Valley tries leaving the car at home

6/24/07
If the region is to get away from its all-car-all-the-time mentality, this is exactly the kind of program we need to see more of.
The Valley Transit District has launched a program that will provide shuttle service from homes to bus stops and train stations. It could go a long way toward solving one of the key shortfalls of a push for reliance on public transit — bus lines can’t go everywhere.
People like their cars, and our suburban sprawl isn’t going anywhere. But for people who don’t have cars — or people who’d like not to have to use them every time they leave the house — a system like this will be useful. Without density, which most of Connecticut is sorely lacking, public transit can only go so far. People have to get to and from train and bus stations somehow, raising problems from traffic tie-ups to parking shortages. Those are the issues mass transit is supposed to solve, not exacerbate.
The new service will run along a corridor between Derby and Seymour Town Hall; a one-way fare of $2.50 will be charged, with reservations required 24 hours in advance. It’s not a perfect system, or one flexible enough to put a real dent in car traffic, but it could be a model of how things are done.
Smart-growth initiatives and transit-based development aren’t about getting people to give up their cars. The goal is to offer alternatives. Our streets aren’t laid out in a way conducive to mass transportation around here, but there are some plans in the works that could offer a change. Until we all live a quick walk to the bus depot, though, for those trips when we do need to go a ways for something, programs like this one in the Valley will serve a need. It may even serve as an example for other communities.