State Transportation Department Takes Stock of 2024

By Joe O’Leary

December 31 @ 5:00 am

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The end of the year always brings opportunities to review the good, the bad and what could be done better in the future. For Connecticut’s Department of Transportation, reviewing 2024 mostly revealed the extent of work done on state roadways in the last 12 months.

The DOT recently released its Year In Review, which highlighted the many advances the agency has been able to achieve supporting infrastructure, transportation and road safety in Connecticut in 2024.

When disaster struck, state staff and crews responded quickly; when there was time to work ahead and anticipate future needs for the state, they brainstormed and created a roadmap for the future.

Chief among Connecticut’s biggest transportation concerns in 2024 was the emergence of sudden calamity. In May, a tractor-trailer fire in Norwalk required the demolition of the Fairfield Avenue Bridge over I-95; to counter a traffic disaster that spurred hours of backups along the highway and in the Norwalk community, the DOT demolished the bridge and had lanes open less than four days after the crash.

Crews worked ahead of time to get a replacement together; the bridge was initially expected to be complete in the spring of 2025, but crews completed it in exactly seven months.

There was also the issue of punishing rains that deluged the state in summer, including the extensive damage in southwestern Connecticut that washed out many roads and rail lines. State crews worked around the clock to repair these roads and reconnect communities, meeting the challenge when livelihoods and towns depended on them.

Then there’s the sheer number of projects the DOT pushed forward, ranging from a new parking garage at the Stamford Transportation Center to new highway interchanges, bridge reconstructions and the Waterbury Mixmaster all either breaking ground or reaching completion over the course of the year. That’s only the start, as the DOT says another 235 active capital projects are under construction and 187 are in the planning stages.

“Whether someone is driving, biking, walking, or utilizing public transportation services, we’re delivering projects and programs that ensure people get to their destination safely,” Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “We’re improving lives through transportation, and I am thrilled to see the progress we’ve made this year.”

One of the DOT’s most significant steps forward in 2024 was its installation of wrong-way driving prevention systems, which received focus throughout the year. As the state works to reduce traffic deaths, these systems were seen as increasingly valuable. WTNH reported in November that the state passed its goal of 120 prevention systems in place by the end of the year, with as many as 135 to be installed by 2025. Officials say the systems are working, preventing dozens of potential wrong-way driving incidents.

The year that was also delivered major new accomplishments. The Hartford Line train system saw more than 750,000 riders this year, with more than 100,000 people using the state’s ferries across the Connecticut River; further innovations included the pilot program of a tap-to-pay fare system on bus routes and expanded bus services in several communities.

Connecticut Scientists Make Breakthroughs in Fight Against Invasive Insect

By Joe O’Leary

December 30 @ 5:00 am

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In the last few years, there’s been an unwelcome presence spreading throughout Connecticut, but local scientists are developing a new method to stop them – and if they succeed, they can turn the tide against the scourge nationally.

According to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, the spotted lanternfly has been infiltrating North America for about a decade. Native to China, India, and Vietnam, the insect made its first Northeastern U.S. appearance in Pennsylvania and has slowly spread throughout the region. It was discovered in Connecticut in 2018, then became established in the state in 2020.

Most visible from July to November, the flies have tan, red and black patches on their white wings which are often covered in black spots, which is how they get their name.

Scientists are very concerned about the impact the invasive pest will have on Connecticut’s agriculture and wildlife, specifically plant life. Referred to as “probably the most serious agricultural pest to hit US shores in a long time,” a spotted lanternfly infestation can kill a vineyard and cause serious damage to trees. The flies can weaken plants by eating their sap, diminishing their ability to collect energy through sunlight, and in the process they spur the creation of mold, further harming the plants. Trees and crops that aren’t killed by lanternflies are often weakened and see their output reduced.

In addition to having a direct impact on quality of produce and plant life in Connecticut, the CAES even noted its further spread could lead to other countries rejecting agricultural imports if they suspect they could be contaminated with the flies.

As many as half of Connecticut’s trees could be threatened by spotted lanternflies, which makes the ability to respond and fight back vital. Until now, experts have encouraged a brute-force approach to fighting lanternflies, advising members of the public to look for them and kill them on sight. However, the CAES may have found a significant breakthrough to ease the fight.

In December, the CAES announced its scientists had developed a new method to identify specific odors spotted lanternflies use to find host plants and other insects. By tracking how spotted lanternflies respond to different odors they experience, scientists believe they’ll be able to find some new ways to counter the insects’ impact.

“This knowledge will not only aid in the development of targeted attractants or repellents but also contribute to the overall effort to protect our ecosystems and agricultural resources from this insect,” said CAES Chemical Ecologist Dr. Hany Dweck.

