We gauged dedicated bus lane mileage according to the number of directional route miles exclusively designated for buses, plus high occupancy vehicle lanes permitting bus travel. Most of these lane miles are on the New Jersey Turnpike, though promises of future “Bus Rapid Transit” (BRT) routes in the state may expand this mileage. Today, buses in New Jersey travel on about 30 miles of controlled roadway, a figure which has remained the same since 1996.
New Jersey Transit’s eleven commuter rail lines, together with PATH and PATCO trains travel on more than 1,000 miles of track across the state. The PATH system experienced a temporary drop in mileage due to the destruction of the PATH World Trade Center station in 2001. NJTransit’s track mileage also dropped after 2002 due to the elimination of portions of the old Boonton line when it was combined with the Montclair line as part of new direct service to Manhattan.
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Source: FTA. National Transit Database, Transit Way Mileage -- Rail Modes, 1997-2004. |
NJTransit’s light rail system expanded dramatically from 1996 to 2004, growing from the nine-mile Newark subway system to more than 100 miles with the inclusion of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and the Camden-Trenton River Line. The Hudson-Bergen line began operation as a 15-mile route in 2000 and has added another 10 miles since then. The 67-mile River Line began operation in 2004.
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Source: FTA. National Transit Database, Transit Way Mileage -- Rail Modes, 1997-2004. |
Mass Transit Service
New Jersey residents have significantly more transit service available to them today than they did in 1997. From 1997 to 2004, the annual vehicle revenue miles (the number of miles traveled by each mass transit bus, train or light rail vehicle while in service) traveled by New Jersey's various state- and privately-operated transit services grew 15.5 percent. Service provided by the largest operator, NJTransit, grew by 23 percent. All together, New Jersey's transit services traveled more than half a million miles daily in 2004.
NJTransit commuter service expanded by 28 percent, while light rail service, with the addition of the Hudson-Bergen and RiverLine systems, more than doubled over the period, increasing 150 percent. In Southern Jersey, PATCO service held constant. PATH service had declined only slightly as of 2004, a remarkable feat given the destruction of the World Trade Center PATH station in 2001.
The state's bus service did not enjoy the same dramatic expansion. NJTransit bus service grew by only 6 percent from 1997 to 2004, and private carrier service grew less than 2 percent. Some rail system and service expansion absorbed bus riders, helping suppress growth in bus riding. Even so, buses provide far more transit service than New Jersey's high profile rail system.