a evening ride to the cove

Bicycled 20 miles, most of that total was a ride down to the Soundwater's Annual meeting earlier this evening. Heard Gina McCarthy, the Commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection, the state's agency charged to protect the state's environment speak. I arrived late, but she was still taking questions.

I asked the final two questions of the evening: the first was regarding the conflict between enforcing the Coastal Management Access Act of 1980 and the agreement Amtrak signed with Department of Environmental Protection, which caps the number of trains allowed to travel east of Old Saybrook per day; the second was related to the "No Child Left Inside" theme of her talk, in which I asked if she would promote statewide bicycle instruction for children. After the program ended I collected signatures for the bikes on trains petition and briefly met Ms. McCarthy.

The ride itself was more interesting than the meeting. The smell of composting leaves at the Waveny Park mulch pile was industrial in strength. The warmth and humidity in the air was truly incredulous for last day in November. The smells of salt water at the mouth of the Noroton River seemed summerlike. Light pollution from the back side of the restaurant on the Boston Post Road was stark. Glare from Waveny paddle tennis courts lights was blinding. Light pollution was evident at every turn of the ride: some was municipal, much was private, the rest was sky glow.

monday, monday

I've been home for about an hour and half. I bicycled down to Cablevision earlier this evening to take the test for the public access training course, which I've been attending for the last five Mondays. It was warm when I left the building so I bicycled over to Wild Oats to pick up some food. There I learned that Schela who has been my favorite checker for the past five years just got married! Too bad I wasn't invited to the wedding! Rode thirteen miles.

Sunday was another balmy day. I rode 37 miles up from Manhattan, then I played some paddle tennis. Just enough cycling so I felt like I got some exercise.

Today, I sent out the following press release to four newspapers.

Rail Transportation Excellence Coalition has requested improvements to New Canaan branch line service during off peak hours in telephone conversations with C-DOT rail officials and officials in the MNRR scheduling department.

One request is to allow for a cross-platform transfer in Stamford from track 5 where train #1777, the New Canaan local train (departs New Canaan at 5:14 p.m.) to train #1577, a GCT-bound express train, on track 3. To attain a cross platform transfer, trains #1777 and #1775 from New Canaan would depart a few minutes earlier, train #1742 would arrive in New Canaan earlier and train #1577 would depart Stamford a few minutes later.

“If this change is feasible, Manhattan-bound passengers boarding in New Canaan will save nearly 20 minutes on this last afternoon weekday train to Grand Central Terminal,” said Richard Stowe of Rail Transportation Excellence Coalition.

A more far-reaching proposal suggested to Metro-North scheduling officials, is to convert New Canaan branch line off-peak shuttle service to direct semi-express service. These semi-express trains would arrive in Stamford from New Canaan or Manhattan at approximately 20 to 25 minutes after the hour (currently scheduled off-peak express trains arrive and depart Stamford between 50 and 55 minutes after the hour.) In order to draw a sufficient number of passengers to the off peak express service, at minimum, the semi-express service would include a station stop in Greenwich. Other intermediate stops may include New Rochelle and Rye.

The upside to this proposal is significant.

As Richard Stowe points out, “This service, if initiated, will be a great gift to elderly populations, physically disabled individuals and those carrying heavy luggage and packages who travel on the New Canaan branch line, by eliminating challenging platform changes, which require negotiating time-consuming stairways, escalators or elevators, when returning to New Canaan from Grand Central Terminal. Trip times will be shorter, too.”

Faster direct trains better serves existing customers and draws new passengers, which will benefit business communities in Greenwich, New Canaan and Stamford.

An additional express train through Stamford translates to daily half-hour express service to Manhattan from Stamford all day long and an off-peak ‘Greenwich Express’ train, with a seven minute trip to Stamford and 40-minute ride to Grand Central Terminal.

This service would also seamlessly connect the New Canaan station with the Greenwich Avenue station throughout the day. Currently, on most off-peak service from New Canaan to Greenwich, the passenger is saddled with a twenty-minute layover at the Stamford Transportation Center, followed by a ten-minute trip to Greenwich station.

A letter, which details the proposal, has been sent to local state reps and state senators, who currently serve on the Connecticut General Assembly’s transportation committee and to the chief elected officials in Greenwich, Stamford and New Canaan.

