Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald and State Sen. Michael Testa don’t agree on
everything. They are the first to admit: They are not supposed to.
But standing together in front of a new shuttle bus last Monday morning in Hammonton,
the Democrat and the Republican had no trouble finding common ground. South Jersey
has been shortchanged for too long. The region’s businesses were paying into a
statewide corporate transit fee and getting little to nothing back. That needed to change
— and they were going to make it change together.
The result was SJ Connects, a $5 million pilot transportation program that launched
Monday with six free shuttle routes serving Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May,
Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. It connects residents to jobs, healthcare,
schools and social services — in many cases for the first time.
“I wish more people could see, in today’s day and age, with all the turmoil and friction in
government, the relationships that I’m proud to establish with my friends like Mike Testa
in a bipartisan fashion,” Greenwald said at the launch event. “It doesn’t mean we always
agree. It does mean that we find areas where we can compromise and come together.”
Testa agreed. Taking a shot at other elected officials while spelling it out.
“We’re not like Washington — we actually work across the aisle on a regular basis,” he
said. “South Jersey, unfortunately, has not gotten her fair share over the years, and
that’s why we work so well together.”
***
The program runs 20-passenger, ADA-compliant mini-buses on routes designed to
connect residents to employment centers, higher education institutions, healthcare
facilities and NJ Transit hubs. It is free to riders.
The routes were built around what South Jersey Transportation Authority Executive
Director Stephen Dougherty called the region’s greatest transportation gaps — the
places where people needed to get to but had no way of getting there.
The need is real and specific:
- A nursing student at Salem Community College who couldn’t get to campus
without a car; - A hospital system whose employees, scattered across seven counties, had no
reliable way to get to work; - A manufacturer in an industrial park that couldn’t attract workers because there
was no way to reach it.
Testa noted there are 40,000 vacant manufacturing jobs in New Jersey — good, high-
paying jobs that SJ Connects could help fill.
Greenwald made it even more personal.
He described a meeting with Inspira Health’s Robin Walton, who told him the closest
transit stop to their emergency room was a 20-minute walk away.
He talked about a visit to a Cherry Hill free clinic, where he met a Nigerian immigrant
with Type 2 diabetes who was studying to be a dental hygienist — while working to find
rides to get to his insulin, his doctor and his classes.
“He is on his road to financial independence with a good-paying job and health
coverage,” Greenwald said. “He just has to get there.”
***
The fight to get here started with Christina Renna.
As CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey, Renna recognized the
problem the moment the Corporate Transit Fee was enacted — a 2.5 percent surcharge
on the corporate business tax for companies with over $10 million in annual revenue,
dedicated to stabilizing NJ Transit.
South Jersey businesses were paying in like everyone else. But NJ Transit, by and
large, doesn’t serve South Jersey.
She made the equity argument loudly and persistently — in op-eds, in meetings with the
Murphy administration, in conversations with legislators on both sides of the aisle. South
Jersey businesses contributed an estimated 15 percent of the $815.5 million the fee
generated. They deserved something back.
“Any chamber’s job is to remove economic barriers,” Renna said. “We are advocates,
we identify problems, and we stay in the room until something is done about it. Closing
transit gaps in this region was, and is, one of the most important things we feel we can
do for South Jersey’s workforce.”
The result was a $5 million allocation from the Murphy administration, secured with
Greenwald’s critical support and tied directly to the region’s education and medical
corridors.
From there, Dougherty and the SJTA took the money and, in roughly six months,
designed, planned and received approval for six brand new routes.
“Securing the funding is only half the job,” Renna said. “The other half is execution —
and that’s where our partners at the South Jersey Transportation Authority stepped up
in a truly remarkable way.”
***
Last Monday’s launch is a pilot. The routes will run for 18 to 24 months. Ridership data
will be collected. The case for permanence — and expansion — will have to be made.
Testa said the awareness campaign starts now.
“We need to make sure everyone knows it’s available — and everyone knows how
impactful it is,” he said.
Greenwald, meanwhile, is already thinking bigger. He sees SJ Connects as the
foundation of something the region has never had — the kind of transit infrastructure
that attracts young people, drives housing development, and creates the urban energy
that has transformed places like Hoboken.
“I think this can create the foundation of a housing boom,” he said. “Young people are
looking for housing, but they need transportation opportunities as a part of it. They’re
looking for a Hoboken-type feel in South Jersey, and I think we’re really close to having
that in Camden and now in Atlantic City. If you can combine that with access to public
transportation — so it’s easy to get to education, to their job — I think you have the
foundation for growth.”
Last week, the region got a start. And it made people on both sides of the aisle very
happy.
