The following are links to a selection of transportation-related articles published recently by newspapers in the northern New Jersey region. This page is updated on at least a bi-weekly basis. Please note that links on this page may expire or be unreliable due to changes made by host newspapers.
Through January 23, 2012
DOT awards $3.5 million grant to U.
Daily Targum, 1/23/12. The University may be one step closer to tackling transportation challenges after receiving a $3.5 million grant last week from the United States Department of Transportation. U.S. ... The Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) will allocate the funds to build a consortium of researchers at Princeton University, Columbia University, the University of Delaware and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said Allison Thomas, CAIT marketing and communications associate director.
NJ Voters Don’t Want To Pump Their Own Gas
Monday, January 23, 2012
STATE – While self-serve gas stations are the norm in most of the United States, most New Jersey voters don’t want to start pumping their own gas. According to the most recent statewide poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind™, 63% of voters say they support the Garden State rule that requires a gas station attendant to pump their gas.
State officials, local business owners don't see significant change in traffic patterns after toll increase on Garden State Parkway
Press of Atlantic City, 1/22/12. While many Garden State Parkway motorists complained about the recent 50 percent increase in toll fees, they apparently have not cared enough to take alternate routes to avoid them.
E-ZPass discounts OK'd for Staten Island crossings
The Record, 1/22/12. A toll discount plan that will save E-ZPass New Jersey and Staten Island residents 50 percent on tolls on the Goethals and Bayonne bridges and the Outerbridge Crossing was announced Sunday by Governor Christie and N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The discount, developed by the two governors, starts Feb. 1.
Gov. Christie announces E-ZPass discount on Staten Island bridges
Star Ledger, 1/22/12. Commuters who ride over the three bridges linking New Jersey and Staten Island will be able to save at least 50 percent on tolls, under a plan announced today by Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Restoration hits glitch
The Record, 1/21/12. WALDWICK – Efforts to restore a decaying train station have gotten a boon and encountered a bump. Shortly after grant money for the $650,000 project was approved, the non-profit Waldwick Community Alliance received notice about additional repairs that are needed to the structure.
County nixes funds for W. Essex schools traffic study
The Progress, 1/20/12. NORTH CALDWELL – A denial of funding for a traffic study at the entrance of the West Essex Regional High School and West Essex Middle School campus has placed the North Caldwell Police Department and the West Essex Regional Board of Education into a bit of a pothole.
Hoboken: Extended zones will make it easier to find parking spots
Jersey Journal, 1/20/12. HOBOKEN Residents looking to find on-street parking should have an easier time next month, according to city officials. The city plans to create 850 “extended parking” zones by allowing residents to park closer to crosswalks, theoretically fitting more cars into a city block.
New Jersey Transit Will Get Bigger
Baristanet, 1/20/12. So it may come as something of a relief to commuters to know that New Jersey Transit is planning to make its seats wider. According to an article in the New York Times today, New Jersey Transit “has a five-year plan to add 100 double-decker train cars that have seats 2.2 inches wider than the 17.55-inch seats found in its single-deck trains.”
***NJTPA Mention***
Many agree Northern Branch light rail line is needed in region
Northern Valley Suburbanite, 1/19/12. There is a need for a change in the transportation system of the Northern Valley, according to many of the local communities. NJ Transit hopes to improve this system by constructing a 12-mile light rail to "improve mobility within Hudson and Bergen Counties, alleviate some traffic congestion, and support continued economic growth."
Northern Branch light rail's environmental impact has some Bergen towns asking questions
Northern Valley Suburbanite, 1/19/12. While NJ Transit's plans for the Northern Branch Corridor Project suggest light rail service will improve the environment by taking cars off the road, some Bergen County residents are concerned with other potential environmental factors such as train noise, discharge into waterways and other quality of life issues.
Northern Branch rail system would likely impact traffic
Northern Valley Suburbanite, 1/19/12. The proposed light rail is expected to have a significant impact on traffic patterns in the Northern Valley, according to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement released late last year by NJ Transit. With the addition of rail tracks, crossings and terminal stations throughout the towns, numerous streets would be altered under the preferred alternative plan, which would see the light rail line extending to Tenafly.
City council passes bike ordinance with changes
Daily Targum, 1/19/12. New Brunswick residents clashed with city officials at a city council meeting last night, after council members passed an ordinance prohibiting cyclists 12 years or older from riding on the sidewalk and requiring bikes to have bells.
New bus route links to Netcong train station
NJ Herald, 1/19/12. For the first time in county history, Skylands Ride, the Sussex County bus system, will cross the border to take passengers to Morris County.
Route 209 could be closed through autumn
NJ Herald, 1/19/12. NEWTON — It could be mid-autumn before Route 209, the main north-south route through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area is reopened to traffic, according to the latest assessments by National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration officials.
