NJTPA Update Blog
Posted: 4/14/2025 2:58:25 PM
The NJTPA has updated its dashboard of regional performance measures, providing insights into trends affecting transportation in seven areas: access mobility, safety, reliability, competitiveness, environment, community and infrastructure condition. The dashboard and facts sheets related to the measures are at NJTPA.org/RegionalPerformance.
The regional measures in the dashboard complement an array of national measures and targets that the NJTPA monitors in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and other partners. The measures are used to chart progress toward the goals in the NJTPA’s Long Range Transportation Plan, support investment decision making, and inform regional stakeholders and the public.
Among insights from the measures in the dashboard:
- During the pandemic, roadway travel time reliability and bus on-time performance improved with the dramatic reductions in travel but more recently returned toward prior levels. Rail on-time performance has fluctuated but generally remained above 90 percent.
- Roadway safety has worsened, with particularly troubling recent increases in overall fatalities along with increases in pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and serious injuries.
- Transit ridership dropped dramatically with the pandemic. Bus ridership is again close to pre-pandemic levels while rail ridership has returned more slowly.
- The percentage of people working from home went from 5 percent in 2019 to over 14 percent in 2023.
- Percentage of jobs within walking distance of transit is higher and has been increasing in recent years yet many households are far from transit, limiting residents' ability to take advantage of this job access.
Posted: 4/14/2025 1:54:07 PM
Traffic signals are everywhere on North Jersey’s heavily traveled roads. However, installing them, optimizing them for local conditions and maintaining them is often a costly challenge for state, county and local governments. The NJTPA is embarking on a study to take stock of traffic signals around the region, systematically assess where and how signals could be improved and create recommendations for strategies and investments, working with key officials and stakeholders, among other activities.
A preliminary estimate finds the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) maintains about 2,000 signals in North Jersey; counties maintain over 2,600 and municipalities maintain another 2,600. The study will seek to create a mapped database of all traffic signals within the NJTPA region including location and jurisdiction.
Signals can vary greatly in characteristics and features including sizes and types of traffic signal heads, lenses, turning restrictions, placement and type of support structures, vehicle detection methods, countdowns for pedestrians and bicyclists, controller hardware and timing settings, among many others.
With the assistance of the consulting firm Michael Baker International, the NJTPA will gather information on the region’s signals and develop methodologies to screen for needs and potential investments. The study team will draw on input from a technical advisory committee that will include representatives of the NJTPA’s city and county member agencies, municipalities, NJDOT, and other relevant partners
A key product will be a Traffic Signal Strategic Investment Framework which will include policy, funding, and technology recommendations that align with the guidance and requirements of federal funding programs. The Framework will facilitate funding signal upgrades in specific corridors and/or individual intersections.
Further information and updates on the study will be posted on the NJTPA website.
Posted: 4/10/2025 9:54:29 AM
Hey kids and teens, finish this sentence: “This is how I want to get around in the future…”
Only don’t use just words, use your imagination and do it with a drawing, a video, a poem or recording. Create a piece of art to express your ideas and enter it into the NJTPA On Air Future of Transportation Contest for a chance to win a gift card.
As part of Connecting Communities, our Long Range Transportation Plan update, we want kids and teens to share their vision of what they think the transportation will look like in 30 years. After all, today’s kids and teens will be the ones using that transportation system, whether commuting to work by car, train, bike, or other methods. Kids and teens can use the coloring page to submit a drawing via email, or head over to the NJTPA On Air Studio and let Sammy the Squirrel show you around to upload multimedia submissions (videos, audio recordings, pictures – whatever they can dream up)!
So, kids, when you need to go to school, to the store, or to practice - how do you get there? Is there a way you wish you could get around instead? Let those artistic juices flow! Share your vision of what you think transportation will look like in 30 years.
If you’re using the coloring page, we’d love for you to share it on social media and tag us!
Email submissions to [email protected] or upload them at the On Air Studio to be entered into our contest by the June 8 deadline. For full rules, visit NJTPA.org/OnAir.
Posted: 3/28/2025 12:45:07 PM
Over the past two months the NJTPA hosted three virtual Let's Talk Transportation events to share information and gather input for Connecting Communities: The NJTPA's Long Range Transportation Plan. The plan will set a vision for the future of transportation in our region over the next 25 years.
The first event on January 28 focused on walking, biking and rolling investments and was held in partnership with the New Jersey Bike and Walk Coalition and the Alan M. Voorhees Transportaton Center at Rutgers University.
