Fares Paid 22% Of The Cost Of Running The Bus
by | Dec 17, 2014 3:48 pm | Comments (8)
That $1.50 you pay to ride CT Transit bus hardly covers the actual cost of running the bus.
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CT Bus Diaries
Cleaner Air, Upgrades Increase Cost of CT Transit Maintenance
by | Dec 16, 2014 2:42 pm | Comments (4)
With the new parts and machinery constantly being updated, more time and money have to be spent maintaining buses on the CT Transit lines.The cost of bus maintenance for CT Transit’s New Haven division increased by $3.5 million, or 46 percent, from 1996 to 2012.The maintenance costs have remained between 18 and 23 percent of the total budget, as all CT Transit costs in New Haven have increased during that same time period.The figures come from budget data posted on the National Transit Database, which collects information about all transit districts in the United States.
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28 CT Transit Bus Injuries Reported In City This Year
by and | Dec 15, 2014 9:04 am | Comments (1)
On a winter bus ride four years ago, a CT Transit bus driver swung the bus right, and Maria Nuzzo fell out of her seat.
“The bus [driver] was going very fast,” said Nuzzo, who commuted from East Haven to New Haven for 30 years. “I was sitting at the end of the seat and when he went to take a right turn, he took it so sharp. I fell on my hands and knees.”
Nuzzo, who has arthritis, said falling hurt.
When she got to work, Nuzzo said, she called the bus company and complained. But because she wasn’t taken away in an ambulance, her incident went untracked in a database of transit injuries. To show up in a spreadsheet of injuries tracked by the National Transit Database, a passenger, driver or pedestrian needs to be taken away from the bus in an ambulance.
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CT Transit Can’t Count Crowding Yet
by and | Dec 9, 2014 1:15 pm | Comments (7)
Buses might seem big, but that doesn’t mean they have enough room for people to sit, observed daily CT Transit rider Rudy Douglas.
Lost, Looking For the J Bus
by | Dec 3, 2014 1:10 pm | Comments (0)
I tried to use public transportation to get to a meeting about public transportation.
It was near impossible.
It’s Safer On The Bus
by | Nov 24, 2014 4:02 pm | Comments (0)
Carl Jordan Castro photo
This article is part of a series on CT Transit buses written by Southern Connecticut State University journalism students in conjunction with the Independent.
As the sun began to set, Debbie Sholun leaned against the bus shelter at the corner of Skiff Street and Dixwell Avenue in Hamden with cigarette in hand. After a day of grocery shopping the New Haven native waited for the D bus, talking to two other women in the shelter as she flicked away the ashes at the end of her cigarette.
She said she quit driving, not because she’s too old, but because it would be safer.
“I have epilepsy and I took myself off the road,” said Sholun. “I had a seizure while I was driving and I could have killed somebody, so I was like ‘I just can’t do this anymore.’”
Common Complaints: Crowding, Inconvenience
by , , and | Nov 18, 2014 12:46 pm | Comments (3)
Alexander Roberts photo
Calloway: More room needed.
Drop in on any bus in New Haven, Waterbury or Bridgeport, and you’ll hear many of the same complaints: Buses are crowded; schedules, inconvenient. And late buses cause commuting chaos.
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25 Years In, Eligio Keeps The Wheel Steady
by | Nov 14, 2014 4:01 pm | Comments (0)
Markeshia Ricks photo
If longevity is a marker, Eligio Marquez really likes driving buses. He’s been doing it for 25 years.
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Class Waits For No Bus
by , , , and | Nov 13, 2014 5:17 pm | Comments (1)
Ratasha Smith photo
Lee: On time over the summer, late this fall.
Perrin Krala wakes up at 6:30 a.m to catch the B1 bus in order to make it to Southern Connecticut State University for a 9 a.m class. Kyle Johnson switched from the 3:40 p.m. bus to the 2:30 p.m. after the bus left him late for class a couple of times.
Guayquier & Terrier Board The G Bus
by | Nov 12, 2014 5:40 pm | Comments (2)
Hannah Spreckley photo
Jenny Guayquier tries to board the bus with her dog and her cart.
This article is part of a series on CT Transit buses written by Southern Connecticut State University journalism students in conjunction with the Independent.
As the bus pulled up a foot-or-so away from the curb near the New Haven Green, Jenny Guayquier leaned her carriage back. The front wheels only just reached the bus.
A small terrier dog stared out from the bottom of the carriage without making a sound.
Clad in bright pinks and neon green socks, Guayquier boarded the G bus.
The Bus Gets Personal
by | Nov 11, 2014 1:33 pm | Comments (2)
Carl Jordan Castro photo
The crowded D bus.
This is part of a series on CT Transit buses written by Southern Connecticut State University students in conjunction with the Independent.
The sound of rustling leaves surrounded me as I walked toward the bus stop on a breezy autumn day in October.
As I saw the D bus drive through the intersection of Skiff Street and Whitney Avenue toward the bus stop, I quickened my pace, holding the straps of my camera pack so it wouldn’t bounce against my back.
I was the last person waiting in a long line to board what would become a bus ride with very little personal space.
