"Travelers knows something about transportation."
Gov. Dannel Malloy
Governor Dannel Malloy wants to sell his transportation plan to businesses as a way to boost economic growth. He began with a company that likes to think differently about the way its employees get to work: insurance giant Travelers.
For around 45 minutes, Malloy sat with a cross-section of employees in a boardroom in Travelers' Hartford building, pitching his 30-year massive transportation overhaul, and listening to comments from his audience.
There's a reason this company was chosen for a meet-and-greet on this issue. Of the 6,000 employees who commute daily to its Hartford campus, fully 25 percent take the bus. Travelers also boasts extensive bike racks in its underground garages.
Many of Malloy's points about the deficiencies of Connecticut's infrastructure hit home. Some employees praised the governor for his completion of the New Britain-Hartford busway, and also questioned him closely on his plans for bike transportation.
Afterward, Malloy said he values Travelers' national perspective.
"Travelers has people in every state, and they have the largest network of independent agents who represent them as well. Travelers knows something about transportation," Malloy said.
Travelers' Andy Bessette said that for him, improving transportation is a workforce and recruitment issue.
"I think it's an employment opportunity," Bessette said. "I think it's recruiting employees from further away to have a shorter commute time. You draw your lines around this place as to who you can recruit. It gives you a bigger market."
Like many Connecticut residents, the Travelers workers wondered which of Malloy's many plans would rise to the top of his agenda in a time of constrained resources.