|
|
 |
Connecticut
Could the Next Generation of Monorails Be a Viable Solution for Urban Transit Woes?
''The highways in Connecticut don't work anymore,'' writes New Haven Register columnist Joe Amarante, blaming ''all of us: spoiled drivers, lazy bureaucrats, car-related lobbyists and the best little politicians money can buy,'' and renewing his 2002 call for monorails -- a clean and cost-efficient system championed for the state by Tampa, Florida-based Sky Train Corporation.
With 12 years of research, several patents and three models that incorporate standard light-rail components and could use existing rights-of-way, the company has already drawn significant attention and support for a proposed demonstration monorail in Hartford. The line would run from the Government Center along six blocks to the new science museum, slated for completion in 2008, later reaching the Rentschler stadium and business district, and finally Bradley International Airport 15 miles away.
Once its advantages become obvious, a similar line could also help relieve congestion in the 75-mile New Haven-Hartford-Springfield, Massachusetts corridor. ''Our monorail,'' wrote Sky Train Corporation CEO Karl Guenther to the state Citizens Transportation Lobby and the Department of Transportation, ''can be built for $40 million a mile, and is 100 times safer than cars, rails and buses; we offer a noiseless system which is entirely environmental and community friendly.'' It will also provide local jobs if manufacturing is kept in the state, possibly with the involvement of United Technologies, General Dynamics and Proton Systems. Connecticut, he added, ''could lead the nation showing that monorails are effective within the scheme of city and transportation planning.''
Sky Train Marketing Director Francis Knize, who lives in Wilton and knows the region's daily traffic woes first hand, has recently said at a state Transportation Strategy Board meeting: ''Consider monorails. They save lots of money because they don't need conductors, they are viable, anti-sprawl, and can be solar-powered and green in every way.''
The New Haven Register columnist urges state officials to move quickly, again quoting director Knize. ''The future of highways is grim,'' he observed. ''Fifty years down the road, no pun intended, you'd have to double-decker highways.'' Details at www.skytraincorp.com. -- New Haven Register 9/24/2006
Click here to view the source article or
here to view the source publication.
|
|
E-mail
to a Friend
View
Printer-friendly page 