Scientists were able to track the responses of lanternflies to odors from their favorite trees and determine how responses differed for different trace levels of those odors. The resulting findings have revealed new avenues to control lanternfly populations in the 17 states currently dealing with infestations.

“Invasive species have the potential to wreak havoc on our ecosystems, and any action to repel them from Connecticut’s natural beauty, not to mention state agriculture, is vital,” said Sen. Rick Lopes, Senate chair of the state legislature’s Environment Committee. “I’m looking forward to the developments that may result from this new research breakthrough.”

Breeze and Avelo Airlines Help to Drive Connecticut’s Air Travel Comeback

By Joe O’Leary

December 28 @ 5:00 am

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To say 2020 was an off year for Bradley International Airport would be a huge understatement. Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, overall flyer traffic in the Windsor Locks airport was down 65% from 2019, with April and May of the month seeing traveler rates drop by more than 90% from the year prior.

It was a fraught time at best for an airline to expand operations, but as travel started picking up again in the spring of 2021, both Breeze Airways and Avelo Airlines joined the fray at Bradley and New Haven’s Tweed Regional Airport, respectively.

Over the last four years, the budget airlines have carried countless passengers, and in the process they’ve helped Bradley recover passenger traffic and Tweed punch well above its weight. The benefits Breeze has brought Bradley can be seen in the airport’s annual traffic statistics, which also reveal a rise in the airline’s popularity from 2021 to 2024. During that time, passenger traffic bounced back at the airport as Breeze carried more passengers each year in the process.

In 2021, the airline, which started carrying traffic in May, delivered just under 26,000 passengers to their destinations. As Bradley saw traffic grow by 25.5% in 2022 and another 7.8% in 2023, Breeze fliers grew accordingly, with 78,017 people using the airline in 2022 and 210,858 in 2023 as it continued adding new destinations.

Now, in 2024, as Bradley continues to see growth with increases in eight of the nine months with available data, Breeze has already topped its 2023 passenger count and is working toward a new high score.

These airlines aren’t solely fueling Connecticut’s travel comeback, but they’re certainly helping bring new attention, especially to Tweed New Haven, which has seen a significant change in its usage since pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 47,000 people flew in and out of Tweed, with little fanfare. Five years later, after Avelo opened up shop, Tweed is now handling more than 500,000 passengers per year. Combine that with Bradley, which is set to have near-record travel in current projections, and Connecticut air traffic appears set to surge to an all-time high in 2024.

In a precarious period for travel, Breeze and Avelo’s expansion plans helped a resurgence of air traffic in Connecticut, with each airline now offering dozens of destinations and international treks too. They’re working to expand their services even further, as both airlines now fly out of both airports.

These new options provide travelers with competitive rates and service quality on par with their competitors, despite drawbacks, including certain routes that only fly on certain days. They also offer myriad more options for travelers, especially snowbirds and Disney fans in New Haven County, whose trips to JFK or LaGuardia, or even a 45-minute drive to Bradley, now pale in comparison to a quick trip down to the coast.

Where are the airlines at now? Expansion mode. Avelo just announced new routes from New Haven to Florida, Texas, Michigan and Maine, as well as the Dominican Republic; Breeze is now offering service to Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina and Louisiana out of Tweed.

 

Home Equity Growth in Connecticut Outpaces the Nation

By Hugh McQuaid

December 27 @ 5:00 am

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Connecticut homeowners experienced a larger increase in their home equity last year than homeowners in any other state in the nation, according to a report by home ownership investment company Unison.

The annual index tracked median home equity changes in all 50 states from September 2023 to September 2024 and found that equity in Connecticut grew by 24.6% over the 12-month period. That increase was the largest in the nation and was followed by New Jersey, where home equity grew by 22.3%, and Delaware, which saw a 18.3% increase.

Nearly all states experienced some increase in home equity, which Unison attributed to appreciation in home values over the 12-month period. Just five states — Texas, Mississippi, Oregon, Louisiana, and Idaho — saw declines in homeowner equity last year.

Sen. MD Rahman, Senate chair of the state legislature’s Planning and Development Committee, attributed Connecticut’s growth to the state’s strong appeal for homebuyers.

“The growth in that report reflects what a lot of people here already know: there’s value in Connecticut homes because Connecticut is a desirable place to live,” Senator Rahman said. “We have top-ranked schools, some of the lowest crime rates in the country, and exceptional quality of life, so it should come as no surprise that homes in our state are such a sound investment.”

The index calculated changes in home equity by comparing a home’s market value with the outstanding balance of a homeowner’s mortgage.

The report also documented equity growth in specific regions called Core Based Statistical Areas. For instance, equity increased in the Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown area by 31.1%, making it the fourth top-performing CBSA in the nation, along with Great Falls, Montana.