The second event on March 3, held in partnership with NJ TRANSIT, focused on impoving access to public transit.
The final event, held March 25 in partnership wtih Downtown New Jersey, was about how to balance the needs of people, parking and deliveries to create vibrant downtowns. Presentation slides and recordings are available on the plan website. The videos are also embedded below.
Over the next two months, we'll be conducting pop-up outreach in each of our 15 subregions to gather additional input for the plan.
Thanks to everyone who has participated in virtual events or who took our online survey (we had more than 2,100 responses!). All of this input will help inform the plan. Below are recordings from our three let's talk events.
Videos
Posted: 2/26/2025 12:22:58 PM
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Providing access to the Newark International Airport Train Station via the city’s Dayton neighborhood could create “a nexus of redevelopment” for what could be a new downtown.
Darius Sollohub, professor of architecture and interim director of the New Jersey School of Architecture at NJIT’s Hillier College, is part of the Airport City Newark coalition leading the transit-oriented development initiative. He provided an overview of the concept to NJTPA’s joint meeting of the Project Prioritization and Planning and Economic Development Committees on February 18.
The long-term vision of the multimodal station would feature multiple connections to the Dayton neighborhood in Newark’s South Ward, including access from Frelinghuysen Avenue. Construction is expected to begin on the first phase this month and the Port Authority Board has announced it would open the train station at Newark to the community, Sollohub said.
Frelinghuysen Avenue, from the Elizabeth border to beyond the Route 22/78 overpasses, could become a corridor with emerging transportation technologies and Complete Streets features extending to downtown Newark, according to Sollohub.
In September, the NJTPA Board approved an amendment to its Unified Planning Work Program that included an allocation of $100,000 to NJIT for ongoing coordination of planning and development surrounding the new station. The work will include collaborating with the Port Authority, NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the City of Newark.
More than 15 years ago the Port Authority tasked the Regional Plan Association (RPA) with studying New York’s airports to determine how they can stay competitive globally. Facilities were under almost constant renovation but there also was a shortage of runways for New York as a region to remain competitive. The projection then was to add two runaways but while that’s no longer on the table, examining development of Newark Airport has continued.
In 2017, the Airport City Newark coalition was charged by Mayor Ras Baraka to examine Newark Airport in anticipation of extending the PATH from Newark Penn Station. Now, Airport City is fully integrated into the city’s master plan, Sollohub said.
Newark is in the process of undertaking designation for redevelopment of 37 acres near the Northeast Corridor line to the Elizabeth border. That’s largely because of groundbreaking by Lionsgate for a movie studio to open next year, Sollohub said. “There’s opportunity here for additional economic development and workforce development, pairing those things together as we move forward,” he added.
The coalition is working with local groups and organizations to support redevelopment planning from the community and be assured they have a voice in that.
The presentation can be accessed here and more information on Airport City Newark can be found at InTransition magazine.
Posted: 2/21/2025 1:52:57 PM
Counties and municipalities often try to prepare for the impacts of industrial development as well as mitigate these impacts once the development is in place.
Ryan Conklin, Assistant Planning Director, Warren County, presented on actions Warren County has taken to manage warehouse development and associated truck traffic during the NJTPA’s Freight Initiatives Committee meeting on February 18.
The County’s mostly rural roads are not conducive to significant tractor-trailer traffic. Yet it’s a gateway for trucks coming through Pennsylvania and eastern New Jersey toward New York via Interstate Routes 78 and 80. An analysis in 2021 identified areas along major roads like Routes 517 and 519 where there were hot spots for crashes, Conklin said, adding that about 10 percent of overall crashes were heavy vehicle related.
The County completed a comprehensive master plan that looked at freight movement, and has a Complete Streets study underway as part of the NJTPA’s Subregional Studies Program.
Warren’s municipalities have met to provide direct input along with other stakeholders, Conklin said. As a result, the County has requested restrictions to all 500 and 600 series roads in the County, conducted safety audits of Route 519 between Route 57 and 22, and examined traffic calming for Route 519 in Hope, which has been a focal point of cut-through traffic from Interstates 78 and 80. It also started to work on Local Safety Action Plans and County Complete Streets Plan, taking into consideration freight issues associated with these types of developments, Conklin said.
