MAPLEWOOD, NJ — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, ranking member on the Senate’s transit subcommittee, and U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill announced Dec. 13 the awarding of $17,275,000 in federal funding to enhance commuter bus service, expand capacity and reduce wait times for riders on dozens of overcrowded NJ Transit routes in Essex, Hudson and Bergen counties.
NJ Transit will use the U.S. Department of Transportation funding to purchase up to 25 new, 60-foot, articulated buses that will accommodate growing ridership in North Jersey. Menendez and Sherrill made the announcement with NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett at the Hilton Bus Garage in Maplewood, one of three bus depots that will receive the new buses.
“This investment will have a real impact for the people of Northern New Jersey,” Menendez said. “With larger buses, fewer riders will be stuck out in the cold, waiting for a bus or watching full ones pass them by. They’ll also be more likely to get a seat than endure their entire commute standing up. Newer, better buses mean fewer breakdowns and delays for workers, students and parents trying to get home to their families at the end of a long day. And fewer delays and smoother rides mean an even greater incentive for New Jerseyans to leave their cars at home and rely on mass transit. This grant is yet another building block in our efforts to provide New Jerseyans with the safe, modern and efficient mass transit they deserve.”
“More than half a million New Jersey residents commute on NJ Transit buses each week,” Sherrill said. “This announcement represents a critical federal investment in our transit system, and will improve the quality of life for residents in my community. We will continue to work in Congress to bring federal money back to our state for all of our pressing transportation infrastructure needs, including the Gateway Tunnel and the Portal Bridge projects.”
The new buses are in addition to the 183 new cruiser buses and 85 new articulated buses already scheduled to arrive next year, according to NJ Transit, that, along with the hiring of 650 new bus operators since 2018, will result in nearly 2,000 more passenger trips each weekday, or greater than a half-a-million annually.
“Out of more than 300 nationwide applications for these funds, NJ Transit is one of only seven applicants to receive the highest award. I’m proud of that,” Corbett said. “On behalf of everyone at NJ Transit, I’d like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to Sen. Menendez for all of his efforts to help us secure this critically important grant, which will result in significant quality-of-life improvements for bus customers throughout northern New Jersey.”
The new articulated buses will address the increasing need for additional capacity during the morning and evening commuting hours. The standard, 40-foot buses can accommodate 57 riders while the articulated buses will be able to accommodate 99 riders, including 59 seated and 40 standing.
Many of the bus lines that service Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties are already overcapacity, often at standing-room-only for riders. According to an NJ Transit study, on a single day in May 2018, more than 34 percent of the total NJ Transit bus trips on the routes from these communities into the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan were at full- or overcapacity, denying thousands of passengers a seat during their commute.
The new buses will be deployed to the Hilton Bus Garage in Maplewood, the Big Tree Bus Garage in Nutley and the Fairview Bus Garage. All three garages already have the necessary equipment and personnel in place to maintain the larger, 60-foot buses.
The grant is being funded through USDOT’s Bus and Bus Facilities Discretionary Program, one of the transit programs that fall under the jurisdiction of Menendez’s Housing, Transportation and Community Development Subcommittee. This discretionary grant is on top of the more than $600 million per year in annual transit funding that went to New Jersey through the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act that was passed and signed into law in 2015.
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