STATE OF NEW JERSEY
212th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2006 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman FRANCIS L. BODINE
District 8 (Burlington)
Assemblyman PETER J. BIONDI
District 16 (Morris and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Wisniewski
SYNOPSIS
Directs NJT to study and design bus rapid transit demonstration projects.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act directing the New Jersey Transit Corporation to study and design bus rapid transit demonstration projects.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The New Jersey Transit Corporation shall study and design bus rapid transit demonstration projects that would work in conjunction with existing light rail and rail services to serve residents throughout the state .
For the purposes of this section, "bus rapid transit" means coordinated improvements in a transit system's infrastructure, equipment, operations and technology that give preferential treatment to buses on roadways and otherwise provide for increased efficiency in bus service, including, but not limited to, buses using exclusive busways or high occupancy vehicle lanes with other vehicles and improving bus service on city arterial streets. Bus rapid transit may also include traffic signal priority, boarding and fare collection improvements, limited stops, improved stations and shelters, intelligent transportation system technologies, cleaner and quieter vehicles, and exclusive traffic lanes.
b. Within two years of the effective date of this act, the corporation shall prepare and submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the benefits to the traveling public from the study, and recommend, if deemed appropriate, bus rapid transit projects.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill directs the New Jersey Transit Corporation to study and design bus rapid transit demonstration projects that would work in conjunction with existing light rail services throughout the State.
A recent United States General Accounting Office (GAO) report entitled "Mass Transit, Bus Rapid Transit Shows Promise," GAO-01-984, dated September 2001, discusses bus rapid transit and describes various examples of bus rapid transit systems supported, in part, with federal funds, their construction cost estimates, a summary of the comparative analysis used to choose bus rapid transit, and the status of each example.
The bill also directs the corporation to report to the Governor and the Legislature within two years of the bill's effective date on the benefits to the traveling public from the study and to recommend, if deemed appropriate, bus rapid transit projects.