by Jordan Allyn The New Haven independent
A dog, a baby, and several young climate activists went into City Hall. Their purpose was not to deliver a punchline, but rather a request for the city to take transportation seriously.
“DANGER TURN BACK TOXIC FUTURE” read a yellow road sign-esque poster. “DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS NEED TO SURVIVE HERE” read another.
Dozens of people filled City Hall’s Aldermanic Chamber Thursday night, calling for alders to prioritize cutting 25 percent of the city’s transportation emissions by 2030.
The focus of their local legislative push was a “Transportation Transformation Resolution” proposed by the New Haven Climate Movement and heard on Thursday by the alders’ City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) Committee.
The resolution requests that city departments deliver reports with concrete plans for public transportation advancement and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The highlighted departments included the Economic Development Administration, the Office of Climate and Sustainability, the Board of Education, and the Department of Transportation, Traffic & Parking.
Climate organizers asked the city to reaffirm approval of free bus passes for all Connecticut residents and work with New Haven stakeholders to encourage people to choose sustainable transportation options. They also urged for more funding allocated towards transportation staffing and implementation of the Safe Routes for All plan.
Thursday’s hearing took place nearly six years after the New Haven Climate Movement successfully pushed for the Board of Alders to pass a “climate emergency resolution.”
“If we want to mitigate climate change effectively, decarbonizing our transportation system is one of the most impactful ways to take action,” said New Haven Climate Movement leader Amelia Lee to the committee of alders.
She pointed to severe storms and flash flooding as consequences of climate change worsening in New Haven. Tackling transportation is a way to address this issue. “Transportation accounts for more than 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Lee. Many repeated this statistic throughout the hearing.
Thursday’s CSEP committee meeting.
Thirteen members of the public testified in support of the resolution. Thirty organizations publicly endorsed it and more than 700 people signed the accompanying petition.
Adrian Huq, cofounder of the New Haven Climate Movement Youth Action Team, spoke before the committee. Huq said they never paid for bus fare in high school because their administrators provided two-hour CT transit passes to students who took part in after-school programming. “This offering allowed me to fully participate in extracurriculars and instilled important values in me on the fronts of transit equity and climate issues,” testified Huq.
Eric Fine approached the mic with his daughters Emma and Lucia. They moved to New Haven around ten years ago when his eldest, Emma, was one month old. For years, he biked in the city attached to a yellow trailer with his girls nestled inside. “Since then, though, they are a little heavy to bring around in that trailer, so they’re on their own bikes behind me,” said Fine.
Sometimes he fears for his kids’ safety on the streets, but then he weighs his options. “Which is the bigger threat? That right now unsafe situation on the streets because of the bike infrastructure or what’s coming down the line for their future?” Emma shared her homemade sign, “Ride a bike! Take a bus! Do it for the kids!!!”
Yale/Downtown Alder Kiana Flores commended the work of the organizers, saying that “it goes to show that the climate movement and young people in the city are advocating for what they believe in and for a safe and healthy future.”
The alders expressed overall support for the resolution but had concerns regarding other departments’ budgeting. They also highlighted that the Board of Alders holds no jurisdiction over the Board of Education and discussed how they could impact transportation reforms in schools.
East Rock Alder and CSEP Committee Chair Anna Festa proposed bringing funding questions to the Finance Committee’s budget meeting on Monday. “My promise is I’ll have this resolution in front of me during the budget process,” said Festa. She committed to asking department heads about their transportation plans and encouraged residents to testify during the budget meeting. “Our goal here is to make sure the resolution is something that everybody on the Board of Alders can stand behind, because if they can all stand behind it, then they’re gonna vote for it.”
By the end of the hearing, the alders decided to keep the resolution in committee and not take action on the item. “We definitely went into this meeting hoping to get a vote last night,” said Huq. “But we respect the process and understand that the financial piece needs to be worked out with the Finance Committee.”