NJ Transit Seeks $1.25 Billion Federal Aid Amid Rider Drop

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Transit is seeking $1.25 billion of federal aid to make up for a plunge in fare revenue in the wake of the new coronavirus, according to a letter sent by the agency to the state’s congressional delegation.

Ridership has dropped 88% since March 9 on buses and trains operated by the nation’s largest statewide mass-transportation provider. The financial toll will be “extraordinary and beyond anything experienced in our company’s history,” Kevin Corbett, NJ Transit president and chief executive officer, wrote in a letter seen by Bloomberg.

New Jersey has at least 427 confirmed coronavirus cases and six deaths, including two siblings and their mother. New York cases have surpassed 2,000, with 21 deaths. Nationally, confirmed cases were nearing 9,000.

The New York City-based Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the largest U.S. mass-transit provider, is seeking a $4 billion federal bailout and tapping $1 billion in credit after an $87 million one-week loss. Ridership was down 90% on its Metro-North Railroad and 67% on its Long Island Rail Road on March 17 compared with a year earlier.

NJ Transit’s loss estimate, through fiscal 2021, doesn’t count on potential changes in state funding, including money transferred from the Transportation Trust Fund, which accounts for more than a third of the agency’s $2.4 billion annual operating budget. The fund is supported by New Jersey’s gasoline tax, which like other state revenue is expected to decline as the new coronavirus forces rising unemployment and work-from-home arrangements and less travel.

Social distancing and other virus-slowing measures -- including mall and school closings and a ban on large gatherings -- have been ordered by adjacent-state Governors Andrew Cuomo of New York, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Ned Lamont of Connecticut and Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania.

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