At a conference last week hosted by the Southern New Jersey Development Council, newly appointed NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said he’s moving forward on a new light rail line that would connect regions in South Jersey that have limited or no access to public transportation.
“South Jersey has what I would call, at best, a disparate mass transit system. It’s Balkanized. It’s very hard to connect,” said Kolluri. “As Rowan begins to grow, as Rutgers Camden begins to grow, as the hospital systems in the area begin to grow, as employers begin to migrate here, we are gonna need a system that can rival that of North Jersey and of Europe. That’s why GCL is important.”
GCL stands for the Glassboro Camden light rail. The plan is to restore rail line service on 18 miles of an existing rail line that would connect several municipalities in Gloucester County to Camden, starting with Glassboro, with possible stops in Pitman, Sewell, Woodbury and Woodbury Heights, to name a few. It’s fully funded by the state for $250 million.
“This corridor is going to be so important as we go through the entire state, all through South Jersey down to Millville, Cumberland, Vineland. Areas that we can expand our Eds and Meds corridor,” said Tony Lowman, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Rowan University.
Rutgers-Camden recently released a report that shared community feedback on what people want from their transportation system, and what solutions could improve the struggles they currently face.
“Increase the weekend hours, increase the holiday hours, and also the overnight hours,” said Kristin Curtis, associate director of research at the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-Camden. “One of the things we heard from folks is that buses don’t start until 6 a.m., they might finish their shift at 2 or 3 in the morning, so they’re waiting about three hours for public transportation. The Gloucester Camden line, we heard mixed opinions on that. Folks really wish it would’ve already been functional already. Then there were folks that said I don’t know how I feel about this, I want to learn more. Maybe I don’t want this. So it really is, taking all of these opinions and being respectful of that.”
NJ Transit has started the Burlington Gloucester Camden study, that Kolluri says is looking to create rational strategies for how to run the trains and buses across south Jersey. He’s heard concerns from the community too.
“Some of the residents have asked for quiet zones at gate crossings and other places where it goes through residential neighborhoods. I think there’s some advancements in technology that’ll help achieve that objective. That’s why we have the Delaware River Port Authority, who’s our project manager. They’re on the front lines of listening to where the people are and what concerns the have to see if we can mitigate it,” Kolluri said.
But he cautions, any town that opts out of a station stop, is opting out of economic growth. Yet another expansion, at the Walter Rand Transportation Center, is also in the works — a complete upgrade to the NJ Transit station in the heart of Camden, that, according to NJ Transit, will become a transit hub for all of South Jersey. It will also be paid for with $250 million in state funds. Kolluri says the design phase will last at least the next year, possibly two years. But that pre-construction on portions of the project can begin this year.
The full story and recording can be found here: https://www.njspotlightnews.org/video/nj-transit-looks-to-expand-access-in-south-jersey/