SAVE CONNECTICUT. A Plan to Restore Connecticut s World-Class Infrastructure and Transportation Systems

Transcription

1 SAVE CONNECTICUT A Plan to Restore Connecticut s World-Class Infrastructure and Transportation Systems

2 OVERVIEW Connecticut s location between New York City and Boston with miles of coastline and picturesque landscapes have attracted families and businesses for generations with strong job opportunities and a high quality of life. We are losing the luster of our location with the increased congestion and deterioration of our aging transportation system. Our families are losing quality time together. Our employers cannot access talented workers unwilling to suffer intolerably long commutes. Career politicians in Hartford are stuck in rhetoric of the past while citizens are stuck in traffic. Democrats propose more taxes introducing tolls and raising the gasoline tax and sending the funds to an appallingly inefficient Department of Transportation that most citizens question will actually solve the problems. Republican career politicians say no to tolls but fail to offer viable solutions to develop much needed transportation improvements. David Stemerman, a political outsider and businessman, has seen in his business better ways to move our roads, trains and planes into the 21st Century. His plan will attract billions of dollars in private investment to get our congested highways flowing again, cut train travel times to New York City down by as much as half and build our airports into major regional hubs for passengers and cargo. These transportation improvements will revitalize our cities and surrounding towns with major initiatives in our four largest cites Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford. David s plan will improve access for our coastal and rural communities throughout the state for work and play. It will also provide construction jobs and skills development in the building trades for projects that lay the foundation for our future prosperity. 2

3 An Unbeatable Location Connecticut s extraordinary natural beauty and location has been a critical part of our past success. We are located between New York City, the largest, wealthiest and most culturally dynamic city in the United States, and Boston, a major center for technology and overall economic activity. 1/3 of the nation s ü Population ü Gross Domestic Product ü Total Jobs ü Businesses within 500 miles of Connecticut. 1 We are also the gateway to New England. People and goods coming up the East Coast flow through our state to gain access to the region. Connecticut boasts over 600 miles of tidal shoreline and inlets on Long Island Sound, which attracts full-time residents and tourists to our shores from East to West. Our postcard perfect New England towns, lakes and landscapes are within striking distance of both our own residents and visitors

4 SAVE CONNECTICUT UNBEARABLE TRAFFIC AND COMMUTES Commute times have become insufferable. According to CNBC s annual Top States for Business ranking, Connecticut ranks near the bottom in terms of infrastructure at #47. 2 Similarly, U.S. News and World Report ranks Connecticut s road quality #45 out of 50 states. 3 Anyone who has experienced the maddening congestion, poor quality of our roads and bridges, and long trips home from work knows that Connecticut is failing to deliver worldclass infrastructure and transportation systems to our citizens and job-creators that call Connecticut home. Ranked 47 of 50 for infrastructure The trains are slower today than they were in We have bridges that are over 100 years old with outdated tracks. Our dilapidated infrastructure is causing us to slow the trains down for safety. Commute times well over an hour are preventing our businesses from accessing talented young workers who prefer to live in the city or bordering states. The Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth reported commuters in the Bridgeport-Stamford Metro Area alone suffered 37.1 million hours of annual delay, up nearly 30 million hours since Southern Connecticut is one of the largest population centers in the country without major commercial passenger air service. We send our people and travel dollars to New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island both an inconvenience and a loss of jobs and revenues to Connecticut. 4 2 Chttps:// Page 36.