The County’s transportation master plan element examined data collected from previous planning initiatives to help create a truck routing map for the County with a goal of shifting truck traffic to higher level roads and interstate highways in the most efficient manner possible, Conklin said. They also work to come up with wayfinding signage and routing through agreements with developers, which is a useful tool for municipalities to use.
A recording of the meeting is available here.
Posted: 2/21/2025 1:38:28 PM
Warehouse construction in New Jersey has cooled off over the past year but given the Garden State’s location there’s still strong demand in parts of the region for industrial space.
Bill Waxman, Vice Chair, Cushman & Wakefield, presented the annual Industrial Real Estate Update during the NJTPA’s Freight Initiatives Committee meeting on February 18.
The first half of 2024 was not very good for the industrial real estate market but ended on a positive note with a strong second half, providing encouragement for 2025 and 2026, Waxman said. The vacancy rate was up in 2024 reflecting a softening in demand for older, less efficient buildings. Meanwhile, asking prices rose, buoyed by new construction and demand for more efficient buildings, he said. “What we’re seeing is a flight to quality” Waxman said. If a company was in three older buildings in Elizabeth, Newark, or Kearny, they consolidated into a more modern, efficient building potentially further from the port, in Middlesex or Passaic County.
One reason for the moves is the lack of available truck parking. “When you see trucks and trailers dropped on the street, that’s because of a lack of adequate truck and trailer parking,” he said.
With a lot of new buildings coming onto the market at once landlords gave away free rent, Waxman said. The average free rent period has doubled, from about 2 months in 2022 to 4.5 months in 2024. One month of free rent for every year of a lease is not unusual, he added.
The sweet spot for space now is smaller buildings -- anything less than 50,000 square feet – where vacancy rates are much lower than bigger buildings. Landlords have divided buildings of 500,000 to 600,000 square feet buildings into smaller units. “That’s been helpful in absorbing some of the space.” Waxman said.
Owners are more reluctant to build to attract tenants. “It’s becoming harder and more expensive to build warehousing in New Jersey,” Waxman said. He predicts fewer new buildings and construction by 2026 creating upward pressure on pricing.
Still, he’s optimistic because New Jersey remains “a very good location” for warehousing and industrial uses like pharmaceuticals, light assembly, data centers, and more. “We have a healthy mix of tenants,” Waxman said.
A recording of the meeting is available here.
Posted: 2/12/2025 11:13:20 AM
A new interactive online tool provides a bird’s eye view of routes that are optimal for expanded walking and biking and can be integrated with the existing active transportation network around Northern New Jersey.
Keith Hamas, Principal Planner, Safety Planning, at the NJTPA presented an overview of the Active Transportation Plan Data Viewer to the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee during its February 10 meeting.
The interactive online tool builds on the NJTPA’s Active Transportation Plan completed in 2023. The plan establishes a common framework for counties, municipalities, and the state to create active transportation routes, Hamas said.
The online network is one piece of the plan and should be viewed alongside the strategy guide, case studies, and final plan document which offer best practices for implementation, Hamas said. The online tool is not a bike map but rather “aspirational” for options to expand walking and biking networks.
While the tool identifies potential routes, all require further study. The tool displays a half-mile buffer along routes to encompass potentially suitable alternatives.
The plan uses data layers for trip potential analysis, a heat map that displays where people are likely to walk and bike based on demographics, intersection density, land use mix, and other analyses that inform regional connectivity.
Other layers in the online tool feature transit facilities, highway interchanges, greenways, and scenic byways. For each layer, users can toggle on or off and adjust the layer order, optimizing what they’re looking for.
Local implementers might want to look at related NJTPA programs where this data might be applicable, Hamas said, such as Complete Streets Technical Assistance, demonstration projects, trails programs, and Local Safety Action Programs.
The Active Transportation Plan Data Viewer can be accessed here.
Posted: 1/17/2025 11:55:41 AM
The first revision of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in almost a quarter century could be adopted by year’s end after public hearings throughout the state in the coming months.
Walter Lane, deputy executive director of the New Jersey Office of Planning Advocacy, presented an update on the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan to the Board of Trustees at its meeting on Monday. The state plan is currently being updated for the first time since 2001. A preliminary draft was released last month.
Donna Rendeiro, executive director of the Office of Planning Advocacy, appeared before the Board a year ago with a presentation on the state plan.
The state plan was created by legislation in the mid-80s as a complement to the Mt. Laurel doctrine, Lane said, to protect resources and promote development and redevelopment while identifying areas in the state appropriate for growth and preservation.
