Selected news coverage of a June 2023 press conference announcing federal funding for a bus rapid transit system in the New Haven area.
WSHU Public Radio, Molly Ingram, June 30, 2023
[Excerpt]: "The city has received $25 million from the federal government for the project, which is called “MOVE New Haven.” The project includes the purchase of 15 new electric buses, the creation of 18 new stops, four mini-hubs, bus-only lanes and new traffic lights.
U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said the program will especially help New Haven residents who do not have cars. “Time and time again, I hear that inadequate bus service on weekends and evenings and infrequent or late service, in general, are issues that severely reduce people's ability to find and to be able to keep good jobs,” DeLauro said.
DeLauro cited a 2014 study by DataHaven that showed the connection between transportation troubles and working as inspiration for MOVE New Haven... MOVE New Haven will cost $150 million. $100 million will come from various federal outlets, and the state will fund the rest.
Fox 61 TV News, Julia LeBlanc, June 29, 2023
[Excerpt]: On Thursday morning, local, state, and federal officials gathered at the Dixwell Q House to announce $25 million in federal funding for "MOVE New Haven": an on-street bus rapid transit project.
"It is an exciting day here," said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro as she opened up the press conference at the Q House. DeLauro said the inception of MOVE New Haven came about in 2014, when DataHaven released a study titled, "How Transportation Problems Keep People Out of the Workforce in Greater New Haven."
Following that, the community started paying more attention to the problem, trying to figure out ways to solve it.
"This is a quote from former mayor, Toni Harp, and she may have really put it best when she said and I quote, 'transportation is a civil rights issue. It is an economic development issue, and it is a jobs issue,'" Rep. DeLauro said. Rep. DeLauro said she and U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal have been working for years to get the federal funding they need to start the project. Overall, the commissioner with the Connecticut Department if Transportation said it'll cost $150 million. $25 million is coming from the federal government through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Discretionary Grant program, $75 million will come from 'federal formula funds', and the rest will be funded through the state.
New Haven Independent, Thomas Breen, June 29, 2023
[Excerpt]: Roughly 100 people gathered in the air-conditioned Q House gymnasium at 197 Dixwell Ave. to fête the announcement of that $25 million federal grant from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Discretionary Grant program that has been awarded to the state Department of Transportation (DOT). [....]
“It’s hard to imagine anything more integral to day-to-day life than safe and reliable transportation,” U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro said on Thursday, as she charted the yearslong path from a 2014 DataHaven study about jobs and public transit in the region to the 2019 completion of the Move New Haven transit report to the current landing of this competitive federal grant. This BRT system will shave 11 minutes off of the commute from New Haven to Hamden, and 11 off the commute from New Haven to West Haven. [....]
Amid a lineup of speakers that included DeLauro, Eucalitto, Mayor Justin Elicker, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Gov. Ned Lamont, State Rep. and Transportation Committee Co-Chair Roland Lemar, among others, city safe streets advocate Kai Addae weighed in on the impact that this type of BRT program can and will have on the lives of the quarter of New Haveners like her who don’t own a car.
New Haven Register, Chatwan Mongkol, June 29, 2023
[Excerpt]: U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, said the project stemmed from a DataHaven report in 2014 that shed light on how lack of reliable transportation is a barrier to employment. She said while downtown New Haven is an important hub for jobs, many entry- or mid-level jobs are outside the city.
"Public transportation is a major priority for hard-working families," DeLauro said. [....]
The grant announced Thursday is a part of the Department of Transportation’s $2.2 billion Rebuilding America Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Discretionary Grant Program, which awarded 162 projects across the country in total.