5 GOVERNMENT MISMANAGEMENT Gross mismanagement for decades has left us at a dangerous cross roads. Our transportation trust fund is broke. Debt has grown so high that annual debt payments are crowding out future projects. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) is woefully inefficient. The cost for a mile of highway in Connecticut is $497,659 as compared to $180,000 for the country more than twice as much. ConnDOT prioritizes based on politics instead of the needs of our residents. Millions have been spent on CTfastrak buses that are big, green and empty. Career politicians divert transportation funds for general government activities leaving less funds for transportation

6 SAVE CONNECTICUT A NEW PATH FORWARD David Stemerman s business career has taken him all over the world. He has seen, first-hand, what works and what does not; what makes projects a success or a failure. David has seen airports, roads and trains in Asia, Europe, and close by in Canada built and run by private sector businesses. Transportation improvements are built on time and within budget, and provide excellent performance compared to systems run by inefficient government bureaucrats. DAVID S PRINCIPLES FOR REBUILDING OUR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE: 1. Harness the innovation of the private sector; 2. Ensure transportation receipts are spent only on transportation; 3. Spend your money wisely; and 4. Reduce the time to deliver projects. 6

7 HARNESS THE INNOVATION OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR Let s be honest, government is not the best at delivering services. Best practices all over the world, and increasingly in the United States, is for private business to build and operate major transportation improvements and services. Much needed key public transit systems are provided through public-private partnerships in major cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Sydney, and Frankfort. Systems are designed, built, financed and operated by the private sector. The private sector delivered improvements ahead of schedule and within budget for major interstate and expressway improvements in Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. The Bayonne Bridge and Goethals Bridge in New York and New Jersey replacement bridges are built via public-private partnerships. On all of these transportation improvements, the private sector is responsible for ensuring the system performs at high standards and is maintained in good condition for the term of the public-private partnership. Should the private sector fail, payments will be withheld or reduced until performance recovers and continues at high standards. 7

8 SAVE CONNECTICUT ENSURE TRANSPORTATION RECEIPTS ARE SPENT ONLY ON TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS Career politicians such as Governor Malloy and other state elected officials in Hartford have repeatedly diverted transportation receipts away from transportation to fix their ongoing fiscal crisis. David supports creating a lock-box to ensure our transportation receipts are spent only for transportation. As governor, David will institute and administer a lock-box to stop the budget gimmickry we ve come to expect from Hartford insiders. A transportation lock box will ensure transportation revenue goes only to transportation projects. SPEND YOUR MONEY WISELY The Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth identified transportation as one of the areas of government spending with the greatest opportunities for savings estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year. As governor, David will mandate a top-to-bottom audit of the Department of Transportation and other state entities delivering transportation services that identifies waste, abuse and inefficiency. David will quickly implement the recommendations to institute best practices. David is a businessman focused on the bottom line, which ensures your transportation dollars deliver the maximum transportation improvements and services. 8

9 REDUCE THE TIME TO DELIVER TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS Too much time is wasted in regulatory and planning processes. Costly delays can be avoided through state-level reforms. As governor, David will launch the StreamlineCT initiative to ensure all safety and performance functions required are embedded in our permitting process and others are weeded out. Further, David will work with the federal and local government to advance and streamline projects where possible. BEST PRACTICES The State of Wisconsin, in 2016, provided a comprehensive audit review of the state Department of Transportation titled: Better, Faster, Lower Costs that outlined a number of key strategies and specific recommendations to improve the quality, speed up the delivery and reduce the cost for transportation improvements. 6 BEST PRACTICES The State of Florida developed and implemented a comprehensive process that sets firm schedules for the production of transportation improvements and an annual performance reporting process where senior transportation officials must explain deviations from the plan before the Florida Transportation Commission this follows the saying, What gets measured gets managed! an therefore gets done Performance reports reflect FDOT consistently achieves a grade over 95% or higher on all major outcomes such as delivering transportation improvements for bid of the construction on the established schedule (97.8% in fiscal year ) The FDOT Plan - The Performance Report - 9

