Community Corner

NJ Transit Approves $68.6 Million Bus Purchase

Advocates urge delay in order to study low rise buses.

New Jersey Transit’s board voted to purchase 158 new buses, which will be deployed around the state.

The vote came after several transit advocates asked the board to delay the vote in order to consider the option of low ride buses instead of the traditional buses being purchased. The $68.6 million contact will replace aging buses in the state's 1,135-vehicle commuter bus fleet.

The transit advocates called for the low ride buses, common in urban bus fleets, which are closer to the ground and easier for wheelchair access. They said the transit agency should look at the current low ride buses before making future bus purchase decisions.

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“I am going to request that we hold the purchase of high floor full diesel buses until we can see the effect of low floor buses in Atlantic City and Morris County,” Lackawanna Coalition Chairman David Peter Alan said to the board.

James Gigantino, the head of NJ Transit’s bus operations, explained that the ridership of the state’s bus lines dictate the need for high floor buses. He said the low ride buses have less seating capacity than the high floor buses, which allow them to work primarily in urban areas, where passengers are riding for shorter periods of time.

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Gigantino said that with many riders having bus trips of an hour or more, the bus would only permit passengers getting on in the first two-thirds of a route to get a seat.

“For the rest of your commute with New Jersey Transit, you will not have a seat,” he said. “Seat availability is one of the things customers have said is important.”

Gigantino said the agency is exploring the possibility of more low floor buses in parts of South Jersey and Morris County, but is balancing the considerations with the agency’s financial resources. He also said hybrid buses have been considered but are not being bought because they are more expensive – and costlier to maintain – than diesel buses.

“We are in a world of non-infinite resources,” Gigantino said.

Last month, the transit agency unveiled the country’s first dual powered locomotive, which will allow for trains to switch from diesel to electric train lines. At the time, transit officials said the change was being made to allow for a quicker ride for passengers in parts of the state with only diesel lines.

NJ Transit Vice Chairman Myron Shevell said the agency and the capital planning committee he chairs spent considerable time discussing the bus issue and looking at service, ridership and environmental considerations. 

“This was not done willy nilly,” he said.


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