Never blame Washington, D.C., for New Jersey Transit's (NJ Transit) periodic financial problems. Federal support for transportation has grown over time. When a crises occurred, be it 9-11 in 2001 or Super Storm Sandy in 2012, Washington was there. Additional assistance above and beyond yearly formula Federal Transit Administration (FTA) allocations was provided. In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided more. As a result of COVID-19, three rounds of COVID-19 emergency funding totaling billions was provided.
Congratulations to NJ Transit for winning a $44,677,500 grant award from the FTA. These funds will pay for renovation of the NJ Transit Union City bus garage. This will support the creation of a public bus terminal, house administrative services along with charging and running battery-electric buses. Funding comes from FTA's $1.6 billion national competitive discretionary Buses & Bus Facilities and Low-and No-Emissions Grant Programs. FTA received 530 proposed grant applications worth $7.7 billion in potential projects which far exceeded what was available.
In 2022, in addition to winning this grant, NJ Transit should receive more than $1 billion from various FTA formula programs plus potentially over $100 million more under various other national competitive discretionary grant programs.
Most federal transportation grants require a 20 percent hard-cash local share. FTA continues to accept toll credits instead of hard cash. This saves NJ Transit close to $200 million yearly.
Sources include FTA Section 5307 & 5340 Urban Formula, Section 5337 State of Good Repair, Section 5339 Bus and Bus Facilities, Sections 5310 Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities and Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program.
NJ Transit takes advantage of FTA pre-award authority prior to grant approval. This affords NJ Transit opportunity to start projects months earlier and incur costs for reimbursement at a later date after grant approval. NJ Transit currently manages an active portfolio of federally funded capital improvement projects and programs in open grants worth $2.6 billion in FTA financial assistance.
Let us give thanks to the hard working men and women of the NJ Transit Federal Grants Unit who made all of this possible, including winning extra federal dollars. Best of luck to my old colleagues at NJ Transit in winning even more future FTA Bus and Bus Facilities along with many other national competitive discretionary grant programs in 2023!
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Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for the MTA, NYC Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro North Rail Road MTA Bus, New Jersey Transit along with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ.
Larry Penner
Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management. This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programs for New Jersey Transit, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, Long Island and Metro North railroads, MTA Bus, NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry along with 30 other transit agencies in New York and New Jersey.
