By Jackie Sussman ’17

Mass transportation is imperative to Connecticut’s economy. It’s more efficient, reduces congestion on major highways, reduces urban sprawl and lessens pollution. Not to mention it’s cheaper than driving and parking in New York City.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have, and should, favor bettering mass transit for the state. However, the General Assembly of Connecticut chose to cut off $37 million from the Department of Transportation, leaving an $18 million gap in the public transit budget, money that was used to maintain obsolete bus and rail lines. To make up the difference, solutions including tolls on highways, a vehicle miles tax and raising gasoline taxes were suggested—all I support.

Yet, instead of voting on alternate solutions, Democratic lawmakers decided to first increase bus and train fares by 16.7 and 6 percent respectively, implemented this past December. This financially hurts not only the people using the transit system, but all Connecticut residents.

Some lawmakers view commuters as inelastic demand, meaning they will continue using mass transit despite indefinite fare increases. Yet there is no evidence, especially for low-income families, that this is the case. Rather, these fare increases encourage driving, which contributes to Connecticut’s air pollution. Such a negative externality is not welcome, especially since Connecticut’s air pollution is some of the worst in the country; Southwestern Connecticut alone failed to meet its 1997 EPA standards, according to the Connecticut Mirror.

Higher commuting costs ultimately make Connecticut a less desirable place to live. People flock to Connecticut for its suburbia and low transportation costs; that’s part of why Bridgewater, the largest U.S. hedge fund, is based in Westport. Westport itself is a desirable location because of its proximity to major transportation lines. What’s stopping people from moving to another state where commuting is cheaper? If people and businesses leave, property values and the state economy will worsen.

This is definitely not the ideal answer to the original problem. If the General Assembly raised public highway taxes, it might have encouraged people away from driving and towards using train lines, creating the positive externalities of benefiting the environment and increasing demand for living in Connecticut. Yet raising train and especially bus fares puts the entire tax burden on people who can afford the least, a sentiment contrary to Democratic ideals.

The really disappointing outcome, however, is that the revenues generated by these fares will go towards maintenance, not improvements, of existing transportation lines. Metro North tracks cannot support high-speed trains, which are faster and greener than the M8. It borders monetary mismanagement that raising these fares means nothing for future improvement.

There’s an old saying that “if you don’t improve, you’re getting worse.”  Every year the train system doesn’t improve is another year it worsens. What will remain when the state is bankrupt and the entire train system breaks? Disaster.

To Governor Dannel Malloy, to the Connecticut legislature: reevaluate the problems these fare increases present. Please do the job we elected you to do and make a better Connecticut.