RIDESHARING SERVICES
Publicly subsidized ridesharing services are
provided by Metropool,
Inc. for a service area combining southwestern
Connecticut (including the Housatonic Valley Planning Region)
and nearby counties in New York State. This organization offers
employers a wealth of information and services which helps
their employees find the best and most economical way to work.
Metropool
services include car, van and shuttle formation, ride matching
services, on site technical assistance, guaranteed ride home
programs, how-to guides and other related aids. Metropool,
Inc. can be contacted at One Landmark Square, Stamford, CT,
06901, at 1-800-FIND RIDE, and via the web link above.
COMMUTER PARKING LOTS
For those area residents seeking to
reduce the expense of daily commuting, the alternative of
carpooling from a commuter lot is attractive. These lots also
serve as pick-up points for commuter van and bus services,
many organized by Metropool.
Since
1973 the Connecticut DOT has been establishing state maintained
parking lots adjacent to the more important roadways throughout
the State. Currently nine of Connecticut's
commuter parking facilities are located
in two of the communities of the Housatonic Valley Region
as follows:
1.
DANBURY: 160 SPACES ON RT 6 NEAR I-84 EXIT 1
2.
DANBURY: 112 SPACES ON RT 6 NEAR I-84 EXIT 2
3.
DANBURY: 50 SPACES ON SEGAR ST. NEAR I-84 EXIT 7
4.
DANBURY: 171 SPACES ON MIRY BROOK RD. AT RT 7
5.
DANBURY: 115 SPACES ON RT 805-FEDERAL ROAD
6.
DANBURY: 75 SPACES ON RT 840-WHITE TURKEY ROAD
7.
NEW MILFORD: 87 SPACES ON PICKETT DISTRICT ROAD
7.
NEWTOWN: 53 SPACES ON RT 25 NEAR I-84 EXIT 9
8.
NEWTOWN: 78 SPACES ON MILE HILL RD. AT I-84 EXIT 11
In 2000
the Housatonic Area Regional Transit District completed a
detailed assessment of conditions and needs at each commuter
parking lot. This report is available at HVCEO.
Conn DOT's
commuter carpool lot development program in the Housatonic
Valley Region has been a success. Adding additional spaces
to the regional inventory is now the goal. There are clear
constraints to further progress, however, as lot development
is tied to the presence of state owned land in suitable locations.
Further suitable state properties appear to be limited.
Conn DOT
leasing of properties could then become the primary method
by which the amount of commuter parking spaces is further
expanded. This process will be more costly per space developed
than for those developed on state properties to date. But
the commuter lot development process at Conn DOT is now largely
inactive.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)
During the last decade much has been done to
promote the efficiency of transportation systems through modern
electronic tools. This area of technological innovation is
known as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS).
Traffic
accident surveillance systems, live traffic cams for public
and management use, highway advisory radio, clearinghouses
for traveler information, and signal system interconnections
are all major strategies to wring more capacity out of existing
facilities.

To enhance
the public's ability to read and use intelligent transportation
systems, all federally funded initiatives must conform to
the National ITS Architecture Consistency Policy for transit
projects. Conformance with the National ITS Architecture is
interpreted to mean the use of the National ITS Architecture
to develop a regional ITS architecture, and the subsequent
adherence of all ITS projects to that regional ITS architecture.
Also, a region is defined as the geographical area that identifies
the boundaries of the regional ITS architecture and is defined
by and based on the needs of the participating agencies and
other stakeholders. It is also a requirement that any ITS
project funded, in whole or in part with highway trust funds
must conform to the established regional ITS architecture.
Since any ITS project proposed for the Housatonic
Valley Region would likely be undertaken on State facilities,
(Interstate 84, Metro-North Rail Stations, State Roads), HVCEO
and the Conn DOT will be broadly defining the “region”
as the State of Connecticut's borders. Therefore, the Statewide
ITS Architecture would encompass the stakeholders and participating
agencies necessary to fulfill this requirement. HVCEO is committed
to assisting the Connecticut Department of Transportation
in the appropriate development of this statewide ITS architecture.
In Connecticut, ITS strategies for the largest urban areas
and for the Interstate 95 and Interstate 91 corridors have
been priorities. Initiation by Conn DOT of activities for
the I-84 corridor and mid-sized regions such as the Housatonic
Valley should follow.
Concerning state ITS activities in this planning region, Conn
DOT proposed in 1999 that the portion of I-84 in Danbury receive
an ITS planning process to formulate electronic signs for
emergency traffic diversion, etc. HVCEO will participate in
I-84 incident management planning when Conn DOT wishes to
initiate such a planning process for the I-84 corridor. The
preliminary project number is 0034-H044; “The design
and construction of an incident management system on I-84
in the Danbury Area."
The project
will include a fiber optic communication system, video surveillance,
traffic flow monitors, and links to the Conn DOT Highway Operations
Center in Newington. This project is needed to provide an
effective means of reducing congestion due to accidents and
other incidents.
The leading intelligent transportation system is the region
is that maintained by the City of Danbury. Live traffic can
be monitored on its citywide
video cam system.
As for
HVCEO initiated activities, improved signal coordination throughout
the Region has been pursued via a regional signal system coordination
study.
For future ITS, one possibility of electronic information
signs at the Downtown Danbury HART Pulse Point, if city sign
regulations can be met. Also, bus signal preemption in certain
corridors may be a regional strategy.
The draft
Danbury Transportation Plan of 12/2004 offers the following
perspective on ITS: “The main focus of intelligent transportation
systems (ITS) is to optimize the current transportation system
through the use of advanced technologies and new institutional
arrangements.”
GOODS MOVEMENT BY TRUCK AND RAIL
It is generally known that the freight transportation
industry in the United States has undergone dramatic changes
in the last twenty years. Developments in “containerization”,
shifts in the manufacturing industry to “just-in-time”
delivery; the deregulation of rail, trucking and aviation
industries, and the development of new trading patterns in
a global economy have led to consolidation and restructuring
of freight transportation modes.
The development
of expressways such as I-84 and I-95, the trend toward larger
and heavier trucks, more time-sensitive shipping requirements,
increasing competition, and railroad branch line reductions
have contributed to the trucking industry attracting a large
market share of goods movements. But, while the number of
truck trips is increasing, the average length of such trips
is decreasing.
On the
national scene many shippers are using more cost-effective
rail, air or water transport for the long-haul portion of
freight delivery, with trucking firms supplying the pick up
and delivery portion of trips rather than supplying end-to-end
service. Thus truck/intermodal traffic has increased dramatically
in recent years and should continue to increase.

