NJ Transit Seeking $1.2 Billion as Train Ridership Falls to Near Zero

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Transit is asking the state’s congressional delegation for $1.2 billion in federal aid as train ridership has dropped 98% and coronavirus-related expenses are costing $10 million a month.

Kevin Corbett, chief executive officer of the nation’s largest statewide transportation provider, said in a letter that the agency was thankful for $1.5 billion pledged from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. But NJ Transit needs more because it expects a $2.6 billion budget hole through June 2021, he wrote, and doesn’t see a swift return to pre-virus ridership levels.

NJ Transit is among several U.S. mass-transit agencies that requested $32 billion in aid, double the amount that House Democrats proposed on Tuesday for transportation networks in a $3 trillion stimulus bill. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking $3.9 billion as it faces $10.4 billion in losses for 2020 and 2021.

Most of NJ Transit’s revenue loss is from fares, as train ridership is down 98% and bus-passenger numbers are down 93%. The agency is losing $110 million more in advertising and lease revenue, and spending $10 million a month to sanitize vehicles and stations and supply employees and riders with personal protective equipment.

“This expense will increase as ridership returns,” Corbett wrote. The agency, he said, “must be on sound fiscal footing” when full service resumes.

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