(The Associated Press circulated the following article on February 8.)
WASHINGTON — New Jersey would get $100 million for a light rail project that’s already built as part of a $1.5 billion transportation funding package Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta is recommending for mass transit service across the country.
The money, proposed in the federal budget, would reimburse NJ Transit for construction of the second phase of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail.
The Federal Transit Administration has earmarked $500 million for NJ Transit to help pay for construction of the rail extension. The agency expects a final, $50 million installment next year, said Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit.
“We greatly appreciate the support of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, particularly Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, who were instrumental in delivering this funding,” Stessel said.
The project includes a 5.1-mile extension and six new stations from Hoboken Terminal to the Tonnelle Avenue park-and-ride lot in North Bergen, and a new station and 1-mile extension in Bayonne that opened in November 2003.
New stations in Union City and North Bergen are scheduled to open Feb. 25. The North Bergen station will become the northern terminus of the 5-year-old light rail system.
The entire 14.1 mile Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which cost nearly $2.2 billion to construct, provides more than 24,000 passenger trips on an average weekday between 20 stations in Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken.
In a news conference Tuesday, Mineta outlined funding recommendations for 28 new or expanding subway, light rail, commuter rail and bus rapid transit systems.
“As a nation choked with congestion, we must turn to transit as one way to make it easier and faster to get to work, relieve crowded roads, and keep our economy moving,” he said. “An investment in transit is an investment in fighting congestion.”