***NJTPA Mention***
Truckload of woes along Route 78 irks Union Township officials
Hunterdon County Democrat, 1/18/12. UNION TWP. — Township officials here are frustrated. The two truck stops on Route 173 have been here so long that the township basically has to put up with them, with limited success in getting improvements.
Teen driver bill vetoed as NJ teen crash deaths increased in 2011
Asbury Park Press, 1/18/12. TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie refused to sign a bill on Tuesday that would have required teen drivers to spend more practice time behind the wheel and their parents to take a graduated driver’s license orientation course with their teenagers.
Rutgers-based transportation center awarded funding to study infrastructure
The Record, 1/17/12. A Rutgers University-based transportation center has been awarded $3.5 million from the U. S. Department of Transportation to conduct research related to keeping the state’s highways, bridges and other transportation infrastructure in good condition, officials said Tuesday.
Train station parking bill derailed
Home News Tribune, 1/17/12. TRENTON — Need a parking spot? You won’t be able to pull into that vacant space in the nearest NJ Transit train station lot after rush hour. A bill that would have opened up those empty spaces to the general public was vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday, who did not sign it by a Tuesday deadline.
NJ Transit Widening Seats On New Double Decker Train Cars
Huffington Post, 1/17/12. New Jersey Transit passengers with increasing waistlines can find respite in a new plan to install 100 double decker trains equipped with 2.5 inches in extra width.
Transportation bills abound as Congress returns
Politico, 1/16/12. The House returns Tuesday to a mountain of unresolved transportation issues with little room for error and little time to get up to speed. There will be immediate urgency for both chambers (the Senate reconvenes Jan. 23) to address the Federal Aviation Administration, as its funding expires Jan. 31. That’s just the beginning — transit riders are clamoring for an expired tax provision to be renewed and the trucking industry is in a frenzy over new hours-of-service rules. Just around the corner: Surface transportation law runs out March 31.
Through January 17, 2012
Toll hikes sending drivers on a detour
The Record, 1/16/12. Thousands of drivers ditched the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway during the first workweek of 2012 — just as a 50 percent toll hike kicked in.
Morris Area Para-transit System accepting e-mail reservations
Independent Press, nj.com, 1/15/12. Riders using the Morris Area Para-transit System may now reserve their trips by e-mail at maps@co.morris.nj.us. MAPS is Morris County’s curb-to-curb transportation service for senior citizens, people with disabilities and individuals living in rural areas of the county.
Transit Agencies Face the New Calculus of Broader Backsides
NY Times, 1/15/12. The problem of American waists that are too big for seats meant to accommodate them is certainly not new. Today, everything from love seats to toilet seats can be built bigger to accommodate wider profiles, and the seats offered on public transportation are no different.
NJ fatal accidents climb for first time since 2006; Ocean is 2nd-highest in state; Monmouth total falls once again
mycentraljersey.com, 1/15/12. State Police and highway traffic safety officials hope to have answers in about three weeks to explain why 82 more people in the state died in traffic accidents last year than in 2010, breaking a five-year run of decreasing fatalities. The number of people killed in fatal accidents spiked in 2011, during which 638 people were killed in 596 accidents, a jump from 2010, when 556 people died on the roads in 530 crashes, according to State Police statistics.
Road Warrior: Fatalities rose 15% last year, and a remedy seems elusive
The Record, 1/14/12. New traffic fatality figures seem to confirm a haunting suspicion: New Jersey roads were extra deadly last year. Crashes killed nearly 15 percent more people than they did in 2010, the sharpest one-year percentage hike since detailed record-keeping began in 1968. A preliminary state police count disclosed 638 fatalities, ending four years of declining road deaths and far outpacing death counts in New York and Pennsylvania, where they again receded — by 11.1 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.
Ho-Ho-Kus bridge to open for cars
The Record, 1/14/12. HO-HO-KUS — Commuters will be able to drive over the Warren Avenue truss bridge within 30 days, but pedestrians will have to wait a bit longer to cross. The span has been closed for repairs for more than a year.
Pilot project looks to speed up Northeast Corridor's environmental reviews
Star-Ledger, 1/14/12. When it comes to high-speed rail on the Northeast Corridor, federal transportation officials want more than just the trains to be fast. A pilot project aimed at fast-tracking environmental reviews for the Boston-to-Washington, D.C., corridor was announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
White House will speed approval of improvements to Northeast rails
Asbury Park Press/Gannett, 1/13/12. WASHINGTON — The White House said Friday it will grant expedited environmental approvals for high-speed rail improvements to the heavily traveled Northeast corridor between Boston, New York and Washington. The initiative involves a collaboration in which the federal Transportation Department and the Council on Environmental Quality are working with local, state and Amtrak officials on early planning for high-speed rail improvements.
