NJ Transit’s Strategic and Capital Plan Does Not Implement the Electric Bus Mandates in the EV Law
EV Law Sets Benchmark of 10% of Bus Purchases Are Electric By 2024, But Current Plan Devotes Less Than 1% to Electric Bus Purchases
Highland Park, NJ – With the release of the first ever ten-year Strategic Plan and Five-Year Capital Plan from New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) last week, there was a notable mismatch between NJ Transit’s timeline to acquire electric buses and the requirements and schedule to transition to zero emission buses in the electric vehicle (EV) law enacted this past January.
“While we understand the enormity of the issues surrounding NJ Transit pre-COVID-19 and the extraordinary pressures they are facing today due to the pandemic, we were a bit perplexed by this apparent gap in the strategic plan,” said Pam Frank, CEO of ChargEVC, a broad coalition of electric vehicle advocates. “We look forward to working together with NJ Transit to fix this gap and help them fulfill their commitments.”
The EV law requires that by the end of 2024, at least 10% of new bus purchases made by NJ Transit shall be zero emission buses and that the percentage of zero emission bus purchases shall increase to 50% by the end of 2026. By the end of 2032, 100% of bus purchases shall be zero emission buses. Further, the purchases shall be prioritized for low income, urban and environmental justice communities.
NJ Transit’s Strategic Plan details an exciting commitment to fully electrifying their bus fleet by 2040. Despite this lofty goal, there is a lack of focus on meeting the EV law goal of 10% of all bus purchases being zero emission by 2024. NJ Transit’s plan devotes about $15 million towards purchasing electric buses through 2026. This is a small slice of the more than $1.6 billion that will be devoted to new bus purchases in that time. Meaning, less than 1% of bus purchases would be electric through 2026 – far lower than the transit electrification goals set by Governor Murphy and the New Jersey Legislature.
“NJ Transit’s Capital Plan sets out a full fiscal blueprint of what we need to fund the future of NJ Transit. NJ Transit is clearly struggling with the fiscal and ridership impacts of COVID-19, but we shouldn’t abandon the mandates of the EV law to start the electrification of our bus fleet,” Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey and ChargEVC president, continues, “COVID-19 is a reminder that we need to do everything to reduce the impacts of air pollution in our urban cities, and the NJ Transit Capital Plan should be revised to include more electric bus purchases. Now is the time we need to invest in public transit and look to opportunities for utility investment in electric bus charging infrastructure. But NJ Transit shouldn’t walk away from the EV law mandates in its Capital Plan.”
Contact: Pam Frank, 609-577-2795
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ChargEVC is a not-for-profit coalition of diverse stakeholders that includes retail automotive dealers, utilities, consumer and equity advocates, environmental and labor organizations and technology companies. See www.chargevc.org for more information.