Lettiere,
Levin, Warrington
announce two new
Transit Villages
(New Brunswick) - Today,
New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Commissioner Jack
Lettiere, Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Susan
Bass Levin and NJ TRANSIT Executive Director George
Warrington announced Jersey
City and New
Brunswick City are the two newest additions
to the State's Transit Village program. Each city was
awarded $100,000 in State funding as a part of being named a Transit Village.
The Transit Village program strives to help
redevelop and revitalize communities around mass transit stations
to make them an appealing choice for people to live, work and
play, thereby reducing reliance on the automobile. With today's
two new additions, there
are now 16 Transit Villages across the state.
"These
Transit Village designations are investments in our communities.
By concentrating development in areas where people can walk to
work, we are building neighborhoods where people want to raise
families and build businesses," stated DCA Commissioner Levin.
"By giving our residents more time at home and less time
on the road, we are easing traffic congestion, improving air quality
and strengthening communities. This is, simply, the right thing
to do."
The Transit Village program is a model for
Smart Growth, as it encourages growth in New
Jersey where infrastructure
and public transit already exist.
"Transit
Villages are very much about creating the right frame of mind
for future development," noted NJDOT Commissioner Jack Lettiere.
"Land-use and transportation are intrinsically linked, a
fact has been ignored for too long in New Jersey, which has caused
unnecessary congestion and commuting delays. Transit Villages
are about helping communities develop in the right way by utilizing
existing transportation assets."
The
Transit Village program began designating municipalities in 1999.
Pleasantville, Morristown, Rutherford, South Amboy, South Orange,
Riverside, Rahway, Metuchen, Belmar, Collingswood, Bloomfield,
Bound Brook, Cranford and Matawan were all named Transit Villages
in previous years.
"The
Transit Village Initiative makes good business sense not only
for communities, but also for NJ TRANSIT," said Executive
Director George D. Warrington. "It will attract riders to
our system by encouraging the development of housing around transit
while providing much-needed congestion relief on New Jersey roadways
through the promotion of public transit use."
Studies
have shown that an increase in residential housing options within
walking distance of a mass transit station does more to increase
transit ridership than any other type of development. Therefore,
it is a goal of the Transit Village program to bring more housing,
more businesses and more people into communities with mass transit
stations.
To
be designated a Transit Village, a municipality must meet stringent
criteria. A designated Transit Village must: have an existing
transit facility, this can be a rail or light rail station, ferry
terminal, a bus hub or bus transfer station; have vacant land
and/or underutilized or deteriorated buildings within walking
distance of transit where redevelopment can take place; have an
adopted land-use strategy for achieving compact, transit-supportive,
mixed-use development within walking distance of transit; and
have a strong residential component.
Applications
for Transit Village status are reviewed by the State's inter-agency
Transit Village Task Force. The task force is comprised of professional
staff from NJDOT, NJ TRANSIT, DCA, Commerce and Economic Growth
Commission, the Council on the Arts, the Department of Environmental
Protection, the Economic Development Authority, the Housing and
Mortgage Finance Agency, the Office of Smart Growth, Main Street
New Jersey and the NJ Redevelopment Authority.
The
task force reviews and works with municipalities to improve their
applications. Once the task force has completed its review of
all applications, it makes recommendations to the Commissioner
of Transportation, who has final approval of Transit Village designations.
Municipalities
that have applied but not yet received the Transit Village designation
will be given detailed guidance to meet the selection criterion.
All towns are encouraged to continue to improve their applications
and apply again.
Being
designated a Transit Village provides a municipality with the
following benefits:
-
State of New Jersey commitment to the municipality's
vision for redevelopment.
-
Coordination among the State agencies that make up the Transit
Village task force.
-
Priority funding from some State agencies.
-
Technical assistance from some State agencies.
-
Eligibility for grants from NJDOT's dedicated Transit Village
funding.