Older NJ buses and garbage trucks fixed to cut down smoke and soot
Daily Record, 1/13/12. TRENTON — That familiar cloud of smoke, stench and soot coming from the back of diesel buses in New Jersey soon will be a not-so-fond memory for people in inhaling range of them. A state Department of Environmental Protection program to retrofit 760 older NJ Transit diesel buses has been completed to reduce diesel emissions and soot, which brings them on compliance with Gov. Chris Christie’s Executive Order 60.
Leonia holds special meeting on light rail
Leonia Life, 1/13/12. LEONIA — More than 100 Leonians and area residents packed into the Anna C. Scott School cafeteria on Jan. 9 to hear details and offer concerns regarding future plans for the light rail service.
Amtrak readying for faster trains in part of N.J.
Associated Press, 1/12/12. NEWARK — Amtrak says it plans to make its trains go faster through part of New Jersey. The national rail carrier announced its major projects for 2012 on Tuesday. Among them is preliminary work to upgrade tracks between Trenton and New Brunswick, to allow trains to travel at 160 miles per hour.
Amtrak to launch preliminary studies on Hudson River tunnel project
The Record, 1/12/12. Amtrak this year will begin studying a proposal to construct a new pair of Hudson River rail tunnels that would connect North Jersey to New York Penn Station. The nation’s passenger railroad will also launch a second project that will boost train speeds from 135 miles per hour to 160 miles per hour on a section of the Northeast Corridor that runs through New Jersey.
***NJTPA Mention***
Morris County people making news in business
Daily Record, 1/12/12. NEWARK: Morris County Freeholder Gene F. Feyl was elected chairman of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority at a Board of Trustees meeting.
NJ To Receive Federal Highway Safety Funding
NJToday.net, 1/11/12. NEWARK – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety nearly $2 million to improve highway safety and reduce traffic accidents, injuries, and deaths, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez (both D-NJ) announced today.
NJ Transit Overhauls Diesel Powered Bus Fleet
NJToday.net, 1/11/12. TRENTON – New Jersey is nearing a major milestone in its continuing multi-prong effort to reduce harmful emissions from diesel engines, virtually completing the retrofit of nearly 800 NJ Transit older style diesel-engine buses with technology that will control harmful diesel exhausts, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin and NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein announced today.
NJ Transit to privatize parking by summer
Atlanticville, 1/11/12. LONG BRANCH — New Jersey Transit officials are forecasting a June resolution to a plan to privatize parking at train and bus stations across the state. NJ Transit spokesman Paul Wyckoff said in a recent interview that the plan is to send out a formal request for proposals (RFP) in the coming months and have a statewide operator for the parking lots in place by summer.
***NJTPA Mention***
As light rail plan moves forward for Bergen County, Leonia residents air support, concern
Star-Ledger, 1/10/12. Plans to extend light rail service on the Hudson-Bergen line were discussed in Leonia Monday night, as supporters and opponents prepare for public hearings on the project.
***NJTPA Mention***
Morris Freeholder Takes Helm as NJTPA Chairman
Morris County Connections, 1/10/12. Morris County Freeholder Gene F. Feyl was elected chairman of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority at the agency's Jan. 9 board of trustees meeting.
Through January 10, 2012
Pretax transit benefits rolled back
Asbury Park Press, 1/10/12. Transit commuters got a nasty New Year’s surprise when a pretax benefit was rolled back from $230 to $125 a month after it was left out of the law that extended payroll tax cuts for two months.
**NJTPA Mention**
Light rail pushed for Tenafly
The Record, 1/10/12. Bergen County officials on Monday asked the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority board to support a proposal to extend light rail service from North Bergen to Tenafly. NJ Transit last month released an environmental impact document on the project that looks at two alternatives.
**NJTPA Mention**
Ocean Freeholder James Lacey gets transportation job
Asbury Park Press, 1/9/12. NEWARK — An Ocean County freeholder who’s been involved with transportation for a long time has risen in the ranks at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. Ocean County Freeholder James F. Lacey was elected secretary of the NJTPA at Monday’s board of trustees meeting.
N.J.’s legal tab to fight feds put at $1.2 million
The Record, 1/9/12. New Jersey taxpayers spent close to $1.2 million to fend off the Federal Transit Administration’s demands that NJ Transit pay back federal dollars that had been invested in a Hudson River rail tunnel project that Governor Christie abruptly canceled in 2010.
Hudson County has five of the ten top publication transportation cities in U.S.; Hoboken beats out NYC
Jersey Journal, 1/9/12. Hudson County towns make up five of Forbes magazine's America's Top 10 Public Transportation Cities. Hoboken, Jersey City, Guttenberg, West New York and Union City all made the top 10 list.
850 corner parking spots may be coming
Hudson Reporter, 1/8/12. The Hoboken City Council introduced legislation Wednesday night that may “bring parking back to the corners,” adding 850 legal parking spots citywide.
