harbor
or river. Thus, trains coming from most of the country either
have to off-load their contents onto trucks in New Jersey
or detour 280 miles round trip to the Selkirk, New York crossing.
Nationwide, 40 percent of freight is delivered by rail, but
only 2.8 percent of freight east of the Hudson is delivered
by rail. A federally-funded Major Investment Study found a
cross-harbor freight tunnel would divert 8.6 million tons
of freight from truck to rail annually, equal to one million
fewer truck trips across the George Washington and Verrazano
bridges each year.
Congressman Nadler and I have received $9 million in transportation
appropriations for fiscal year 2003 to complete an environmental
impact statement on this project, bringing the total funding
we have appropriated for this project to $14 million. When
we made our request, our letter stated:
With freight traffic expected to increase 79 percent over
the next 20 years in the Northeast, and many segments
of our roadways already at capacity, we cannot expect
tractor-trailer trucks to handle increased freight
efficiently. The rail freight tunnel will remove one million
trucks off highways in Northern New Jersey, New York and
Connecticut, and it is one of the few projects in the New
York Metropolitan area that addresses congestion and
air quality while at the same time increasing the region's
capacity for economic growth.
Another proposal which would reduce the number of tractor
trailers on our roads is the Container Feeder Port Barge Operational
Service between the Bridgeport port and the New York/New Jersey
ports, for which I am requesting funding from the Appropriations
Subcommittee on Transportation.
By shipping containers across Long Island Sound, the barge
feeder system will reduce trailer truck traffic in one of
the nation's most heavily-traveled areas and reduce air pollution.
Container shipping will also bring new jobs to the region
associated with trucking, warehousing and freight handling.
The Greater
Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency, in a recent study,
determined shipping containers by barge would immediately
reduce truck traffic. The container facility would eliminate
40,000 trailer trucks from a 33-mile section of highway by
its second year, the study shows. By conservative estimates,
the number of trucks removed from the highway could grow to
70,000 by 2020 and 175,000 by 2040.
The Commuter Tax Equity Act and the
Mass Transit Tax Credit Act
In the last Congress, I joined Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA)
in introducing H.R.
318, the Commuter Tax Equity Act. This bill increases
the tax-free benefit employers can provide to employees for
using mass transit or car pooling to work. Currently the allowance
is up to $190 for people who drive to work and only $100 for
people who use mass transit or car pool. If we are to encourage
public transportation -- while reducing highway gridlock --
we need to make its use easier and more affordable.
Congressman McGovern and I also introduced
H.R. 906, the Mass Transit Tax Credit Act, which
will give businesses a tax credit of 25 cents for every dollar
they offer their employees in mass transit fringe benefits
above salary. The Mass Transit Tax Credit Act will create
a powerful additional incentive for employers to offer a transit
fringe benefits plan, making an employee's option to take
mass transit more affordable.
Aircraft Noise
I understand the frustration so many Connecticut residents
have with aircraft noise. It is loud and disruptive. The noise
level can be overwhelming, and diminishes quality of life.
I have been working for many years with officials at the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) and local residents
to control aircraft noise coming from Westchester County,
LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy, Newark and Teterboro Airports.
I have also worked to help ensure Westchester County Airport
does not expand; I do not want to see it become the fourth
regional airport.
I am also concerned about helicopter noise. During consideration
of H.R.
1000, the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st
Century (AIR-21), I offered an amendment which directs
the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a one-year study
on the effects of nonmilitary helicopter noise on individuals
and develop recommendations for noise reduction. I am happy
this amendment was included in the conference report, which
was signed into law on April 5, 2000. To combat noise pollution
from helicopters it is imperative we understand how it is
affecting individuals and how to best reduce it.
In 1999, I also introduced H.R.
268, the Airport Community Representation Act, which
amends the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) to ensure residents
of communities surrounding an airport have a voice in how
federal money is spent at the airport. The legislation would
have provided that, in cases where an airport is within five
miles of another state, a board be established that is made
up of three residents from each state near the airport to
review the impact of potential airport development projects
on surrounding communities.
Particularly when federal funds are being spent, those who
are impacted by potential changes in an airport should have
a voice in the process. Currently, Connecticut residents do
not have such a voice.
Shays
Assesses I-95 Accident Area (03/29/04)
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