Private bus companies canceled NJ routes, causing 'mayhem.' This bill would limit that

Private bus operators in contract with state agencies would have to provide at least three months' notice to riders when substantially changing service under a new bill advanced Monday by the state Senate Transportation Committee.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Teresa Ruiz, introduced Monday and passed through the committee hours later, comes after at least three private bus companies earlier this year terminated commuter service that was provided through agreements with NJ Transit.

The bill would also require at least four months' notice to NJ Transit and the Motor Vehicle Commission about any changes and would mandate at least one public hearing in the area most affected within 15 days of notice to customers.

The bill would also impose a $10,000 fine per violation of the new rules. Adam Guziejewski, a senior vice president of the lobbying firm Katz Government Affairs, which represents the Bus Association of New Jersey, thanked Ruiz for involving industry members before introducing the bill.

"We think [the bill] accomplishes her goal of notification in advance of potential curtailment of services, and that we also feel is workable for the private carrier industry," Guziejewski said during testimony Monday.

"However the language in Section D, as currently constructed, would allow an agency ... to establish conditions that are above and beyond what’s required in the legislation, and as the private carrier industry we have a concern with that," he added.

Guziejewski said the bus association plans to continue a dialogue with Ruiz, the Senate majority leader, about those concerns.

Current rule is two weeks' notice before ending service

Private bus operators now are required to give at least two weeks' notice before ending or changing commuter bus service. Earlier this year, DeCamp gave at least three weeks of notice before ending its routes in Essex County. Coach first announced curtailing service on July 6 that would go into effect July 17, and on Sept. 8, they announced ending service starting Oct. 8 on three routes that served Newark, the Oranges and Elizabeth. A&C gave more than three months' notice before terminating four Jersey City routes.

Ruiz, whose district is in Essex County, said the way this was handled over the summer was not sufficient, particularly for residents who don't have cars and without this service would have their lives upended.

"Economies are shifting, people are right-sizing and they’re scaling back — whatever the case, the person who depends on this [service] should not be the one who ultimately [bears] the negative effect of it," Ruiz said.

"This disruption created a lot of mayhem for communities and residents," she said. "Knowing that this will perhaps happen again, how do we create a framework to avoid that kind of negative impact in a smoother way?" The bill is designed to provide that framework, she said.

Filling the gap costs NJ Transit $50 million annually

NJ Transit scrambled to reconfigure routes and add service in the affected areas after facing calls from riders and local and state officials to step in and serve those regions. That substitute service is costing the agency more than $50 million in annual operating costs, said Zoe Baldwin, the New Jersey director for the Regional Plan Association, who testified in support of the bill at Monday's meeting.

Those additional costs, while small compared with the agency's $2.86 billion operating budget, are significant given the dire financial woes NJ Transit is facing, including a $119 million shortfall predicted next year and a nearly $1 billion budget gap the year after that.

"We would be remiss if talking about this bill we didn’t also address the absolutely glaring need for sustainable operating funding for NJ Transit," Baldwin said.

"We know that there’s going to be more private lines shed," she said, so lawmakers want to "make sure that the agency has time to make up for that and to get service to the customers and also has the ability to pay for it."

A companion bill in the Assembly is expected to be introduced by Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, who represents Jersey City.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bill aims to limit mayhem when companies halt NJ bus service