(The following story by Bonnie Friedman appeared on the Jersey Journal website on April 14.)
NEWARK, N.J. — On the fifth anniversary of the launch of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, NJ Transit officials are touting the $1.2 billion project as the impetus for widespread economic growth along the Jersey City waterfront.
“In 1988, when the HBLR was first proposed, there was less than 1 million square feet of Jersey City office space,” said Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit, the agency that operates the light rail. “That is in contrast with 17 million square feet of office space today.
“We have a relationship with development. We can’t take all the credit, but we definitely have had a positive impact.”
For U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Hoboken, who helped secure many millions in federal funding for the project, the five-year anniversary is also an important milestone.
“I almost feel this is the longest birthing period,” Menendez said. “Every time I think about those 18,000 trips (NJ Transit’s average weekday total for the month of March), I think about the cars that are off the streets and what that means, and what it is going to mean in terms of good paying jobs for families.”
When it first opened in April 2000, light rail trains operated between 12 stations – eight in Bayonne and Jersey City – and four on a western spur between West Side Avenue and Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
Now, five years later, light rail trains operate through 20 stations between Bayonne and Weehawken. Three additional stations in Weehawken, North Bergen and Union City are expected to open in December.
According to statistics provided by NJ Transit, over the five-year period, light rail ridership increased from 1,719,200 rides in the first year, to 5,008,600 for the current year. All told, about 17,815,000 trips have been taken on the light rail over the past five years.
Although NJ Transit’s initial projections fell short – with the agency serving a little more than half of the 10,000 expected weekday riders in the first year – they had hit that mark by the end of the second full year in operation.
Now, officials say, ridership for the first phase of the project (34th Street in Bayonne to Pavonia/Newport) has met the revised goal of serving 18,500 riders on a typical weekday.
“We’re in good shape for projections,” said Stessel, noting that 22nd Street in Bayonne, the two Hoboken stations and Lincoln Harbor in Weehawken, which were slated for Phase Two, opened ahead of schedule.
“And the busiest station (Tonnelle Avenue) has yet to open. As it fills in along the Hudson River, the demand is going to increase.”
NJ Transit expects to serve 38,500 riders per day by 2010.
Ridership questions aside, NJ Transit says the success of the state’s most expensive public works project should be measured by the economic impact along the 12.8-mile alignment.
“We couldn’t be happier with the way the community is served by the HBLR and the impact its had on the Gold Coast,” Stessel said.
Martin Robbins, director of the Transportation Policy Institute at Rutgers University, agreed.
“What is exciting is that there appears to be economic development following the light rail and when you look 10 years from now, it might be a remarkable accomplishment,” said Robbins, who is working with NJ Transit to develop a strategic review of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. “It would be a terrible mistake to shortchange this investment and to say it isn’t worth it.”
Joe North, general manager of the light rail, said the service is also faring well in terms of its bottom line.
Ticket sales and other revenue bring in roughly 25 percent of the $26 million yearly operating figure, said North, noting that NJ Transit’s Riverline rail route only brings in 11 percent of yearly operating expenses.
Stessel said NJ Transit, private security guards and local cops have worked to address riders’ complaints about crime on the system, and Bayonne Police Director Mark Smith said light-rail related crime has decreased by 20 percent since Bayonne cops started riding the trains two years ago.
“More aggressive patrolling of the light rail has definitely impacted in a positive way in the City of Bayonne and for our residents,” Smith said. “Since (the program’s inception), we’ve had 200 arrests and in the area of 600 to 700 summonses for fare evasions and other violations.”
Jersey City Police Capt. Jon Tooke said police officers who were previously assigned to the Richard Street station were taken off the detail five months ago, after NJ Transit stopped paying for the service.
NJ Transit officials have their sights set on extending light rail service to Secaucus and the proposed Xanadu Entertainment Complex at the Meadowlands, although no funding currently exists for the “phase three” component.