$44.6 Million For Union City Bus Garage and Terminal Project

Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-NJ) announced $44,677,500 in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding for the Union City Garage and Bus Terminal Reconstruction Project.

This funding will help cover the nearly $68.9 million project cost estimated by NJ Transit and is part of $1.6 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories, and states across the country to invest in a low-to-zero-emission bus fleet.

The funding will allow for the rehabilitation of Union City’s 75-year-old garage to make the facility suitable for bus storage and includes the addition of a bus terminal to improve connectivity for the city’s 70,000 residents.

The proposed garage and terminal will be capable of supporting battery-electric buses, which is a critical part of NJ TRANSIT’s Garage Modernization Program and consistent with the agency’s goal of achieving a zero-emissions fleet by 2040.

Booker wrote a letter to FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez to support the project last month.

“This federal grant is a win for our economy and public health: it will lead to the replacement of older buses with new, electric ones, reduce air pollution in communities, and bolster New Jersey’s transportation system in one of the most densely populated areas of our state,” said Sen. Booker.

NJ Transit operates 16 bus garages throughout the state which range in age from 22 to 120 years old. No major rehabilitation work has been performed on any of NJ Transit’s garages since 1998.

Nearly all existing NJT garages currently operate at or above their capacity, with capacity constraints a particular issue in northern New Jersey.

Expect some potential delays, as rehabilitation of major garage systems, modernization of existing garages, and replacement of aging facilities could result in a decrease in capacity on bus lines while each garage is taken out of service for improvements.

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