Among the thorniest issues the next mayor will have to tackle is transportation in a city that has grown by more than 18% since 2010.
One proposal that has already proven to be controversial this year — bus rapid transit (BRT) — is nonetheless popular with the candidates seeking to occupy the city’s highest office.
With a BRT system, cities use streets and city buses to create a light rail-like experience — without the rails.
If this seems unobtainable for Jersey City’s traffic-choked streets, the candidates running for mayor said it’s not, and they’ve been talking it up on the campaign trail.
“Proven U.S. systems show what Jersey City may achieve,” said mayoral candidate, and former governor, James McGreevey. “Hartford’s CTfastrak, Albuquerque’s ART (Albuquerque Rapid Transit), and Richmond’s GRTC Pulse demonstrate that true BRT may double ridership, improve on-time performance, and return more than 10 times the public investment in economic activity.”
Longtime Hudson County Commissioner and mayoral candidate Bill O’Dea said he was an “early supporter” of BRT, although he seems to advocate a more limited pilot first, and like most of the candidates, he views John F. Kennedy Boulevard as the most logical place to begin.
“I convinced the county to apply for a Vision Zero grant, one of the areas that was going to be looked at as part of the grant was BRT on JFK Boulevard, starting at the southern end of the city going to Journal Square. That’s something I think we can make happen,” O’Dea said.
He favors a limited BRT experiment where buses would have dedicated lanes (north/south) during peak hours from the southern edge of the city to Journal Square. His biggest concern, he said, was how BRT would function near the A. Harry Moore School, where students with disabilities require special access to the entrance. Other schools along Kennedy might be similarly affected and may need special accommodation.
For the concept to work as intended, there would need to be dedicated bus lanes, one going north, another going south, that would be free of parking and other traffic. Buses would also need to be given traffic signal priority at intersections. Passengers would need to pay their fares before boarding, and buses would need to be configured so passengers wouldn’t climb steps to board the bus. Again, the BRT experience should mimic the experience of using a light rail system. Riding the #88 Bus should feel like being on a light rail train.
City Councilman James Solomon, another candidate for mayor, said BRT is an idea whose time has come, and he was an early proponent of the idea. “I believe BRT can be successful across the city, and I will continue advocating for it, as I have since before this election,” said Solomon. “But it requires careful planning, research, and community buy-in.”
Solomon’s slate includes environmental engineer Eleana Little, an early proponent of BRT on Kennedy Blvd. Little, who is currently running for the Ward E council seat, talked up BRT during her unsuccessful bid for County Executive in 2023. Solomon credits her with boosting BRT in the local transit policy discussion, especially at the county level.
“In the two years since then, we’re encouraged that both county officials and other candidates for mayor have warmed up to the idea of JC on the Move,” said Solomon, who previously endorsed Little’s run for county executive.
In July, Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, who defeated Little, said he told his team “to devise a mockup of what JFK Boulevard could look like if bus rapid transit was employed on this major north-south artery. This mockup would allow residents to visualize both the benefits and possible challenges of dedicated bus lanes, and how the road would need to function differently to execute this innovative transportation … option.”
The “Boulevard” is a county-owned road that cuts through Bayonne, Union City, and North Bergen, in addition to Jersey City. A Kennedy Boulevard BRT route could be limited to Jersey City alone or could include other municipalities, which would require coordination across city limits. There would also need to be coordination with NJ Transit, which operates the affected bus routes.
A spokesman for the transit agency said, “NJ Transit continuously evaluates its bus operations to enhance service delivery and improve the customer experience. We have been in discussions with Hudson County on ways to enhance bus service moving forward. Collaboration with local partners is critical for implementing new strategies to optimize bus travel. One such approach could include the implementation of … BRT … along high-demand corridors, which can significantly reduce bus travel times and increase service reliability. Key BRT elements typically include transit signal priority, optimized bus stop spacing and enhancements, and dedicated bus lanes.”
McGreevey said working in partnership with NJ Transit is “essential.”
He envisions a plan where “we may leverage the Greenville Bus Garage as the operational hub, coordinate station design, and adopt signal priority technology to enable buses to extend or gain green lights. NJ Transit has implemented BRT-like operations in Newark, and is expanding in Secaucus. Jersey City is the logical next step.”
City Council President Joyce Watterman, another mayoral candidate, said, “I support [BRT], but I don’t know that we’re ready to do it just yet. I want to hear from NJ Transit about what they think would work best. I also want to see some studies on different [transit] corridors. And, of course, we have to hear from the community and get their input so they feel included in whatever we decide.”
Creating a BRT system will come with sacrifices, particularly in the area of street parking, and without buy-in from residents it may be dead on arrival.
Outgoing Mayor Steven Fulop rankled South Side residents last summer when he suggested, in a social media post, that Ocean Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive could be converted into one-way streets to make way for bike lanes and BRT. The post angered residents who live near these two major thoroughfares, who said the administration had not talked to them about the changes.
JC on the Move
This emphasis on BRT isn’t coming from thin air. In 2022, Jersey City commissioned a transit study, JC on the Move, that looked at how transit might be improved across the city. Among the transit options touted in the study was BRT, specifically on Kennedy Boulevard.
This wasn’t the first time BRT was suggested as a viable option for Jersey City. In 2013, the city conducted a feasibility study that also identified Kennedy Boulevard as the best corridor for launching a BRT pilot. Major NJ Transit lines that travel on Kennedy include the #10, #88, and #119 buses.
In addition to NJ Transit and county officials, JC on the Move noted that the city would also need to coordinate with the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, a federally authorized transit agency for the 13 counties in the northern part of the state.
Transitioning to BRT won’t be free, of course. On the low end, it can cost less than $20 million per mile, according to the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. But cost estimates can go as high as $40 million to $80 million per mile. Jersey City could be eligible for a Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG), which is a federal program, to fund its BRT transition. These block grants can be used to cover the capital costs associated with building a BRT corridor. Although the STBG technically still exists, the administration of Donald Trump has frozen the program and rescinded prior grants that had been authorized.
BRT: Cheaper than rail
BRT is gaining traction as a transit solution, both in the U.S. and internationally, because rail systems are expensive to build.
Local transit advocates and residents have for years called for the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) and PATH train system to be extended, and there is currently some movement on both fronts — but each of these expansion projects come with heavy price tags.
NJ Transit, which operates the light rail system, started work in 2020 on the Route 440 Extension Project. That project will eventually extend the West Side Ave. branch of the HBLR, adding about 3,700 feet of new track along the Hackensack River waterfront. For its part, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has plans to extend the PATH train to Newark Liberty International Airport. The estimated cost of the Route 440 project is $220 million, while the PATH-to-airport plan will cost $1.7 billion.
The campaigns of fellow mayoral candidates Mussab Ali and Christina Freeman did not respond to requests for comment. However, they each expressed support for BRT in a transportation-oriented survey released by Streets PAC NJ.
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