Traffic a major issue for New Jerseyans
By:Michele S. Byers
The alarm clock goes off. Bleary-eyed, we rise, shower and dress. Maybe we take time to pour a stiff cup of coffee into a travel mug before we weave our way out to the car. Three out of every four of us will drive to work alone, spending an average of 30 minutes dodging potholes and other cars on New Jersey’s highways and back roads.
If this describes a typical morning for you, I don’t have to convince you traffic is a major issue for all New Jerseyans, and thus should be a focus for our fall elections. And if you feel your local roads aren’t congested like the rest of the state, remember parts of Route 17 in Bergen County, or Route 1, looked like rural highways just 50 short years ago.
We used to call new roads "progress." Now we know they act more like roots for sprawl, quickly spreading and choking out the quality of life in the area. History shows that cars will soon fill up every new lane and road we build.
New Jersey’s next governor and legislature face important choices about investing public funds in our state’s transportation system. As voters, we should ask candidates if they’ll support transportation priorities that combat sprawl, or continue to promote sprawl-producing projects like the Millstone Bypass near Princeton, or the extension of Route 55 into the Delaware Bayshore, or the expansion of Route 15 in the Highlands.
New Jersey ranks near the top in the nation, with more than 11 percent of our commuters using mass transit trains and buses. And compared to most other states, we spend a respectable amount on public transportation.
But the current NJ Transit budget doesn’t provide enough money to maintain the current system and replace aging trains and buses, let alone extend service to areas clamoring for public transportation alternatives. Public investment in New Jersey’s mass transit system must be increased to meet these needs.
The condition of New Jersey roads makes it clear money needs to be spent there too. However, despite a backlog of billions of dollars, "DOT is still spending three times more state gas tax money on new highway construction than on bridge and road repair," notes Janine Bauer, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit transportation policy watchdog. "New Jersey already has 35,000 lane-miles of highway; more can only intensify the sprawl development pressure that communities feel now."
Where will the dollars for mass transit and road repair come from? Forcing DOT to live by the "fix-it-first" principle spending highway dollars on repairing deteriorating roadways first, before adding lanes, extending highways or laying new roads will help.
In addition, several good ideas were rejected in last year’s effort to reauthorize New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund. For example, we could restrict the construction of new roads in areas designated as rural or environmentally sensitive in New Jersey’s smart growth State Plan. And DOT isn’t being held accountable for complying with the good ideas that were adopted like tying DOT funding to a measurable set of goals (like highway maintenance, bridge repairs, pedestrian safety and bike paths).
So far, we’ve heard a lot in this election about eliminating tolls on the Garden State Parkway. However, focus on this one issue obscures the bigger picture of a transportation system addicted to highways, and mass transit alternatives struggling for breath.
This fall, in deciding who deserves your vote, look for candidates who recognize the link between roads and sprawl, who support investment in public transportation, who’ll promote fixing our existing highways first and tie transportation decision-making to smart growth principles. Your morning commute will be better for it!
For more information on transportation issues, contact the Tri-State Transportation Campaign at http://www.tstc.org/. To learn more about conserving land in New Jersey, please visit NJCF’s Web site at www.njconservation.org, or contact me at 1-888-LAND-SAVE or by e-mail to info@njconservation.org.
Michele S. Byers is executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.