Meanwhile, the Norwich-New London area and New Haven-Milford area both ranked in the top 20 regions with 24.9% and 24.7% growth respectively, according to the Unison index.

This year’s report followed a similar index in 2023, when Unison reported that Connecticut homeowners had experienced 16.93% growth in their equity — the fourth highest rate in the nation that year.

State Gun Safety Policies Earn High Marks in National Ranking

By Hugh McQuaid

December 26 @ 5:00 am

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Connecticut has enacted the third-strongest gun safety laws in the nation, according to an annual scorecard by the Giffords Law Center, which awarded the state an “A” grade on the strength of its policies and its low levels of gun violence.

The annual assessment by the gun violence prevention organization found Connecticut behind only California and New Jersey in a ranking of the safest gun policies in the country. The top three performing states remain unchanged from the Giffords Law Center’s 2023 scorecard.

The law center placed Connecticut among just five states to earn an “A” grade in this year’s assessment.

In a press release last week, Giffords Executive Director Emma Brown said the scorecard served as an annual reminder of the inconsistency of America’s gun policies.

“Gun violence is now the number one killer of children in the United States, and they are measurably safer in some states than others. That is unacceptable,” Brown said. “Gun violence is preventable, and the overwhelming majority of Americans, including Republicans, independents, and gun owners, support commonsense solutions.”

Although the group cited support for gun safety policies from Americans across the political spectrum, the center’s scorecard depicts a stark ideological divide between states that experience the highest and lowest rates of gun deaths.

For instance, Connecticut — where voters have elected a Democratic governor and strong Democratic majorities to both chambers of the legislature — experienced just 6.2 gun deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the scorecard. In fact, of the five states identified by Giffords as experiencing the lowest rates of gun deaths — Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Hawaii — each have Democratic governors and legislative majorities.

Meanwhile, states that experienced the highest rates of gun deaths were often led by Republican governors and Republican legislatures. For comparison, Mississippi experienced the highest rate of gun deaths with 29.4 per 100,000 residents, followed by Louisiana with 28.1 and Alabama with 25.7 deaths per 100,000 residents.

Though the Giffords Law Center has long praised Connecticut policies like universal background checks, risk protection orders, safe storage requirements and assault weapon restrictions, the group credited the state for a recent investment of $8 million in violence prevention programs.

This month’s gun safety scorecard follows a recent study by the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, which concluded that risk protection orders — a policy developed in Connecticut and adopted by other states — should be a key component in public health efforts to reduce suicides.

Connecticut Adds 300 Jobs in November, Unemployment Remains at 23-Year Low

By Garnet McLaughlin

December 25 @ 5:00 am

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The state Department of Labor announced that Connecticut added 300 jobs in November as unemployment remained at 3% – the lowest since 2001. The industries that saw the greatest increase in jobs were: Education and Health Services, Financial Activities, Construction and Mining and Trade, Transportation and Utilities.

The private sector added 800 jobs in November, however overall job growth was impacted by shrinking state government jobs, which saw a decline for its fifth consecutive month, according to the agency.

Last week, Sen. Julie Kushner, a Danbury Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee, said the labor statistics reflected a growing economy.

“Unemployment is low and we are investing in workforce development to upskill Connecticut residents and fill vacancies in essential trades jobs,” Kushner said. “The fact is – when you invest in Connecticut workers, you invest in Connecticut’s economy. I am eager to get back into session in January to keep building upon this momentum.”

The Department of Labor highlighted the following takeaways from their report:

-Connecticut employers have added 13,500 jobs so far in 2024.

-There were 1,709,300 payroll jobs in the state.

-The manufacturing sector has done considerable hiring, however it has remained flat overall due to the high number of retirements.

-Connecticut’s Labor Force Participation Rate is 64.1%, unchanged from last month. The national rate is 62.5%.

The Finance Activities sector is growing in Connecticut and has added up 2,100 jobs so far in 2024.

-Unemployment claims remain below 25,000, quite low by historical standards.

With December numbers still outstanding, Connecticut has enjoyed 13,500 jobs added so far this year, a higher labor force participation rate than the national rate and 73,000 open jobs.

In related labor news, this month the CT Paid Leave program announced that by year end they will have paid $1 billion in benefits to Connecticut workers for more than 190,000 approved claims. CT Paid Leave allows Connecticut workers to receive benefits while stepping away from work due to an illness, caregiving, pregnancy/childbirth or bonding with a new child.

Connecticut’s First-In-The-Nation Housing Pilot Program Extended

By Joe O’Leary

December 24 @ 5:00 am

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The Head Start on Housing program has received high praise from state leaders and an extension to help more families in Connecticut as its novel approach may be replicated elsewhere.

