ASSEMBLY, No. 1046

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblymen DORIA and DeCROCE

An Act concerning the New Jersey Transit Corporation, supplementing P.L.1979, c.150 (C.27:25-1 et seq.) and making an appropriation.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. a. A rider presenting a discounted monthly bus pass issued by the New Jersey Transit Corporation shall be entitled to use that bus pass, in accordance with the terms and conditions of its issuance, on any autobus operated on intra-State regular route service when the owner of such autobus agrees to participate in the monthly bus pass program operated by the corporation and enters into an agreement with the corporation. The corporation has the right not to enter into an agreement for any particular route or service when the corporation determines that the route or service is not consistent with the provision of an efficient, effective and responsive public transit system. An intrastate autobus company participating in the program, which shall be open to all companies operating autobus regular route service within the State, shall be entitled to be paid by the New Jersey Transit Corporation for each such use on its intra-State routes an amount equal to the full fare for the zone in question, except that the reimbursement shall not exceed the one way full fare charged by the corporation. Reimbursement to private operators participating in this program shall be made from a special appropriation and shall not be from sums made available to the corporation for the operation and administration of service offered by the corporation. When, in any fiscal year, the requests for reimbursements exceed the amount appropriated, the reimbursements to private operators shall be on a pro-rata basis. The amount of the payment may be determined by reliance on records of use maintained by the person operating the autobus service or surveys of ridership conducted by the corporation estimating such use. The corporation is authorized to conduct ridership audits of autobus operators participating in the program and shall receive reimbursement from the operators for the expenses associated with these ridership audits.

    As used in this act, "autobus" means an autobus as defined in R.S.48:4-1 for which a certificate of public convenience and necessity has been issued by the Commissioner of Transportation but shall not include an autobus operated to or from a casino.

    b. A public entity operating motorbus service within the State or a private entity under a contract with the New Jersey Transit Corporation for the provision of regular route bus service shall be entitled to participate in the monthly bus program on the same terms and conditions as a person operating autobus service. However, if the private entity receives a payment from the corporation sufficient to pay the full fare for the use of the monthly bus pass, the private entity shall not be entitled to receive payment under this act.

    2. The New Jersey Transit Corporation shall adopt written guidelines for the monthly bus pass program and for the payment of persons operating autobus or motorbus service as provided in this act.

    3. There is appropriated to the New Jersey Transit Corporation the sum of $2,800,000 to effectuate the purposes of this act.

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

                                                STATEMENT

    This bill is intended to provide private and public bus carriers in the State with equal treatment in regard to the issuance of monthly bus passes by the New Jersey Transit Corporation. Currently, only New Jersey Transit is eligible to issue the pass and receive funding from the State for the discounted amount of the bus pass. The bill provides for the payment of other eligible public and private carriers by NJ Transit the amount of the full fare for each individual use of this commuter incentive on regular route service within the State if the carriers choose to participate in the monthly bus pass program operated by NJ Transit. A private carrier, in order to be eligible for this program, must be an "autobus" as defined in R.S.48:4-1 for which a certificate of public convenience and necessity has been issued by the Commissioner of Transportation, and shall not include an autobus operated to or from a casino. However, if a private entity under contract with NJ Transit for the provision of regular route bus service receives a payment from NJ Transit sufficient to pay the full fare for the use of the monthly bus pass, the private entity shall not be entitled to a separate payment under this bill.

    The bill permits NJ Transit the right not to enter into an agreement with a private carrier for a particular route or service when the corporation determines that the route or service is not consistent with the provision of an efficient, effective and responsive public transit system. The reimbursement by NJ Transit shall not exceed the one way full fare charged by NJ Transit. Reimbursement to private operators participating in the program shall be made from a special appropriation and not from funds for NJ Transit transit service operation and administration. When requests for reimbursements exceed the amount appropriated, reimbursement to private carriers shall be on as pro-rata basis. NJ Transit is also given the authority to conduct a ridership audit of autobus operators participating in the program and to be reimbursed by them for this expense.

    The bill provides for an appropriation of $2.8 million to effectuate its provisions.