New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) has moved its Innovation Challenge into the next phase of the development process.
The agency has issued the Request for Proposals (RFP) to develop an inventive and original solution to increase mass transit capacity between the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction and the Meadowlands Complex.
“Partnering with industry to find innovative, creative and sustainable solutions to enhance our public transportation system, particularly to a popular destination like the Meadowlands, is a way to generate viable environmentally-friendly projects to meet our future needs,” said New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner and NJ Transit Board Chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti. “This RFP brings us closer to making that a reality.”
“This RFP will allow NJ Transit to receive and evaluate proposals from the best and the brightest in the industry,” said NJ Transit President & CEO Kevin S. Corbett. “It’s an encouraging and important step forward in our goal to provide more robust public transit, with increased capacity, to the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex from Secaucus.”
In continuing to advance this critical initiative, NJ Transit is looking to the future of the post-pandemic demands of the mass transit system and making the investments, planning and design required of projects with long lead times. These investments aim to drive future economic activity and maintain the ability to attract the world’s largest events. MetLife Stadium remains in contention as a host venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
NJ Transit is asking qualified contractors to help solve a very real problem; how to move a stadium's worth of people seamlessly and continuously between Secaucus Junction and the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex, anchored by MetLife Stadium, the Racetrack and American Dream, seven miles away.
The Meadowlands provides unique challenges to mass transit, including sporting events and concerts at MetLife Stadium; the American Dream which will have 20,000 employees and 40 million visitors annually; highly sensitive environmental features including the famous meadows and Hackensack River; highly traveled existing roads; and an existing rail line to the stadium from Secaucus Junction.
NJ Transit is looking for proposals that can provide end-to-end solutions for peak capacity service, including design, build, operation and management as well as identifying the financial resources to make a proposal a reality.
Last November, NJ Transit welcomed more than 140 attendees from 54 private and public entities to the kickoff of its “Innovation Challenge” at the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex to discuss the challenges and possible innovative solutions to moving people to and from the location’s popular venues. Another 80 participants also joined in via live stream.