“This proposal is consistent with Governor Rell’s goal to create safer and more convenient mass transit options, which induce commuters off the car-choked Connecticut Turnpike and Merritt Parkway corridors,” said Richard Stowe.

Since employees and train cars are already assigned to the New Canaan branch line, additional costs needed to establish the “Greenwich Express” train would be incremental. No physical infrastructure investments are necessary.

Any future infrastructure improvements, which may take place as the result of the New Canaan branch line study, will certainly benefit this direct service to Grand Central.

Members of the public who support upgrading the New Canaan branch line shuttle service to a Manhattan-bound “Greenwich Express” are encouraged to contact Rail Transportation Excellence Coalition at bike.rail.politics@gmail.com or (203) 966-4387.

Rail Transportation Excellence Coalition
P.O. Box 732
New Canaan, CT 06840
(203) 966-4387
bike.rail.politics@gmail.com

And the following letter to Mayor Malloy, the First Selectmen in Greenwich and New Canaan and six local state senators and state reps who currently serve on the Transportation Committee.

The Honorable Dannel P. Malloy
10th Floor Government Center
888 Washington Boulevard
Stamford CT 06902

Dear Mayor Malloy:

I am writing to share with you a service improvement to the Metro-North New Haven Line, which Rail Transportation Excellence Coalition proposed to scheduling officials at MNRR and C-DOT rail division on Friday November 17, 2006.

The proposal is to convert or upgrade New Canaan branch line off-peak shuttle service to direct semi-express service.

These semi-express trains would arrive in Stamford from New Canaan or Manhattan at approximately 20 to 25 minutes after the hour (currently scheduled off-peak express trains arrive and depart Stamford between 50 and 55 minutes after the hour) followed (or preceded) by a station stop in Greenwich.

To draw sufficient numbers of passengers for the service, other intermediate stops might include New Rochelle and/or Rye.

There are six major advantages to converting the New Canaan to Stamford shuttle service to direct, seamless service to Grand Central Terminal.

1) Increases in the passenger/operating cost ratio. Currently, the New Canaan branch line draws from 450 to 500 passengers daily on average (300 to 350 board at the New Canaan station) on all of its off-peak trains. By running a seamless service to Grand Central Terminal, the New Canaan train adds passengers on at Stamford and Greenwich. West of Greenwich (1400 passengers/day weekday off-peak), the New Canaan train may also stop at New Rochelle (1600) and/or Rye (1100) or Fordham to pick-up or drop off additional passengers.

2) Travel time to and from Grand Central Terminal will be shorter. Faster, direct train service better serves existing customers and draws new passengers, which benefits business communities in Greenwich, New Canaan and Stamford.

3) Creates half-hour express service throughout the day at the Stamford Transportation Center, a desired goal set by public officials.

4) Creates an off-peak ‘Greenwich Express’ train all day long, with a seven-minute trip to Stamford and 40-minute trip to Grand Central Terminal.

5) Seamlessly connects the New Canaan station with the Greenwich Avenue station throughout the day. Currently, travel time between the two stations is 47-minutes - that includes a twenty-minute layover on almost all off-peak trains at the Stamford Transportation Center. With seamless service, travel time is cut in half to 24 minutes!

6) Seamless service eliminates the need for passengers to walk from one platform to another, which requires negotiating stairways, escalators or elevators, when returning to New Canaan from Grand Central Terminal. Required platform changes on New Canaan branch line off-peak trains may create undue challenges for elderly populations, physically disabled individuals and those carrying heavy luggage and packages and may suppress patronage among these groups.

Since employees and train cars are already assigned to the New Canaan branch line, additional costs, crews and cars, needed to establish the “Greenwich Express” train are incremental. No expensive infrastructure investments are needed.

The Connecticut General Assembly can help make this proposal a reality in the upcoming 2007 legislative session, by passing a bill to support starting this seamless service. Seamless service from Shoreline East and Springfield-Hartford—New Haven to Grand Central can also be included in this bill. Initiating seamless service from New Canaan to Grand Central provides a bold, but realistic way to help reduce traffic congestion in our car-choked region.

Please share your views with me on this proposal.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Richard M. Stowe
Rail Transportation Excellence Coalition