Bill > A3694

Introduced Session

This bill appropriates a total of $6 million in additional money from the revenues and other funds of the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority (TTFA) for two purposes related to improving public transportation. $3 million would be appropriated to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for making grants to private motorbus carriers for the purchase and operation of electric buses and an extra $3 million for a total of $6 million would be appropriated to fund the New Jersey Transit Corporation's (NJT) Private Carrier Capital Improvement Program (PCCIP) for the 2019 fiscal year. The appropriation of $3 million for electric buses is intended to promote the introduction of electric battery-powered buses into the New Jersey passenger bus fleet, which promises to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the operation of fossil-fueled buses. According to a May 2018 report jointly authored by the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and others, on average, an electric bus costs approximately $750,000, substantially more than the $500,000 cost of a conventional diesel bus. The bill also appropriates $7 million from the funds of the TTFA to the PCCIP, increasing the authorized level of PCCIP funding from a maximum of $4 million in FY2020 to $7 million for FY2021, and would require this funding. Given the fiscal year implementation, this provision is to take effect on July 1, 2020. Private motorbus carriers operate approximately 25 percent of the scheduled bus transportation in this State and receive no operating subsidy. They face the same cost pressures that underpin recent increases in the operating subsidy of NJT but depend on revenues from the fare box to address existing needs and to make new investments. Allowing the DOT to recognize the increased capital needs of private carriers and the passengers who depend on them will help to ensure that the State's efforts to enhance public transportation, to keep it affordable, and to improve air quality benefit all New Jerseyans.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Daniel Benson (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee (on 03/16/2020)