The Bus Helps Him Think
by | Oct 31, 2014 2:31 pm | Comments (0)
Matt Stumpo photo
Paul Pastor doesn’t commute on the bus — but every now and then he finds himself riding it to escape the stresses of being a student at Southern Connecticut State University.
Pastor, a business management major, just gets on the bus, ends up downtown, and roams around New Haven during long breaks at school. It helps him clear his head.
Whom Would You Ride The Bus With?
by , and | Oct 29, 2014 11:17 am | Comments (0)
Emili Lanno photo
Ralph Foster in New Haven
Ralph Foster, like most people, dreams of being happy and successful.
So if he could ride the bus with anyone, he would pick the man he sees as a role model for success.
“Michael Jordan,” said Foster. “Without a doubt.”
Where Do You Really Want the Bus To Take You?
by and | Oct 29, 2014 11:17 am | Comments (0)
Krystina Morgan photo
Tshnavia Smith
Tshnavia Smith, 20, is bored.
Recently out of school, still living at home and looking for a job, the Bridgeport resident doesn’t even have a cell phone to keep her occupied. It recently got stolen.
So when a reporter asked her a whimsical question — if the CT Transit bus could take her anywhere instead of her scheduled stop in Bridgeport, where would she want to go? — Smith picked a place as far away from Bridgeport as she could think of.
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Rafel Sanabria Has Big Plans
by | Oct 27, 2014 4:28 pm | Comments (0)
Carl Jordan Castro photo
Rafel Sanabria can’t wait to graduate from high school so he can move to Atlanta and stop taking New Haven’s crowded buses.
“I’m moving to Atlanta because it’s way too expensive here,” said Sanabria, an 18-year-old New Haven resident.
Next Stop: Karma
by , and | Oct 21, 2014 1:15 pm | Comments (1)
Carl Jordan Castro photo
One started relying on the bus when her boyfriend sold their car. Another had no choice thanks to the tax collector.
Resto Steers The O
by | Oct 15, 2014 1:07 pm | Comments (6)
Ratasha Smith photo
Resto on the O. bus.
Jose Resto is a new face among the city’s CT Transit bus drivers.
“I like it, I do. I enjoy it,” he said.
Resto has been driving for CT Transit for eight months. He said before working for CT Transit he drove trucks for the military.
The Bus Stop Is Quiet on Sundays
by | Oct 14, 2014 1:34 pm | Comments (0)
Hannah Spreckley photo
The New Haven Green is always bustling with people throughout the day, with buses lined up along the side of the street.
Sundays are a different story though, as the workweek is over and the bus schedules become more infrequent.
Alone on one of the many benches on Sunday sat Akil Willoughby, 37, who has used CT Transit most of his life.
‘I’m Sick of Driving’
by | Oct 8, 2014 2:50 pm | Comments (1)
Cristina D’almeida photo
Fahy, in downtown Waterbury.
Richard Fahy, a 66-year-old retired plumber from Waterbury, said the CT Transit bus system is his main and only form of transportation and he loves it.
He said he will never drive a car in the future because of its cost and maintenance.
“I just don’t want a car anymore,” he said. “I don’t see the point of having one at this point in my life. I use to drive all over Waterbury for work. Not anymore. I’m sick of driving.”
CT Transit Drove Me To Zipcar
by | Oct 6, 2014 2:38 pm | Comments (6)
I spent this summer taking CT Transit buses to and from my internship at the New Haven Register on Sargent Drive. The experience left me deflated and ready for a new way to get around the city.
Work Search Starts With Bus
by | Oct 3, 2014 12:51 pm | Comments (1)
Krystina Morgan photo
Danaisha Wheeler is riding the bus to get a job — and some new ink.
Chris Murphy Commutes, & Communes, On The 33W Bus
by | Oct 3, 2014 8:45 am | Comments (1)
Carl Jordan Castro photo
The rain began to drizzle as Senator Chris Murphy boarded the 33W bus in Hartford.
He glanced at the passengers sitting down, walked directly to the back of the bus, approached a woman with four children and held out his hand.
“Hello, I am Senator Chris Murphy,” he said.
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Friday Night Bus Blues
by | Oct 1, 2014 3:13 pm | Comments (4)
Krystina Morgan photo
Wilfredo Garcia on the Friday night F bus.
Having flat-screen TVs would make the CT Transit bus ride a lot more fun, according to frequent rider Wilfredo Garcia.
“I would just like something to do,” said Garcia. “The bus ride home wouldn’t be so boring if there was something to watch.”
Next Stop: Sobriety
by | Sep 29, 2014 3:46 pm | Comments (0)
Ratasha Smith photo
Jake, left, and Cody, right, on the D Bus.
For Jake and Cody, the city bus travels on the road to recovery.
Der Bus Ist Gut
by | Sep 24, 2014 12:05 pm | Comments (0)
Alexander Roberts photo
Manuel Sobotta at his destination on Whalley Avenue.
Manuel Sobotta sat on a bench at a bus stop on Fitch Street, waiting for the B1 bus to take him to Stop & Shop on Whalley Avenue.
If he were home in Germany, he said, the bus would have already picked him up.