Menendez, Booker Announce $1.6B in ARP Funding to Support NJ Transit

Statement

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.) today announced $1.6 billion in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to support the operations of NJTRANSIT (NJT) in the New York-Newark urbanized area. The senators secured this funding in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) that was signed into law last spring. As COVID-19 continues to surge, this funding will allow NJT to keep workers on the payroll and maintain safe and reliable bus and rail services. This funding follows the release of an additional $1.06 billion in funding for the New York-Newark urbanized area last month under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), as well as previous releases of funding under the American Rescue Plan for other urbanized areas that the state participates in.

"Whether people are trying to get to work, go to the doctors, or buy groceries, public transportation is vital to communities across our state," said Sen. Menendez. "I'm proud to have fought for this critical funding which will ensure NJ TRANSIT can get residents safely where they need to go, keep essential workers on the job, and our economy moving forward."

"NJ TRANSIT has been vital to supporting our state's pandemic response, offering continued and reliable service for our essential workers and residents who rely on public transportation to travel to work, vaccine appointments, and access essential services," said Sen. Booker. "This federal investment, made possible by President Biden's American Rescue Plan Act which I proudly voted for last year, will help ensure that NJ TRANSIT is able to continue the critical role it currently plays across New Jersey communities, especially as our state confronts the many challenges posed by the Omicron variant."

In 2020, NJT provided 206 million trips representing one out of every twenty-nine trips nationwide. NJT also provided the second highest nationwide service levels, with NJT buses and trains covering 152 million miles last year. These trips and service levels are critical to supporting New Jersey's 9.3 million residents or 2.8% of the country's population.

"American Rescue Plan funding is on the way to NJ TRANSIT thanks to the hard work and advocacy of the Biden Administration, Senators Menendez and Booker, and our congressional delegation," said Governor Phil Murphy. "These funds will go a long way toward allowing NJ TRANSIT to continue to serve New Jersey commuters and will allow our Administration to make critical investments in infrastructure. We look forward to putting this funding to work for New Jerseyans."

"We thank Senators Menendez and Booker and the entire New Jersey Congressional delegation for their support in securing this funding that will allow NJ TRANSIT to continue delivering for customers who depend on public transit, while supporting our longer-term recovery as we emerge from the pandemic," said NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kevin S. Corbett. "As NJ TRANSIT continues to recover and ridership continues to return, we are also grateful to USDOT Secretary Buttigieg for this critical funding that will give us the ability to maintain current service levels and reliability,"

After the pandemic caused a big decrease in ridership and revenue for agencies like NJT, Sen. Menendez lead the fight in Congress to ensure public transportation agencies received funding in any COVID-relief bill that was passed. The CARES Act secured $24 billion and the ARP secured $30.5 billion for agencies across the country. In November, Sens. Menendez and Booker outlined the billions of dollars in federal funding from the bipartisan infrastructure bill coming to New Jersey, including the billions for NJT to complete major upgrades.

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