But according
to Conn DOT, in Connecticut, because of its small geographic
area and its close proximity to some of the nation’s
largest ports, intermodal rail facilities and airports, can
expect to continue to see primarily the truck portions of
intermodal freight trips.
According
to Conn DOT, most rail shipments entering Connecticut fall
within a limited range of bulk commodities such as crushed
stone, lumber, rolled paper, steel, chemicals, and waste products.
The manufacturing and distribution companies who currently
receive these goods by rail accept significantly longer shipment
times than would be required for truck shipment of their low-value,
non-time-sensitive raw materials and products. Shipments from
the west are generally routed via Selkirk, NY, then pass through
either Conrail’s Oak Point Yard in New York City, or
its West Springfield, Massachusetts Yard, before reaching
much of the state’s rail network.
In recent
years, annual rail shipments originating or terminating within
the state have amounted to 50,000 carloads carrying about
three to four million tons.
TRAVEL BY BICYCLE
A detailed report on bicycle planning criteria
and recommendations was adopted by HVCEO in October of 1996.
This
has been used successfully to insure sufficient shoulder width
for bicycles in a roadway widening project and as an input
to municipal plan of conservation and development updates.
Copies of this report are available to the public by contacting
HVCEO.
The Connecticut DOT published a 2002 statewide bike route
map. The excerpts
for our area will be of interest. In addition
the Connecticut DOT web site maintains a pedestrian
and bicycle page.

AIR SERVICE
Danbury Municipal Airport
Danbury Airport has no regular public air passenger service,
except to Cape Cod and related tourist destinations in the
summer.
The following text is taken from the 2002
Danbury Plan of Conservation and Development, which notes
that “Danbury Municipal Airport is the base for corporate
air fleets, a flight school, and a number of aviation services,
and consists of two intersecting runways and the control tower.
The airport is used exclusively for private
flights and is protected from land use intrusions by the Airport
Protection Zone in the Zoning Regulations. This zone is intended
to reduce hazards in the approach and transition zones by
controlling building area and height.”

Danbury,
CT Airport
Continuing, “The 1995 Danbury Airport
Master Plan offers three land use and zoning recommendations
to further the protective envelope: (1) the City should acquire
land or casements along the residentially zoned portion of
Miry Brook Road to control the height of vegetation; (2) permitted
land uses around the airport should be restricted to avoid
new land use conflicts; and, (3) the Airport Protection Zone
regulations should be updated to conform to current airspace
standards. The airport has no plans to expand its current
boundaries.
The airport's greatest negative impact on
the community is the noise associated primarily with the flight
school. This is especially severe during summer weekends and
has its greatest impact on the Wooster Heights neighborhood.
To minimize this negative impact, many airports around the
region institute noise abatement policies that impose curfews
during those hours when noise is most likely to disturb residential
neighborhoods, policies that could be considered by the Airport
Authority.”
Candlelight
Farms Airport
As for the small Candlelight Farms Airport in western New
Milford, it has two turf runways and no control tower. The
largest runway is 2,00 feet, aircraft parking is via tiedowns,
and there are about 33 aircraft based at this field.
Stewart International Airport
The international airport options for Greater Danbury can
be viewed by size. Kennedy Airport has 42 million passengers
annually, La Guardia 23 million, Bradley 6.7 million and Stewart
300,000. Early in 2007 the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey, which owns Kennedy and La Guardia, purchased Stewart
Airport. The Port Authority's goal is to shift some air traffic
north. As
Stewart in Newburgh, NY is about 40 miles west of Danbury,
this strategy serves our interests. A direct exit to Stewart
Airport from I-84 is also planned.
CT
Airport Systems Plan
The Connecticut
Statewide Airport System Plan has been updated
by Conn DOT to 2006. It is an additional source of information
on this subject.
Transportation
Plan Sections 1 - 2
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