The state plan is not designed to dictate to local jurisdictions but to provide guidance, Lane said. The office works with “all levels of government to promote good planning projects.”
After gathering input from other agencies and stakeholder groups last year, a draft preliminary plan was released last month for public comment. A “cross acceptance process” is now under way, according to Lane, which will include 21 meetings across each of the state’s 21 counties. Six public hearings around the state between February 12 and April 16 will follow before the state planning commission adopts the plan.
The original state plan included eight goals, which Lane said have been advanced in some shape or form. The latest version adds two goals for a total of 10:
- Economic development: Promote economic growth that benefits all residents.
- Housing: Provide adequate supply of housing for residents of all ages and incomes in communities of their choosing that meet their needs and offer ready access to the full range of supportive goods and services.
- Infrastructure: Economic opportunity thorough nation leading infrastructure.
- Revitalization and recentering: Revitalize and recenter the state’s underutilized developed areas.
- Climate change: Effectively address adverse impacts of global climate change.
- Natural and water resources; Protect, maintain, and restore natural and water resources and ecosystems.
- Pollution and Environmental Clean-Up: Protect the environment, prevent and clean up pollution.
- Historic and Scenic Resources: Protect, enhance, and improve access to areas with exceptional archaeological, historic, cultural, scenic, open space, and recreational value.
- Equity: Implement equitable planning practices to promote thriving communities for all New Jerseyans.
- Comprehensive Planning: Foster sound and integrated planning and implementation at all levels statewide.
“Over the years, the NJTPA has done a lot of things to advance these goals,” Lane said, through its various subregional, transportation, and regional planning studies. He encouraged the agency to be engaged in the process in the coming months.
The plan includes a State Policy Map, unchanged from the previous plan, which recommends where development and preservation should occur in the state. The Smart Growth Explorer will help identify areas suitable for development and areas suitable for conservation.
Lane said the final state plan hopefully will be adopted by the end of this year.
A copy of his presentation is available here.
Posted: 1/13/2025 3:36:34 PM
Governor Phil Murphy today signed legislation creating the Target Zero Commission with the goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries in New Jersey by 2040. NJTPA Executive Director David W. Behrend will serve on the 13-member commission alongside state officials, regional transportation officials, and others.
“We’ve been working with our region’s counties and municipalities to integrate the safe system approach into our planning work and to identify ways to make travel safer for everyone,” Behrend said. “I look forward to working with the Commission to further these efforts and ultimately reach our shared goal of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries.”
Governor Murphy was joined at the bill’s signing by Arland Macasieb, a cyclist and former professional triathlete who survived a life-altering crash with a car while riding his bike on a New Jersey road in 2021. Despite ongoing medical challenges due to his injuries from the crash, Macasieb continues to advocate for legislation that increases safety for cyclists and non-motorists.
“The actions we take today will ensure that New Jersey families no longer have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to traffic fatalities. The Commission will collaborate to prioritize safety and mobility, forging a clear path to making sure everyone, whether walking, biking, driving, or using public transit, can travel safely in New Jersey,” Governor Murphy said.
Traffic deaths and injuries have sharply increased in New Jersey. From 2023 to 2024, fatalities increased 14 percent and pedestrian fatalities increased 32 percent.
The Target Zero Commission will focus on data-driven strategies that prioritize roadway design, speed management, and safety for all road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. The Commission will advise the Governor, Legislature, and the DOT regarding policies, programs, research, and priorities that will aid in attaining the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities.
Under the law, the Commission is directed to propose an action plan within one year of the bill’s signing, with a chance for the public to provide feedback on the proposed plan. The Commission will also collect traffic safety data for the public, including data on dangerous intersections and crash demographics. Additionally, the Commission will provide data and resources to local municipalities to assist them in developing their own Target Zero plans.
“I share Governor Murphy’s vision that a stronger New Jersey includes making sure that everyone, whether walking, biking, driving or using public transit, can travel safely,” said DOT Commissioner Fran O’Connor, who serves on the NJTPA Board of Trustees. “The New Jersey Department of Transportation takes the responsibility of improving roadway safety very seriously and is committed to eliminating roadway fatalities. This commission will explore new ideas and technologies to create actionable strategies to address critical roadways safety issues in New Jersey.”
Click here to read the full press release from the Governor's Office.