For Immediate Release: September 22, 2009 Contact: Doug O’Malley, Environment New Jersey, 917-449-6812 New Report: Record-breaking NJ Transit Ridership Took the Equivalent of 239,000 Cars Off NJ’s Roads in `08 Advocates Urge More Federal Funding for Transit Projects like the Northern Branch Tenafly - In 2008, people in New Jersey saved 137 million gallons of gasoline by riding transit in record numbers – the amount consumed by over 239,000 cars in New Jersey. Transportation is responsible for more than two-thirds of our dependence on oil, and about one-third of our carbon dioxide pollution Environment New Jersey outlined in their new report “Getting On Track: Record Transit Ridership Increases Energy Independence.”
“People are voting with their feet by driving less and taking more public transportation,” said Doug O’Malley, Environment New Jersey’s field director. “Congress should listen to these voters and invest more in public transportation, which will increase our energy independence and reduce global warming pollution.” In New Jersey, transit ridership increased by more than 5 percent above 2007 levels. People in New Jersey drove less, with over 2.8 million fewer miles driven in 2008 than in the year before – an 4 percent decrease. People drove less due in part to volatile fuel prices and decreased economic activity, and many of these car trips were replaced by transit. “Environment New Jersey’s report proves that New Jerseyans are increasingly choosing transit to get around,” said Zoe Baldwin of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a non-profit advocacy and policy organization. “With major transportation funding packages up for renewal in both Trenton and Washington DC, elected officials should give voters what they want— funding for more and better public transportation options.” In 2008 increased national transit ridership saved more than 4 billion gallons of gasoline, the equivalent of the fuel nearly 7.2 million cars – almost as many passenger cars as are registered in Florida – consume in one year. “Our economy and transportation system is currently stuck in grid lock and a victim of failed policies of the past. The climate bill, “ACES,” is a green light for our future, not only helping us develop renewable energy programs but help us develop green transportation programs,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the NJ Sierra Club. “By passing the climate bill, we will be able to expand and develop mass transit systems. This will help get people out of their cars, get people back to work, stop wasteful road widening projects while saving energy and money, while reducing greenhouse gases. This is Win –Win-Win for commuters, our economy and the environment.” One of the projects that increased federal funding for transit could help jumpstart would be the Northern Branch project, the 11-mile extension of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail System from North Bergen to Tenafly. Projected by NJ Transit to provide daily service to over 24,000 passengers, the rail line would fill a large mass transit void in eastern Bergen County. A disproportionately low 17 percent of total Bergen County commuters use rail service, as compared to 60 percent in Union County and nearly 50 percent in Morris, Middlesex and Essex counties. “From a regional perspective, the light rail expansion project holds the potential to improve our quality of life positively impact the environment, and save tens of if not hundreds of millions of dollars of fossil fuel costs by virtue of removing thousands of cars every day off Bergen County roads,” said Tenafly Councilman Michael Latiff. “The people of our region deserve a convenient, accessible, comfortable, affordable and time- and energy-saving alternative to automobile travel. That is why I have been fighting so hard to make the Northern Branch project… a reality,” said Rep. Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn). “Investments in projects like the Northern Branch line provide options to automobile travel, and also reduce traffic congestion, cut carbon pollution and lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil.” These figures do not take into account the other benefits of increased transit ridership – benefits that include reduced congestion, fewer hours stuck in traffic, reductions in smog and soot pollution or money saved by households regularly taking transit. In addition to fuel savings, public transportation reduced global warming pollution in New Jersey by over 1.2 million metric tons in 2008. In the near term, Environment New Jersey is calling on Congress to incorporate the full provisions of CLEAN TEA (the Clean, Low Emissions, Affordable New Transportation Equity Act, S. 575), into the federal clean energy bill (the American Clean Energy and Security Act) being debated now in the Senate. CLEAN TEA would direct 10 percent of climate bill allowances to clean transportation efforts that will save oil and reduce emissions. “We applaud Senator Lautenberg and Senator Menendez for co-sponsoring the CLEAN TEA bill. We urge Sen. Lautenberg and Sen. Menendez to push this forward-thinking legislation ahead to save oil and reduce pollution,” O’Malley said. In order to maximize public transportation potential to save energy and reduce pollution, Environment New Jersey is asking our local, state, and federal leaders to:
Beyond the Northern Branch, advocates also argued that increased federal transit funding through the federal clean energy bill, could provide increased funding for projects that have long been on the state’s drawing boards:
#### |
