Fulop unveils proposals to improve New Jersey’s transportation infrastructure

Since the launch of his gubernatorial campaign this spring, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has made it clear that transportation policy will be one of his top priorities. The three-term mayor has repeatedly emphasized his work to eliminate Jersey City’s transit deserts, and one of his first gubernatorial endorsements came from the Amalgamated Transit Union, the country’s largest union for public transit workers.

Today, Fulop turned that focus into something more tangible: a detailed policy proposal for robust transportation infrastructure reform in New Jersey. It’s the first of what Fulop says will be eight sets of in-depth policy ideas that his gubernatorial campaign will release as part of its FixNJ plan.

“We’re leading with transportation infrastructure because I really think that that is the backbone to so many of the other policy discussions that will happen throughout New Jersey,” Fulop said. “It all comes back to mobility and transportation and how do we move people around in a congested state.”

The core pieces of Fulop’s plan include creating a dedicated funding source for NJ Transit; removing the PATH train from the Port Authority’s jurisdiction; reassessing the possibility of one-seat rides on the Raritan Valley Line; prioritizing rail over road expansion; modernizing NJ Transit infrastructure, particularly its stations; improving service at the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC); and pushing a less hostile strategy on congestion pricing.

Most policies revolve around the core idea of investment: in order to make New Jersey’s transit system work, it needs the money and political support to do so.

“Investment is important for reliability, reliability will lead to more ridership, safety leads to more ridership, ridership leads to more dollars,” Fulop said.

One way to achieve that would be to create a dedicated revenue stream for NJ Transit, something Fulop said could come from the corporate business tax surcharge (CBT), which was eliminated from the FY2024 budget. There is an estimated billion-dollar shortfall looming on the horizon for NJ Transit; the CBT surcharge could raise that much money.

“I thought it was a mistake for the legislature and Governor Murphy to allow that to sunset,” Fulop said.

Another avenue of revenue, Fulop argued, is congestion pricing. Perhaps the most politically risky topic addressed, Fulop said he’s open to the controversial proposal – putting him at odds with the vast majority of New Jersey politicians, both Democrat and Republican

While acknowledging that New York’s plan, which charges all drivers who go below 60th Street in Manhattan, is unfair to New Jersey, Fulop believes that congestion pricing could be beneficial, and that lawmakers should be open to it. Fulop’s plan would impose congestion pricing on those leaving New York who are coming into New Jersey, with funding going towards light rail expansion and PATH service.

The PATH train would also experience major leadership changes under a Governor Fulop. Currently, the trans-Hudson train is part of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, but Fulop said that he wants to merge it with NJ Transit.

Fulop also wants to expand some of his accomplishments in Jersey City to statewide policy. Public micro transit, bike sharing programs, and pedestrian safety are all areas Fulop sees as key accomplishments in Jersey City that he could translate statewide.

Fulop believes that his experience as a mayor would directly inform how he would implement these proposals. The leader of the state’s second-largest city, he said he’s looking to have close relationships with mayors – of cities and small towns alike – because they understand best what their residents need. (Not coincidentally, Fulop’s campaign has already earned endorsements from a number of mayors.)

“There is no one size that fits all,” Fulop said.

While many of his ideas are more ideological, or perhaps idealistic, Fulop’s proposal also includes practical reforms to improve New Jerseyans’ experiences with the state’s main transportation hub, the MVC. Fulop said that his administration would extend the MVC’s hours to create quicker turnaround times, expand the agency’s digital presence to allow for more online transactions, and change its leadership.

“It is a retail operation, and it’s important to have leadership there that has retail experience in a very senior role,” Fulop said. “Leadership in MVC matters in a major way.”

Fulop, who announced his gubernatorial campaign back in April and has already raised $2.2 million, is coming out strong with his policy proposals, perhaps forcing his potential opponents – namely Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) – to play catch up.

Gottheimer, in fact, has already gone on the offense against Fulop’s congestion pricing proposal, saying that it would be counterproductive to add yet more tolls for those coming into New Jersey, particularly when that means tolling New Jerseyans themselves.

“[Fulop’s plan] makes zero sense,” Gottheimer said. “Instead, we should be encouraging everyone to come to Jersey – not implementing our own Congestion Tax which will hurt our families, small businesses, tourism, and local economies. Here in Jersey, we all need to stand together against New York’s absurd Congestion Tax. Bottom line: the Fulop Tax is wrong for Jersey.”

The plan might also accentuate some partisan conflicts with Republicans, who would be unlikely to get on board with many of its more ambitious proposals. Light rail in particular could generate political battles; the proposed Camden-Glassboro Line, for example, has drawn the ire of South Jersey Republicans for years.

“The 18-mile commuter rail project in its current form [is] a patchwork approach that will divide smaller towns, increase traffic, and endanger the safety of residents,” State Sen. Ed Durr (R-Logan) said last year. “All parties should come together to find a reasonable solution and present it to the people before moving forward.”

But Fulop said that if someone wants to oppose his plans, it’s incumbent on them to come up with better ones.

“It’s easy for some people to say, ‘I don’t want this,’” he said. “Tell me what your solution is.”