10 SAVE CONNECTICUT PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES The potential for improvement for our transportation infrastructure is tremendous and the impact will be gamechanging for cities and towns all over Connecticut. Roads We can deliver major highway construction projects with the risk of being on time and on budget transferred to our private sector partner. Our most congested highways can move much faster by adding more lanes in the existing space and exercising rights of way to increase it in select locations. We can also reduce the cost and disruption from fixing and maintaining our roads and bridges using private partnerships. BEST PRACTICES In Pennsylvania, PennDOT created the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project (RBR). Through the RBR project, PennDOT is replacing 558 structurally deficient bridges across Pennsylvania. At the time of project launch, cost savings compared to the traditional approach were estimated to be approximately $400,000 per bridge or over $220 million. The time to complete is three years vs. a period of longer than twenty years under traditional delivery procured bridge by bridge if it were done by the government. 8 BEST PRACTICES I-4 Ultimate in Orange & Seminole Counties, Florida The project alleviates congestion by adding two Express Lanes in each direction and by improving access to and from the interstate. There are numerous bridge replacements and major reconstruction at multiple interchanges. The contract is a 40-year concession agreement. The estimated design and construction cost is $2.3 billion. The project is an Availability Payment approach where the private partner provides all elements of the project, meaning design-build-finance-operate-maintain and is responsible for meeting performance measures during each element of the project and during the operations phase of the project. The Florida Department of Transportation makes an annual availability payment to the private partner that was proposed during the procurement. If the annual performance is not met the availability payment will be reduced

11 Trains Travel time on Metro-North to New York City can be reduced dramatically. We own all four tracks in Connecticut, so we have freedom to upgrade bridges, straighten tracks, improve electrification and make major improvements to scheduling. The reduction in train times to New York City would be game-changing for the cities and the towns along the way. BEST PRACTICES The Purple Line is a 16-mile light rail line that will extend from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George s County, Maryland. Governor Larry Hogan advanced the light rail project saying, The Purple Line will integrate seamlessly with our current transit system combining Metro, MARC and Amtrak. Construction alone will mean 23,000 new jobs for Marylanders over six years. And it will be a long-term asset to our state attracting businesses and making Maryland a better place to live, work and retire. Stamford in 30 minutes (down from 60) would be the same travel time as from Brooklyn. Businesses in midtown Manhattan could have additional office space in Stamford at a fraction of the cost. Bridgeport in 45 minutes (down from 80) see below for Vision Bridgeport New Haven in 60 minutes (down from 110) would become part of the New York metro area. Yale one of the top 10 research universities on earth would retain more world-class talent after graduation and grow jobs. Achieving these improvements will require us to find the best private partners on the planet and will take time to complete. It will be well worth our time and effort. 11

12 SAVE CONNECTICUT Airports Connecticut s residents and businesses could access air transport with less travel time and we could increase jobs in state with local airports. The Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth identified the needs of our passenger airports, saying in part, that Bradley Airport lacks adequate non-stop service to the West Coast and to key international hubs. Bringing additional routes to Bradley would help generate economic activity and generate revenues that are currently going to airports outside of Connecticut. 9 Hartford s Bradley Airport is attractive to private operators who can upgrade and grow services. Its extralong runway (Bradly used to be a military base) and location near the intersection of I-91 and I-84 makes it well suited to be developed into a major logistics hub Amazon.com is already there. We should be able to attract major employers UPS and FedEx and put our people back to work. Bridgeport s Sikorsky Airport and/or New Haven s Tweed Airport can be expanded and redeveloped to provide significant commercial air service in Southern Connecticut. Airport privatization and expansion projects are almost always self-financing by the private company that operates them through a combination of landing fees, passenger facility charges and revenues generated by services at the airport. Major Airports all over the world are operated by private companies, much like electric utilities are run by private companies in the United States. Recently, the U.S. has started to utilize major public-private partnerships for major airports. The Luis Munoz International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico was privatized in 2013 and was hailed as the first successful privatization of a large scale commercial airport in the country under the Federal Aviation Administration s Pilot Program for Airport Privatization. LaGuardia Airport will consolidate four terminals into one, connect the facility to the New York City subway system, create more space for airplane taxiways and add a hotel. The Port of New York and New Jersey executed a publicprivate partnership agreement with a private team in 2016, for the finance, design, construction, operation and maintenance of New York City s $4 billion LaGuardia Airport Terminal B project

