CT COMMUTER RAIL COUNCIL’S
JIM CAMERON ELECTED
( Darien, CT – August 29, 2001 ): Commuter advocate Jim Cameron, Vice Chairman of the Metro-North Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council, has been elected to serve as an at-large Board member of the Coastal Corridor TIA (Transportation Investment Area), a group charged with creating a long-term solution to the region’s transportation problems.
“I’m excited to be involved in this crucial planning
process,” says Cameron, a long-time resident of Darien and regular rail
commuter. “It’s been almost a year
since the Transportation Summit was
held in Hartford, and we seem no closer to a solution to our transportation
crisis. I hope that my service on this
Board will bring about some immediate improvements while we also work on our
20-year plan. My first priority will be
securing new rail cars for Metro-North to alleviate crowding and to offer more
frequent service.”
The Coastal Corridor TIA represents communities from
Greenwich to New Haven, north to Danbury and Meriden. At its most recent meeting it adopted the following vision
statement:
“The Coastal Corridor TIA will have a
transportation system that offers people and goods a choice of safe, convenient
and integrated modes of transportation including roads, waterborne, airborne,
rail and other modes of public transit and facilities that make walking and
bicycling viable transportation options so as to stimulate sustainable economic
growth by ensuring mobility of people and goods within the TIA and connectivity
of the TIA’s economy to the state, regional, national and global economies and
to enhance quality of life by ensuring mobility of all residents of the TIA,
including those unable to drive, while protecting the TIA’s environmental,
cultural and community resources.”
The Coastal Corridor TIA must submit its
recommendations to the full State Transportation
Strategy Board by November 15,
2001. To meet this deadline the CCTIA
will be meeting weekly. The next
meeting of the CCTIA is Wednesday, Sept. 5, 4 pm at the offices of SWRPA in
Stamford CT. All CCTIA meetings are
open to the public. Before its final
recommendations are submitted to the TSB, the CCTIA will hold public
hearings on its plan.
Jim Cameron also serves as Vice Chairman of the CT
Rail Commuter Council, a body created by the legislature to represent the
interests of riders before CDOT and Metro-North. Additionally, he serves on the Southwest Corridor Action Council,
a group created by lawmakers to watchdog CDOT in its goal of reducing highway
traffic by 5% on I-95 and the Merritt Parkway.
Cameron also created and operates the Commuter Council’s web site at www.trainweb.org/ct
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