Christie has Port Authority in his sights
The Record, 1/8/12. Governor Christie said he's out of excuses when it comes to the Port Authority, promising to "get my arms around this agency" in 2012.
NJ Transit took $279M loss on rail tunnel
The Record, 1/8/12. NJ Transit took a nearly $300 million loss last year as a result of Governor Christie’s decision to terminate a mass transit tunnel project, according to an audit of the agency’s financial statements for fiscal year 2011.
New traffic pattern today for Route 3 bridge work
The Record, 1/8/12. The state Department of Transportation has beefed up the number of warning signs for motorists as contractors prepare to shift construction zones today on Route 3 west over the Hackensack River bridge, officials said.
Morristown train station's $5 million facelift almost complete
Daily Record, 1/6/12. MORRISTOWN — Scaffolding leads to the front door of the train station and workers outside are fixing the yellow brickwork. The inside is freshly painted, the walls a light yellow, and wooden benches refinished a rich brown after decades of neglect. State officials say a $5 million renovation of the Morristown Train Station, the busiest in Morris County and an historic landmark that once had its own jingle, will be completed by the end of this month — a little more than two years after work began and almost a century since the station opened in 1913.
Drive-Time New Jersey: Your Daily Commute
NJ Spotlight, 1/5/12. Does it feel as if it takes hours to get to work? NJ Spotlight maps out average travel times statewide
DOT: Route 35/36 project on schedule
Atlanticville, 1/5/12. EATONTOWN — The $12.4 million construction project at the intersection of Routes 35 and 36 is moving according to schedule and is expected to reach completion by the end of 2012, according to a spokesperson from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT).
Aberdeen wants new study of train station area
Independent, 1/5/12. ABERDEEN — Given the amount of time that has passed, the township plans to re-examine the 59.5 acres of land surrounding the Aberdeen train station to determine if the area should remain designated as an area in need of redevelopment.
2011: A Most Dangerous Year for New Jersey Drivers
Mobilizing the Region, 1/5/12. 2012’s just begun, and five people have already been killed in New Jersey car crashes. This spate of deaths comes after a bad year for vehicle safety in the Garden State: there were 13% more fatal motor vehicle crashes and 15.1% more motor vehicle fatalities in 2011 than in 2010.
One last look at 2011: New Jersey’s Not So Smart Growth
Mobilizing the Region, 1/5/12. 2011 won’t be remembered as a good year for smart growth legislation in New Jersey.
N.J. to receive $89M to repair roads damaged by Tropical Storms Irene, Lee
Star-Ledger, 1/5/12. New Jersey is expected to receive $89 million in federal aid next week to repair roads damaged by Tropical Storms Irene and Lee — the same amount as the damage estimate by the state Department of Transportation for the storms that chewed up Interstate 287 and other roadways.
The left-turn signal to nowhere
Asbury Park Press, 1/5/12. EATONTOWN — Fort Monmouth and its employees are gone, but the lonely left-turn signal at the iconic brick gate that helped them get to work safely is still on the job. The left-turn signal from Route 35 south into the now-barricaded main gate is still lighting up green, even when the left-turn lane is empty.
Tenafly laying out strategy to oppose rail service extension into downtown
The Record, 1/5/12. TENAFLY — The borough's lead group opposing establishment of passenger rail service downtown will meet today at borough hall to discuss key arguments to raise at hearings on the proposal later this month, local officials said.
Demand Grows for Smart-Growth Work Environments
Future Facts Blog, 1/4/12. According to a survey done by commercial real estate firm CBRE of tenants in its New Jersey properties, the three most important amenities sought by firms as they evaluate office space are: Easy access to a variety of food choices (22.4 percent);Access to transit (16.4 percent); and Access to downtown (11.9 percent).
Dredging has begun in Arthur Kill channel off Bayonne as port deepening project continues
Jersey Journal, 1/4/11. Print The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun to dredge parts of the Arthur Kill Channel in an effort to deepen the shipping port passageway to a depth of 50 feet.
Riding the ferry to N.Y.? There's an app for that
Asbury Park Press, 1/4/11. NEW YORK — Your iPhone, Android and iPad can now be used as a ferry ticket, and they have the potential to be your commuter rail or bus ticket in the future.
Federal regulation banning use of hand held cell phones goes into effect
The Record, 1/4/11. New Jersey already outlaws using a hand-held cellphone while driving. Now a federal regulation that took effect this week penalizes commercial truckers and bus drivers caught reaching for or dialing a phone while driving.
PLUMSTED: Town mulls project ideas for federal grant funds
Messenger Press, 1/4/12. PLUMSTED — A handicapped entrance to the township’s Welcome Center and a wheelchair-accessible path to the softball fields were among the suggested improvements pitched to the Township Committee for its federal block grant application.
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