Transportation Research Focuses on Implications of Public Transit for New Jersey

Findings presented in a research study by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) underscore the positive benefits derived through public transportation.

The VTC study found that investment in public transportation yields significant benefits to the state in the areas of economic growth, environmental quality and energy conservation. These findings were derived from state and federal data and recent research reports.

Entitled “Travel Trends: Public Perceptions of Transit Investment in New Jersey,” [PDF] the report charts New Jersey’s standing among the states in transit ridership trends and public investment. The state’s high population density and some of the worst traffic congestion in the country have prompted commuters to turn to public transit.

Consequently, New Jersey’s ridership growth has outpaced the national average for bus and commuter rail, while light rail ridership, between 1999 and 2005, expanded by 214 percent in New Jersey versus a 31.9 percent national growth rate.

The report cites recent economic studies by James W. Hughes, dean of Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Bloustein Professor Joseph Seneca. Those studies demonstrated how New Jersey’s economy declined during the 1970s, a period of disinvestment in transportation, and then rebounded through the 1980s and 1990s when the state heavily reinvested in its transportation infrastructure. Much of the transit investment resulted in improved rail and bus connections to Manhattan. Simultaneously, New Jerseyans captured 75 percent of all new jobs created in New York.

It also cites calculations by NJ TRANSIT showing that vehicle travel eliminated by virtue of transit service reduced CO2 emissions by an estimated 1.16 million tons.

Previous studies by VTC showed how the state’s Transit Village program and the launch of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail line had contributed to substantial residential development in older urban areas. In Hudson County, over $6 billion in residential development either completed or under construction was documented following the introduction of light rail service.

The new report also quantified the significant energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that can be attributed to transit service. VTC is one of 14 research centers at the Bloustein School.