CT: CTDOT to discuss future of transit and transportation in CT. ‘So much is changing,’ officials say

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is starting what they hope will be an annual tradition.

The CTDOT is hosting the inaugural 2025 Transportation Showcase on April 1 at the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford. The two-hour event is free to the public and starts at 8 a.m.

“It’s almost a monthly occurrence where a different group or organization will invite our commissioner or someone from our agency to serve on a panel or give a keynote address to the construction industry or the building trades,” CTDOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said. “We thought we should talk about what is happening here in Connecticut and host our own panel or our own showcase. That was the genesis of where this began.”

The discussions will be about everything involving transportation in the state and will include a panel including Marian Andoh-Clarke, the Hartford Chamber of Commerce’s director of small business development, CTDOT commissioner Garrett Eucalitto, Capital Region Council of Governments executive director Matt Hart and the Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate director of resilience planning John Truscinski. Arthur Guzzetti, the American Public Transportation Association’s vice president of mobility and public policy, will be the keynote speaker.

“The Transportation Showcase will bring together industry leaders, policymakers and innovators to explore how infrastructure investments will shape the future of transportation in Connecticut,” said Benjamin Limmer, CTDOT bureau chief of public transportation, said. “We look forward to exploring how enhanced public transit can drive economic growth, strengthen communities and create a more sustainable and accessible Connecticut.”

Morgan said the CTDOT is putting support behind this event to make this information available to stakeholders and the public.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to launch here in 2025,” Morgan said. “We are going to be talking about what is happening right now on transit and transportation here in Connecticut, as well as some of the things the state is working on and thinking of working on.”

Some topics include how to make trains operate faster, improving travel time, investments into bus services and micro transit services to help with connections near train stations.

“Even if someone is not a daily driver or transit rider, the food that they are going to eat is going to come via our roads and rails. The goods and the clothes that they are wearing come from our roads and rails. Transportation touches everything and everyone. That will be a key focus of the showcase.”

Registration and breakfast are from 8 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. The keynote speaker and panel will follow. The panel will be moderated by WNPR’s ‘Where We Live’ host Catherine Shen and the showcase will appear on a future episode.

“We hope people will take the opportunity to come out and listen to the experts and stakeholders speak about how important mobility is for people in their day-to-day life,” Morgan said. “So much has changed and so much is changing in the area and it’s important that we have an event like this. We would love for this to be a successful event and would love to turn it into an annual celebration of transportation in Connecticut.”

Morgan said the showcase has already reached their registration goal but is speaking with the venue about increasing capacity. To register for the event, visit the showcase website.

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