NJ Water and Transit Systems Assessment Part 1
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave the U.S. an infrastructure report card in 2013. The ASCE rated New Jersey a D+ overall.
Unfortunately, the class (U.S.) average was also a D+.
But, at least we didn’t drag down the curve.
If these were academic grades and the ASCE were our instructor, we’d be forced to communicate why these grades were so low and what could be done to fix them. Luckily, that isn't only our job, but also our government’s.
This little essay covers two sectors of NJ infrastructure that require more emphasis: NJ and transit systems. Hyperlinks are included to avoid omission of fact.
Improvements to these systems will raise NJ resident standard of living, provide and protect jobs in public works and aid further environmental sustainability.
New grades will confirm any progress since 2013, yet we can already get an idea of where we stand from the news and public reports.
NJ water systems
Flint, Michigan, is a tragic, although extreme, example of a poor and failing American drinking water system whose impact on public health will cost massive amounts to fix in the long-term.
New Brunswick
But, closer to home, New Brunswick Water Utility has covered up some of its own quality violations. Two New Brunswick water utility workers were recently accused of taking cash to reduce bills. If people are willing to illicit bribes to reduce their bill, what does that say about the condition of our water systems?
When New Brunswick water mains break, a negative side effect of age, residents must sometimes boil their water to remove contamination. The most recent water main break was reported on Dec. 30, 2016.
The day before the last water main break of the year, New Brunswick also reported that exceeding amounts of contaminant trihalomethane (TTHM) was present in drinking water. While the chemical doesn’t require residents to boil their water because of it, consuming TTHM in excess over years may damage the liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may increase risk of cancer.
The city advised that anyone with a severely compromised immune system, is pregnant or elderly may be at risk and should contact their health care provider.
This is unacceptable.
New Brunswick Water Utility serves more than 50,000 people. If only 5% of the population is pregnant, elderly or has a compromised immune system, that means 2,500 people may incur long-term health risks.
Residents may turn to bottled water, but that is not a cost effective alternative. The city says it is attempting to tighten filtration parameters and employ other methods to clean the drinking water system, but the public deserves to know what we are putting into our bodies.
Contact the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426–4791 to inform yourself on the risks of contaminants.
Signs of a water main break
There are signs that point to potential water main breaks. For example, residents should be informed how old their pipes are. Corrosion is a contributing factor to a leaking pipe. Stammering faucets and clogged or slow draining toilets can signify that a sewer line is clogged. Don’t be afraid to report these signs to your water utility.
Water Emergencies should be reported at any time to 800–549–3802, the Middlesex Water Company.
Fix the leaky faucet
Just as household faucets should be maintained and replaced with age, we should address our aging and much larger communal faucets: water mains.
Aging water systems are costly. Water main breaks waste large amounts of filtered drinking water and electricity as well as clog sewer systems, which slows wastewater removal to a crawl. They require man hours to clean up.
Is it understandable to ask why some were willing to illicit bribes to skip out on their bill?
There is good news.
Certain local municipalities are getting serious about water-based management projects in 2017. Here’s a list of commitments.
Most pertinent to the New Brunswick and Middlesex County community are:
- The “Water for Tomorrow” program, a $160 million Middlesex County Capital Investment in Water Infrastructure. The county plans to construct a critical transmission main for backup water supply, introduce new ozonation treatment techniques to meet water quality requirements and to increase water storage, among other improvements. *Seems like no physical details yet.
- The NJ Environmental Infrastructure Trust will issue “green bonds” for water-based projects “that enhance water resources, protect public health and ensure the safety of drinking water supplies.”
- Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute will conduct a study to figure economically how well stormwater utility models of other state’s would work in New Jersey. Could they serve as an economic driver to create jobs in the public and private sector?
- Sustainable New Jersey already has a certification program open to municipalities. They will launch four new actions to acquire points in the program: conducting a water loss audit, creating and implementing an asset management program, developing a green infrastructure plan and installing green infrastructure practices in their municipalities.
