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NJ Transit advanced a plan to extend Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to Englewood last week. | Photo: The Jersey Journal “If Tenafly doesn’t want it, that’s OK. We’ll take it!” That was New Jersey Assemblyman Gordon Johnson’s reaction when the New Jersey Transit (NJT) Board of Directors voted to approve the study of a modified alternative [...] Ridership increased on all NJ Transit rail lines in the first quarter of FY2013. | Image: NJ Transit Quarterly Ridership Trends Analysis With Governor Christie set to announce the 2014 budget sometime in late February, recently released data from NJ Transit makes a compelling case for increasing funding for transit operations in the [...] Kathleen Prunty of the Cranford Downtown Management Corporation (far left) explained the township’s successful transit-oriented development projects on Monday. | Photo: TSTC. Interest in transit-oriented development (TOD) within Connecticut has rarely been higher. After releasing TOD grants to several cities and towns last year, the state has also moved forward on a TOD [...] Rendering of American Dream Meadowlands | Image: www.americandream.com Editor’s Note: East Rutherford passed a budget last night with a 17% municipal tax hike (or an average $400 property tax increase) to cover the financial hole left by NJSEA. While construction on American Dream Meadowlands is not slated to begin any time soon, the megamall is [...] Source: NJTransit. Damaged tracks between South Amboy and Matawan Stations New Jersey’s transportation infrastructure got hit so hard by Superstorm Sandy that three weeks after the storm, the state is still reeling from the impacts. The devastation delivers a key message–sustainable transportation investment and policies are needed to weather the next storm. The [...] As northern New Jersey awaits a plan to deal with the heavy traffic expected from an influx of 55 million annual visitors to the American Dream Meadowlands megamall, the project’s developer, Triple Five Worldwide, recently revealed an outline of public transit improvements that could reduce automobile traffic. The catch? The developer hasn’t committed to paying for improvements. The Plan: Bus Improvements Under the terms of Triple Five’s plan, three local bus lines could be enhanced to provide service to the megamall project. The developer maintains that NJ Transit is committed to this expanded service. The plan identifies these lines as conduits for employees, not customers. Triple Five has also indicated that it is in conversations with private operators about getting routes to Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Terminal, since, according to the plan, NJ Transit is prohibited from providing express service to the Meadowlands from that location. Whether or not the PABT is prepared for more buses is another question. According to the plan, NJ Transit has also said it will “consider” creating new interstate/commuter express bus stops at American Dream, “contingent on providing appropriate accommodations for north- and southbound express bus stops on Rt120 adjacent to the [American Dream] site,” along with safe pedestrian paths at any new bus stops. Depending upon the exact placement of the bus stops, the burden of making and maintaining bus stop safety infrastructure could fall on the shoulders of East Rutherford. Although the borough could apply for Safe Streets to Transit funding—which goes to projects that make walking to transit safer—support for the program has been spotty in recent years (though it was recently restored).  Click through to read about the report on New Jersey Future's website. As New Jersey municipalities (and developers) continue to show enthusiasm for development near transit hubs, the state and its local communities have just gotten a valuable resource that could help foster better land use patterns. Over three years in the making, New Jersey Future’s latest report and an accompanying dataset contain valuable information on the state’s extensive network of transit stations and the areas surrounding them, and suggests that New Jersey avoid one-size-fits-all transit-oriented development decisions. Instead, the report and dataset help the state and its communities strategically target investment in transit-oriented development:
While the dataset provides exceptionally detailed information on New Jersey’s transit stations, the report shows the tremendous opportunity for further transit-oriented development in general. Although 11.2% of New Jersey workers take transit to their jobs—the second-largest statewide figure in the nation, and one that rose between 2000 and 2010—there is much more opportunity for New Jersey communities to pursue sustainable development. According to the report, “out of the state’s 1,944 Census tracts (as defined for the 2000 Census), 657 fall at least partially within half a mile of one or more of the [state’s] 215 rail stations.” These tracts contain approximately 2.8 million people, or roughly one third of the state’s entire population. And that figure does not include stations that are only served by bus or ferry. » Continue reading… Yesterday's Transit Village designation announcement lays the groundwork to encourage new businesses and residents to locate to Dunellen’s downtown, a short walk from the Dunellen train station. Yesterday, at a press conference on the platform of the Dunellen, New Jersey rail station, New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno officially announced that the Borough of Dunellen has become the 26th [...] NJ Transit has announced a plan to cut or alter 11 bus routes | Photo: njt4148/flickr What happens when New Jersey fails to invest in public transportation and identify new revenue sources? Service cuts. Yesterday, NJ Transit announced plans to end or reduce service on 11 bus routes on the grounds of low ridership or unnecessary system redundancy. [...] NJ Transit's Scorecard survey results were released recently. The third time’s a charm, but not for NJ Transit. Customer satisfaction was down slightly in the system’s third quarterly Scorecard survey. On a 1-10 scale, overall customer satisfaction was down from 5.3 to 5.1, an outcome that NJ Transit classifies as “satisfactory.” Some 17,000 [...] |
 
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