NJ Governor sabotages #publictransit for benefit of his masters - #autosprawl profiteers

EDITORIAL: Give public a voice at NJ Transit: "Subsequent hearings, however, have peeled back some of the layers on agency problems, including an unreported $22.5 million operating deficit last year and a tendency to fill high-paid executive posts with Gov. Chris Christie cronies while leaving hundreds of safety-related jobs vacant.

Meanwhile, the Christie administration has slashed direct state subsidies to the agency, from $348 million in 2009 all the way down to $33 million last year. That means safety compromises, among other things, while also driving up commuter fares."

NJ - Fare-free shuttles in Atlantic County

dailyjournal : "Atlantic County has two shuttle initiatives. One is in Egg Harbor Township. The other is the Route 54/40 shuttle, which starts near the Hammonton train station, goes through a portion of Folsom, Collings Lakes, Newtonville, Buena, Landisville, Minotola and Richland. The shuttle’s main task is to transport residents to NJ Transit bus stops and the train depot, with routing timed to coordinate with their schedules.

According to the data of South Jersey Transportation Authority, the shuttle has transported 2,723 people since its January start. Of the 18 stops on the shuttle’s circuit, Richland has the third-highest on/off ridership number, with 338 getting on here and 273 getting off. The MLK Center’s ridership numbers are 745 on, 260 off, and the Hammonton train station’s data is 533 on, 620 off."

New Jersey Governor: Reduce General Fund Spending to Pay for Roads

Planetizen: "Rather than supporting an increase in gas taxes and vehicle registration fees like many states are doing to fund transportation spending, Gov. Chris Christie asks the legislature to find funds by making cuts within the general fund."

Sprawl pain in New Jersey, #publictransit is the medicine

Bergen Dispatch: "· Since 2002, New Jersey's annual capital investment in maintaining, repairing and expanding its core public transit assets has dropped by an inflation-adjusted 19 percent, even as ridership has grown by 20 percent. (The drop is even more severe when measured from the high funding point of 2004; the decline in capital funding is 29 percent from 2004 to 2016.)"