13 THE MARTIME ECONOMY Connecticut s seaports serve as connectors to the global economy supporting jobs and investment, and offer spectacular recreation. Our deepwater ports in New London, New Haven, and Bridgeport combine with rivers, harbors, and coastline to create our unique Maritime community. As governor, David will direct his cabinet to develop a strategic plan for Maritime infrastructure in consultation with stakeholders, ensuring the industry and recreational users all have a seat at the table in Hartford. VISION BRIDGEPORT 2028 Bridgeport s location mid-way between Stamford and New Haven and less than 60 miles from Grand Central Station, with miles of tidal coastline and decades of history, creates tremendous potential for transformation with the completion of major transportation infrastructure projects. Developers from across the city and country have sensed Bridgeport s potential. They have completed, initiated or proposed several significant projects for industrial, residential, office and entertainment both downtown and in the neighborhoods. The Steelepointe Harbor project envisions a vital waterfront and MGM has proposed a major entertainment complex. Steelepoint Harbor Project Rendering Imagine what Bridgeport would become with a train time to New York City of 45 minutes, a major commercial airport at Sikorsky, a free-flowing I-95, and a high-speed ferry service to Manhattan. 13

14 SAVE CONNECTICUT ECONOMIC GROWTH AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Infrastructure projects can be tremendous growth drivers. Reducing commute times improves Connecticut s attraction to residents, employers and visitors. Our economy, population and jobs will grow. An effective transportation system is essential to revitalizing our cities. The increased concentration of commuters for train service will lead to investment in real estate and amenities like restaurants and entertainment that will improve the quality of life in the surrounding community. Residential and commercial property prices will rise, creating a virtuous cycle of growing investment, wealth and prosperity for the residents of Connecticut. Connecticut will develop a next generation skilled workforce by building these infrastructure projects. We will need these trained and experienced workers for construction and advanced manufacturing jobs in the years ahead to meet the future needs of our employers. 14

15 ROI: RETURN ON INFRASTRUCTURE Research has shown that investments in transportation improvements generate both short-term and longterm economic benefits. Examples include: The American Public Transportation Association reports The Economic Impact of Public Transportation Investment: 2014 Update shows that each $1 billion of investment generates 50,000 short-term jobs to complete the transportation improvement and that long-term economic activity equals $4 for each $1 of transportation investment. 10 The Commonwealth of Virginia reviewed their transportation program and determined that investment of approximately $10 billion would generate over $81 billion of long-term economic activity over 25 years providing an average of 23,000 jobs growing to over 100,000 jobs during the 25-year period. The Commonwealth of Kentucky shows that each $1 of transportation improvements generated $3.33 in economic return and if you focus on road capital improvements the economic return jumps to $5 economic return for each $1 investment in transportation. The State of Florida shows that each $1 of transportation improvements generated $4.40 in economic return over a 25-year period based on the complete investments for both capital and operations of the transportation system

16 We can cut rail commute times to New York City down to 30 minutes from Stamford, 45 minutes from Bridgeport and 60 minutes from New Haven game changers for those cities. We can rebuild the Bridgeport and Hartford airports into major regional hubs. We can get our highways flowing again to improve access to our rural and small towns. We will put our people back to work in construction projects that will lay the foundation to revitalize our state. LEARN MORE: STEMERMAN FOR GOVERNOR 2777 Summer Street, Suite 404 Stamford, CT (203) CAMPAIGN CONTACT TO VOLUNTEER MEDIA REQUESTS Version: June 11, 2018 PAID FOR BY DAVID STEMERMAN FOR GOVERNOR, INC. HENRY SCHAFFER, TREASURER. APPROVED BY DAVID STEMERMAN.