New Brunswick was only recently certified in Sustainable New Jersey’s program in December, but is a Bronze. Contact Briana Suffy at (732) 745–5004 for more information on the program.
Middlesex county already has its RENEW 2016 program, a commitment to “ upgrade underground water mains, service lines and meters that deliver drinking water 24/7, 365 days a year.” Its new Water for Tomorrow program will be another boost in funding. Give the Middlesex Water Company a call for updates on the Water for Tomorrow program at (800) 549–3802.
NJ transit systems
As we know NJ is a commuter hub, a suburb of New York City and Philadelphia. NJ Transit is the nation’s third largest provider of bus, rail and light rail transit for one of the nation’s smallest states. And our current transit infrastructure is over-capacity.
A huge percentage of NJ-NY commuters, for instance, cross the Hudson River by bus or by train unless they live close enough to drive, ferry or take a subway. The Port Authorities of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) released a Trans-Hudson Commuting Capacity Study in 2015 with this visual included.
By bus
Their destination? The Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT), which hasn’t been updated since 1979. Commuter demand exceeds peak capacity during morning and evening rush hours. The terminal gets hot and crowded, and its occupants become quite bothered.
The terminal may be located in New York City, but it primarily services tri-state commuters.
New plans, old tricks
A new Port Authority Bus Terminal has been planned by PANYNJ. But, a wrench was thrown into the mix when NY and NJ contingents began taking shots at one another. The NJ Port Authority chairman was accused of taking land by eminent domain to build the new PABT in NYC. The list of allegations goes on and has for the moment stalled the project. It seems to still rest in the hands of opposing state lawmakers.
This is a region, it’s not ‘New York and New Jersey. You have to just play nice. Sometimes it’s unbelievable. It delays things, and that’s not good for people, said Len Resto, president of the NJ Association of Rail Passengers, an advocacy group.
Some funding is better than none
Progress on the new PABT was only made possible through the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s (TSTC) efforts. They put the pressure on three years ago. It yielded the $3.5 billion in allocation proposed for the new PABT.
Unfortunately, this amount still isn’t enough to cover the estimated $6–10 billion that the new PABT will cost.
Continue to pressure the PANYNJ and state lawmakers.
The project demands more funding and tri-state commuters deserve better.
Contact the PANYNJ for updates on the new PABT plans. Request supervisors, even Port Authority Chairman John Degnan.
NJ commuters, please write letters to or call NJ state senators Cory Menendez and Cory Booker.
NY commuters, please write letters to or call NY state senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Also, contact Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. He has made his presence felt on the new PABT plans as well.
Making the current system more efficient
There are ways to do this. Bus platooning technology may help to coordinate bus routes, allowing buses to drive closer together, one step closer to autonomous vehicles.
Former NJ Transit planner Jerome Lutin helped study platooning technology’s potential for metro New York. They found that autonomous platoon technology, which lets vehicles run closer together, could enable some bus lanes to carry 205,200 passengers per hour into the city — five times the current load.
For example, platooning buses would be allowed to ride the shoulder during peak rush hours or be given a bus lane like the ones already present in metro NY.
PANYNJ may also consider following Pittsburgh’s example and purchase hybrid buses. Mass transit has helped commuters reduce wear and tear on their own vehicles, slow road degradation and congestion as well as reduce carbon emissions in the process. Why aren’t eco-friendly transit vehicles being experimentally implemented on a NJ-NY commuter scale?
By train
Rail commuters are not faring much better. The Gateway Program was intended to modernize existing Amtrak infrastructure, such as the Northeast Corridor’s electrical systems and the century-old North River Tunnel that was damaged by Sandy.
Also, to build a new, two-track Hudson River railroad tunnel to supplement the existing 106-year old tunnel.
Funding for the $23 billion project was nearly guaranteed under the former administration.
Not important enough
Segments of the program were being pushed through. But, federal revenue streams for The Gateway Program were not included in Trump’s 2017 infrastructure priority list.
