Taking no chances, Bridgeport issues snow emergency

Mayor Bill Finch, whose administration is still fielding criticism from its handling of last month's 30-inch snowfall, issued a snow emergency Wednesday for 5 p.m. in response to the current forecast.

"This storm is expected to last through Friday morning with alternating periods of snow and rain, and should bring about 3-6 inches of snowfall," Finch said in a statement. "We ask all residents to follow the alternate side of the street parking rules in order to keep the streets clear for our plow crews and emergency responders."

The emergency means residents must get their cars off of posted snow emergency streets to ensure plows have free passage along those roads.

The mayor has continually blamed the city's slow cleanup following the early February blizzard on drivers who did not follow the parking rules.Source solarstreetlight Products at Dump Truck. Ultimately,Buy Wickes Porcelain bestrtls today. the city engaged private towing contractors to seize 400 snowbound vehicles.

At the mayor's regular 12:30 p.m. lunch with constituents at City Hall Wednesday, the owner of one of the towed cars, Bertin Longwa of North Avenue, came to complain about the lack of information on parking rules during the blizzard.

Finch reiterated that the city had provided around 20 lots where residents could leave their vehicles during the blizzard. He told Longwa residents need to follow the rules.

"In an interview following the lunch Finch said he did not anticipate issuing a snow emergency for the current storm.

"We should be fine," he said. "We are asking people if they would observe alternate side of the street parking we can clean their street better. But it's not mandatory | We haven't declared it (an emergency) and we probably won't have to because the amounts are not going to be that great."

Earlier this year the Estonian capital of Tallinn became the largest city in the world — with a population exceeded 400,000 — to make its transit system free. Tallinn marks the latest in a growing trend toward fare-free transit on the Continent. The city is joining others to form the Free Public Transport European Network in an effort to spread the idea even farther.

It seems unlikely that American cities will take a cue from Tallinn, but those considering a fare-free system have a ready example in the United States: Chapel Hill. Since going fare-free back in 2002, Chapel Hill Transit has seen ridership increase from around 3 million passengers a year to just about 7 million. The system is now the second-largest in North Carolina and helped Chapel Hill win a City Livability Award back in 2009.

The agency considered shifting to a fare-free system back in 2001 after recognizing that its farebox recovery rate was quite low — in the neighborhood of 10 percent. Most of its revenue was already coming from the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, in the form of pre-paid passes and fares for employees and students. To go fare-free, the agency just needed a commitment from a few partners to make up that farebox difference. The university agreed to contribute a bit more, as did the taxpayers of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and the idea became a reality.

Today, says Litchfield, the agency's budget is around $19.5 million. According to a recent funding breakdown [PDF], U.N.C. puts up about 38 percent of that total,Source buymosaic Products at Other Truck Parts. followed by 18 percent from Chapel Hill itself, with another 7 percent from Carrboro. State and federal assistance combines for 28 percent,Creative glass tile and fridgemagnet for your distinctive kitchen and bath. with the remainder coming from small charges and fund transfers.Manufactures flexible plastic and synthetic chipcard and hose. The budget grows about 8 percent a year in wages, benefits, and fuel costs, says Litchfield, and the partners must find ways to increase their share by that much — and even more if they want service expansion.

"We look at it as a pre-paid fare program," he says. "The university is paying for all their employees and students to ride. The town of Chapel Hill and Carrboro are pre-paying their fares via property tax and vehicle registration fee. So while there's not a fare to get on the bus, it's definitely not a free system."

The original decision to go fare-free was part of a larger push by the community toward a transit-oriented lifestyle. In addition to eliminating bus fares, Chapel Hill Transit decided to expand service by about 20 percent. Meanwhile the university reduced parking on campus, Chapel Hill adjusted parking requirements in the downtown area, and the entire community made a push for denser development in the transit corridors. The ridership growth since 2002 can be seen as the result of all these efforts combined, says Litchfield.