Transport Hartford is a mobility justice education and advocacy program of the Center for Latino Progress that supports biking, walking, and transit in the Capitol Region.
For Hartford and the region to succeed and grow, it has to move beyond single occupancy vehicle travel by building a culture of active transportation and supporting safe infrastructure for all users – vehicle drivers included.
Transport Hartford partners with our sister program, BiCi Co community bike shop, to provide fundraising, community engagement, event planning and programming. Both programs work with the City of Hartford to reduce serious injuries and fatalities on city streets through education, engagement and advocacy for traffic calming and street infrastructure improvements.
What We Do
Traffic Calming/Walk Audits
Transport Hartford organizes regular walk, bike, and transit audits. These audits are aimed at assessing the safety of a designated area for most vulnerable road users such as walkers, wheelchairs users, and cyclists. Here is a Webinar Recording on how to conduct a walk audit. We follow the AARP toolkit as part of the organization’s strategy to promote livable communities.
BiCi PATH (Pathways to Active Travel and Health)
More than a third of families in Hartford do not own a car and need transportation to work, jobs, school and community resources. Working with quality used bike donations from the community, volunteers and staff at BiCi Co will “upcycle” a minimum of 100 free bike “matches” to meet Hartford residents transportation needs annually.
To register for BiCi PATH, use this link to answer an eligibility survey:
Hartford Bike Jam
We host community rides to promote safe bicycle routes, encourage bicycling, and visit new or planned traffic calming projects in Hartford. Riders pick a song for a boombox playlist, join with neighbors for a safe group ride and offer feedback to city planners. It’s more like a party than a public meeting. More than 300 riders joined us in 2024. Follow our Transport Hartford Instagram and Facebook pages for new events.
CT Tickets to Opportunity
Transport Hartford helped lead a coalition of students, advocates and organizations statewide to campaign for Free City Bus Passes for High School Students during the 2024 Connecticut General Assembly session. Students need transportation to attend afterschool programs, play sports, get to jobs, attend community and cultural activities, and meet with friends. Bus passes are Tickets to Opportunity.
Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Jeff Currey of East Hartford, Principal Sean Tomany, his students at the University High School of Science and Engineering in Hartford, and the Transit Riders Union of Connecticut (TRUCT), we secured $175,000 for a 2024-25 Pilot program providing almost 600 Hartford high school students with free unlimited bus passes. We hope to build on this pilot to fund a statewide program so every high school student in our state has the transportation they need to take advantage of opportunities at academic and sports programming, jobs, non-profit programs and cultural activities.
Join the campaign to make sure all Connecticut High School Students have access to free city bus passes.
Safe Routes to School/Bike Bus Support
We love bike buses, where adults ride with kids to school in a group — with join up points similar to a bus route. A bike bus builds community and provides a fun, active, social, parent-run trip to school. Boombox playlists are integral! Transport Hartford supports three Capital Region bike bus startups (Manchester, East Hartford, and West Hartford). We worked with Fairfield, CT, bike bus organizers (Go Stratfield Elementary!) to create a resource packet for anyone interested in starting a bike bus in the Capitol Region. If you haven’t already heard of Coach Sam Balto’s bike bus in Portland, OR, check out the new national Bike Bus World organization.