Now the project faces an uncertain future.
The new administration’s infrastructure priority program will run for a second year in 2018, so there is still a chance to make lawmakers notice.
Emphasis should be placed on the nation’s third largest transit system under the new administration. Commuters depend on it.
Gateway to federal funding
Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman is already on board. He has advocated for Amtrak infrastructure overhaul, The Gateway Program in particular, to prepare for the future increase in rider-growth. Such improvements will stimulate New Jersey’s and New York’s economy.
Amtrak has dedicated $300 million of the $23 billion necessary to complete the project.
NJ and NY state senators are again the line of communication between NJ-NY commuters and possible federal funding.
I don’t think it’s in danger. I spent three spent three years moving it and Gov. Christie was there every part of the way to get it going, said U.S. Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ.
The senator’s statement is hopeful, however, without anything finalized, the fate of The Gateway Program is even less certain than the new PABT’s.
Picking priority
The new PABT may be a more immediate priority, partly because it’s cheaper than The Gateway Program. Yet, both are crucial transit infrastructure improvements.
Both programs should be considered in Trump’s 2018 infrastructure priorities list. The Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 was meant to spend $55 billion on transit. We need to ask our lawmakers where this money is going to help NJ transit infrastructure.
Nothing can be done without the proper funding. A 22% increase in transit fares in 2010 and a 30 cent gas price hike in 2016 will not be enough. Transit needs a dedicated funding system.
Infrastructure will always matter
New Brunswick is the biggest urban center in central NJ and its water systems are old and crumbling. NJ-NY commuters cram themselves into inefficient buses and exit into a dingy and deteriorating PABT.
This is about the water we drink, wash ourselves and our clothes with. It’s the public transportation system we use to make it into the city for work or for play. These systems serve our families.
We continue to pay
Years of under investment means our infrastructure bill is overdue and there’s a late fee. American infrastructure faces a deficit because of an investment gap
Besides necessary maintenance costs, our current infrastructure is costing each American family $9 each day ($3,400 a year). For example, only $45 billion of the $105 billion required to completely fund U.S. water systems has been provided. Some infrastructure is approaching full funding, but still needs help.
We can improve
Fortunately, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave us a study guide. What if we could spend $3 each day to have the new PABT built and fund The Gateway Program?
The ASCE says these and numerous other necessary public works projects are possible.
Such investment will yield substantial economic growth. The Economic Policy Institute identified three infrastructure investment scenarios in 2014.
- Scenario one cancels all of the scheduled cuts stemming from the budget “sequester” (automatic, across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending called for in the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011), yielding an average of $30 billion annually over the next decade for infrastructure investments. (As of January 2014, a third of the scheduled sequester cuts were cancelled for the next two years only.)
A conservative $18 billion investment would yield a $29 billion increase in GDP and 216,000 new jobs.
- Scenario two implements a package of green investments that includes a large increase in investments in the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings and upfront investments to construct a national “smart grid,” yielding $92 billion annually in infrastructure investments over the next decade.
Under scenario two, a debt-financed package of green investments totaling $92 billion annually boosts GDP by $147 billion and generates 1.1 million net new jobs by the end of the first year, with the increased levels then sustained over the next decade.
- Scenario three makes an ambitious investment in largely traditional infrastructure projects in transportation and utilities (particularly water treatment, distribution, and sewage systems) to nearly close the U.S. “infrastructure deficit” identified by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and yield $250 billion annually in infrastructure investment between now and 2020.
The most aggressive investment of $250 billion (a quarter of the 1.1 trillion the ASCE says is needed by 2020) would yield $400 million in GDP and provide 3 million jobs in the first year.
Looking at our infrastructure as a set of grades may help
Just as we invest in our education and that of our children, we can collectively invest in our future infrastructure so it doesn't deteriorate before our eyes.
Visit http://njwec.org/ to learn more about local NJ work and environmental advocacy.
