The Corzine administration spent much of 2008 trying to fund three megaprojects. One was the Access to the Region’s Core project to build a second rail tunnel connecting NJ and New York City, a vital project that will double NJ Transit rush-hour capacity into and out of NYC. The other two were unwise widenings of the NJ Turnpike from exits 6-9 and the Garden State Parkway from exits 30-80, which together could cost over $3 billion.

Early in 2008, the governor pushed his “asset monetization” plan which would bond against huge highway toll increases to fund the three projects and replenish the state’s nearly bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund — the funding source for most transportation capital projects. By the spring it became clear that the hugely unpopular plan had no chance of passing the State Legislature. The critical question of how to fix the Trust Fund was pushed aside for later, and smaller toll increases on the Turnpike and Parkway were approved in September to fund the three megaprojects.

Unfortunately, the state’s focus on megaprojects, especially the highway widenings, seems to have come at the cost of a broader transportation policy. In December, the NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection released a draft greenhouse gas plan full of progressive transportation recommendations like transit-oriented development and complete streets legislation. But the plan said nothing about the Turnpike and Parkway widenings, which would clearly increase the state’s emissions.

New Jersey Transit

Due in part to skyrocketing gas prices and continued investment in transit projects, NJ Transit was poised for another year of record ridership in 2008. It continued to expand and improve its network, laying the groundwork for many more years of increased ridership.

Governor Corzine further solidified his commitment to transit by increasing the agency’s operating budget by $60 million over the previous year. Unfortunately, NJ Transit once again had to divert capital dollars to cover operations (for an earlier look at this pattern, see MTR # 564).

NJ Transit’s biggest project, the ARC passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River, made great advances in 2008, and the state can fully fund its portion of the project after making the innovative decision to use New Jersey Turnpike Authority toll increases to fund the transit tunnel. If NJ Transit receives final approval on environmental documents, which could happen in the next few weeks, it would be eligible to receive federal transit funding and move forward. Similarly, the federal stimulus package expected under the Obama administration also has the potential to spur construction in 2009.

NJTransit took a leap toward bus rapid transit with the April premiere of GoBus in Newark. Servicing the 4.8-mile corridor between Irvington Bus Terminal and Newark Penn Station, the new line offered improved seating, lighting and passenger information displays, streamlined service with fewer stops, and redesigned user-friendly shelters among other amenities. It proved so popular that NJ Transit doubled service a mere 5 months later.

In the fall, NJ Transit began construction of a new Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station, at 8th Street in Bayonne. Unfortunately, the agency also approved the first phase of the Lackawanna Cutoff rail project, planning to build a station in the sparsely developed Highlands that could induce greenfield construction and is not projected to attract many riders.

On another disappointing note, the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission voted in April to allow the construction of a 4,280-space parking garage and a 1,094-space surface lot near NJ Transit’s Secaucus Junction rail station.

Overall Trend in 2008: Up. Securing funding and completing the ARC Tunnel environmental study are major accomplishments, and it’s good to see the agency getting involved in innovative bus projects like GoBus.

New Jersey Turnpike Authority

NJTA data obtained by TSTC in May showed that traffic volume on the NJ Turnpike had stayed virtually unchanged since 2004, blasting away the agency’s bedrock argument for its $2 billion project to add 170 lane miles to the Turnpike between exits 6 and 9. Despite the clear contradiction between projected traffic data and reality on the roadway, state officials continued to push the project.

Unfortunately, December toll hikes on the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike created a funding source for the widenings, which has Governor Corzine trying to speed up construction timetables. The toll hikes also provided money for the ARC passenger rail tunnel, generating the only good news coming out of the NJTA in 2008.

While NJTA would like to begin construction on both widenings soon, support for the projects has not been ubiquitous. Over 40 environmental, land-use and transportation advocacy organizations voiced their outrage through letters and press conferences in 2008, which led to a halving of the Parkway widening. Additionally, the Star-Ledger highlighted the downward trend in Turnpike traffic, and Gannett newspaper editorial boards have touted the projects as wasteful.

Overall Trend in 2008: Steady (there isn’t much room for NJTA to go anywhere but up).

New Jersey Department of Transportation

Even before the markets crumbled, a statewide financial crunch in 2008 triggered staff and program cuts in most departments, including NJDOT. Responding to the operating shortage, NJDOT pushed legislation allowing municipalities greater autonomy over their traffic decisions.

Road widenings made up less than 2% of NJDOT’s fiscal year 2009 capital plan (fiscal years run June – July), showing that in the short term, the agency continues to abide by its nationally recognized “fix-it-first” investment strategy, prioritizing road and bridge maintenance and repair over new capacity expansion. But a TSTC report found that spending on new roads and road widenings jumps as high as 7.7% of the overall budget after 2010, consuming a larger chunk of the state’s scarce transportation funding.

Just as concerning is that staff cuts have clearly taken their toll on the nationally renowned NJ Future In Transportation program (NJFIT), which seeks to build more sustainable communities with state transportation projects. TSTC’s report found that the program fell behind last year, with only a handful of the 17 NJFIT smart growth projects slated to receive funding in fiscal year 2009. Two projects originally tapped for smart growth improvements have been transformed into widening projects that do not link land use and transportation or represent more sustainable congestion relief solutions.

2008 saw a spike in bike casualties — 21 cyclists were killed through December 17 of this year, up from 11 fatalities each in 2006 and 2007 — but a drop in pedestrian deaths. Overall, funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects dropped by 14%, but NJDOT still managed to push forward some innovative projects – including an “urban demonstration” Safe Routes to School project in Newark – and announced $2 million in Safe Routes to Transit grants.

Near the end of the year, NJDOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri stepped down, with deputy commissioner Stephen Dilts elevated to the head of the department.

Overall Trend in 2008: Down. NJDOT continues to be recognized as a national leader for its “fix-it-first” policy and its generally progressive transportation policy, but less money for innovative planning programs like NJFIT in 2009 and more money for road widening in 2010 is a troubling trend.

Beyond the Megaprojects: NJ’s 2009 Priorities

The ARC Tunnel and the Parkway and Turnpike widenings are hardly done deals, but are far enough along that 2009 could see construction begin on all three projects. Advocates will have to fight hard to make sure the ARC Tunnel progresses and to try and halt the widenings. Beyond the megaprojects, however, New Jersey will hopefully turn its attention to some of the other major financial and policy questions it is facing.

With the recent economic fallout, state revenues — including toll and gas tax revenue — are faltering. When transportation funding is uncertain, the possibility of an NJ Transit fare hike is seldom far behind, and state elected officials must stave one off. Given limited resources, NJDOT should continue to prioritize maintenance and repair of the road network over expansion. And, though it is unlikely, the state can still avoid wasting more money on the Parkway and Turnpike widenings by rolling the projects back.

The Transportation Trust Fund is still near-bankrupt as a result of decades of unsustainable borrowing; it will run out of money by fiscal year 2011. State officials have said the Trust Fund can be dealt with later, but doing so could lead to a repeat of 2006, when the fund’s impending bankruptcy led to the hasty “solution” of borrowing more money and increasing Trust Fund debt.

New Jersey also needs to address what is beginning to look like a schizophrenic approach to smart growth. Communities are tangibly benefiting from smart growth programs like the Transit Village program and NJDOT’s NJFIT transportation/land use planning program. The state’s new greenhouse gas plan is full of smart growth reforms, and new state laws have strengthened transit-oriented development. Yet the state spent much of the year pushing two highway widenings that will worsen sprawl, and NJDOT’s ability to implement innovative programs has been eroded due to budget cuts and a shift in focus.