Head Start on Housing is a first-in-the-nation pilot program designed to connect children and their families with housing support if those children are enrolled in the Head Start program and their families are experiencing homelessness. The program has helped 144 families since its 2022 launch, according to Gov. Ned Lamont’s office.

Head Start provides young children in low-income families with access to early learning, health and family wellness services. The housing pilot is a joint offering from the Connecticut Department of Housing and Office of Early Childhood and uses vouchers from the federal Department of Housing to support families receiving aid.

In the two years since its launch, those 144 families, with 317 children, have received housing. About 85 of those children were old enough to start school, with another 232 were under kindergarten age, according to the governor’s office. That’s hundreds of people, and hundreds of children, off the street with much-needed stability.

In a press release this month, the governor called ensuring access to stable housing a “moral imperative.”

“Stable housing is among the most important components of a child’s development and wellbeing, and by expanding this state pilot program using federal housing vouchers we will be able to connect more young families to a place they can call home,” Lamont said.

In a 2015 report by Children’s Health Watch, researchers found that when a child faces homelessness, especially at a young age, the stress can impact them for life, with both physical and mental consequences.

For example, children who have experienced homelessness have higher rates of chronic diseases caused by stress. That impact can be worsened if their mother experiences homelessness during pregnancy, underscoring the foundational and lifelong consequences of instability early in one’s life.

The Head Start website shows weekly updates on the program’s continued work. Currently, the program has processed 239 referrals, with families supported at more than a dozen locations throughout the state. In addition to 144 housed families, another 15 are either searching for apartments or awaiting inspections before getting connected, with 45 more under review.

State Senator Saud Anwar, Senate Chair of the legislature’s Public Health Committee, lauded the program’s success.

“The connections between stable housing and better results in a child’s education, health and overall life are strong and underscore the sheer importance of programs like this,” Anwar said. “As an advocate to reduce and prevent homelessness in Connecticut, I could not be more proud to see our state’s creative approach bear fruit, with the potential to expand nationally.”

In years to come, the Department of Housing plans to directly allocate 50 vouchers each year for families in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

Families in other states may soon be helped by similar initiatives. Connecticut housing and Head Start providers in other parts of the country have spoken with state officials, wanting to replicate the program to support residents of their own states, according to the governor’s office.

“By leveraging Head Start’s two-generational model of providing services to both the child and the family, these programs are uniquely positioned to support Head Start on Housing’s goal of providing safe and stable homes for young children and their families experiencing homelessness,” said Connecticut’s Early Childhood Acting Commissioner Elena Trueworthy.

Senate Democrats to Prioritize AI Regulation in 2025 Session

By Michelle Rappaport

December 23 @ 10:30 am

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Connecticut Senate Democrats announced plans Friday to introduce a priority bill to create artificial intelligence regulations focusing transparency, accountability, and the criminalization of non-consensual intimate images.

Sen. James Maroney, a Milford Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s General Law Committee, detailed the proposal in a press release with Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff. The Senate leaders promised to prioritize passage of the regulations during the legislative session that begins Jan. 8.

“It is without a question we need to be next in passing legislation that will work to fight digital discrimination,” Maroney said. “As AI continues to evolve, it’s crucial that we implement thoughtful regulations to ensure its development aligns with ethical standards, safeguards privacy, and minimizes potential harm.”

The proposal will build upon legislation passed in 2023 that encompassed transparency and accountability surrounding AI so people know when they are interacting with AI.

In addition, companies that deploy AI to make decisions impacting consumer’s access to credit, housing, insurance, education, employment, health care, or a governmental service will be subject to reporting and oversight by the attorney general under the bill. These companies will need to show proper safety parameters are being made to protect consumers from the potential hazards of AI.
In the absence of regulation, technology could outpace the state’s ability to manage risks and create unintended consequences, Looney said.

“Connecticut needs to require guidelines to ensure decisions are made fairly, accurately, and transparently,” Looney said.

The legislation will be designed to put safety brakes in areas where AI is being used to make important decisions about people’s lives, like housing, lending, employment, and government services.

This proposal will also work to prohibit the use of AI to make deepfake pornographic images of people, including the use of AI to create so-called “revenge porn.” However, an image does not need to be pornographic to be considered a deepfake. Any time someone uses the technology to impose a one person’s face onto another person’s body or use that face to assign spoken words to someone who did not say those words, it is considered a deepfake.

Earlier this month, Looney, Duff and Maroney published a multi-state authored op-ed highlighting the importance of adopting artificial intelligence regulations. The article emphasized the growing need for comprehensive legislation to address the ethical, social, and economic challenges posed by AI.

On Friday, Duff stressed the need to act quickly on the issue.

“Without regulation, AI poses risks such as bias, privacy violations, and unforeseen societal impacts,” Duff said. “We must be proactive so AI does not negatively impact us before it is too late.”