A coalition of advocates wants to create a transit riders union in Connecticut, an organization that would fight for the interests of bus riders across the state.
The movement resulted from a failed legislative push last year to extend pandemic-era free bus fare beyond March 2023, explained Jay Stange, coordinator at Transport Hartford Academy. The measure to extend free bus fares didn’t make it out of the Transportation Committee, but something else emerged.
“We realized that here in Connecticut there is not an entity that is representing the voice of bus riders,” said Stange.
It’s still early days for the coalition (they don’t yet have an official name), which includes activists from a slew of organizations, like the Waterbury-based Radical Advocates for Cross-Cultural Education and the New Haven Coalition for Active Transportation.
The group hopes to build an organization like those found in several of the country’s large cities, including the Riders Alliance in New York City, that advocate for the interests of public transit users. And they’ve already started working to better understand the needs of bus riders in the state.
In March 2023, they deployed a survey to gauge the impact that the change in free fares had on riders. They posted ads for the survey on buses across the state and have received nearly 400 responses to date.
As the survey relied on voluntary self-reporting, it lacks the rigor of a scientific poll.
Still, over 91% of respondents said they found free bus fares “extremely helpful,” and 92% said they rode the bus more when it was free. Three-quarters of respondents said they use the bus to get to work, but almost 60% said they also use it to go “shopping” and get to “recreational activities.”
Respondents represented riders in over 20 different towns and cities across the state, with over three-quarters saying they rode the bus in either Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury.
Stange said the findings show that people use the bus for more than just getting to and from work — and that bringing back fares has impacted bus ridership.
Federal guidance also requires the state to conduct a fare equity analysis after fares are reinstated to understand whether it places a disproportionate cost burden on minority or low-income riders. CT Department of Transportation published its findings in a September 2023 report and found that there was "no disparate impact."
A DOT spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
A strategy pivot
During the past legislative session, the coalition’s attempt to extend free bus fares for all failed to gain traction.
“There was no appetite in the legislature last year. Our bill didn’t even make it out of committee,” said Stange.
At the time, leaders of the Transportation Committee and a representative from the DOT said that the revenue loss from extending free fares could result in service reductions or delayed improvements, and that CTtransit riders prioritized service improvements over free fares.
The coalition plans to go back to the legislature, likely in 2025, with a scaled-back request to make the bus free for kids in grades K-12. Free fares for children has broad support, said Stange, and could help to increase utilization of youth programs across the state, which often have to budget for CT bus passes to get kids from school to the programs.
Increased bus ridership overall could also help Connecticut hit its 2030 greenhouse emissions goals, which the state is currently at risk of failing to meet. An April 2023 report by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection found that the transportation sector was the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 40% of all emissions in Connecticut.
But Stange said, even with all the upsides, building a coalition in an “auto-centric state” like Connecticut won’t be easy.
“For people who are trying to get around in our urban places, it’s challenging,” said Stange. “Mobility for people who don’t have a lot of resources is what we’re trying to fix and what we’re trying to advocate for.”
