As this issue goes to press, we were notified of the governor’s signature on S2607/A3872, which requires private bus operators of “motorbus regular route service”, not including “charter bus operation,” “special bus operation,” or “casino bus operation” or “a motorbus route predominately operated for tourism or recreational purposes” to give NJ Transit and the N.J. Motor Vehicle Commission 4 months’ written notice before “substantially curtailing” a route, as well as giving customers 3 months’ written notice and holding at least 1 public hearing in the affected region, “as close as possible to the highest trafficked stop on the route, within 15 days after providing notice to the service’s customers.” Such meeting shall also be announced to the commission, agency, and the district’s state legislators and the relevant county and municipal governments.
This appears to be a reaction to recent deCamp and Coach USA cancellations but note that the bill had been introduced in the last session. Still, we suspect that the recent chaos had a hand in moving it forward, and we are glad to see this start of requiring transparency for our fellow transit customers. We hope that it will apply to NJ Transit itself.
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