Provides for representation of Burlington County on SJTA.

A938 TR

ASSEMBLY, No. 938

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblywoman ANDREA KATZ

District 8 (Atlantic and Burlington)

Assemblyman� BALVIR SINGH

District 7 (Burlington)

Senator� TROY SINGLETON

District 7 (Burlington)

Senator� LATHAM TIVER

District 8 (Atlantic and Burlington)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Angelozzi and Assemblywoman Carter

SYNOPSIS

���� Provides for representation of Burlington County on
SJTA.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As reported by the Assembly Transportation and
Independent Authorities Committee with technical review.

��

An Act
concerning the South Jersey Transportation Authority
and amending P.L.1991, c.252.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� Section 2 of P.L.1991,
c.252 (C.27:25A-2) is amended to read as follows:

���� 2.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:

���� a.���� It is the public policy
of this State to provide for the coordinated development and planning of the
State's transportation system both on the State and regional level.� Through
the medium of the Transportation Executive Council, established by Executive
Order No. 10 of 1990, the activities of the various transportation related
authorities are coordinated on the State level.� In the northern region of the
State the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New Jersey Turnpike
Authority, the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission, the North Jersey
Transportation Coordinating Committee and other organizations exist to provide
for the support and planning of the transportation system in that region.

���� b.��� In the southern region
of the State an increase in residential development, the completion of
Interstate Route 476 (also known as the "Blue Route") in
Pennsylvania, the establishment of casino gaming in Atlantic City, and other
factors, have caused an increase in vehicular traffic in southern New Jersey
and have highlighted the need for a more coordinated effort on a regional basis
to deal with the operation and possible extension of the region's highway
system, the improvement and expansion of its aviation facilities, and the
coordination of Atlantic County's transportation system within the larger
regional system.

���� c.���� Concomitant with the
development of the transportation system in southern New Jersey the need exists
for the ancillary establishment of economic development facilities directly
related to transportation projects in that region to be funded by a transportation
authority.

���� d.��� It is in the public
interest to create a South Jersey Transportation Authority, encompassing the
counties of Atlantic,
Burlington,
Camden, Cape May, Cumberland,
Gloucester, and Salem, as a successor to the New Jersey Expressway Authority
and the Atlantic County Transportation Authority, to provide more coordination
of the region's transportation system and to deal particularly with the highway
system, aviation facilities and the transportation problems of Atlantic County
through the acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation and support of
expressway and transportation projects and economic development facilities directly
related to transportation projects authorized by this act.� However, the
activities of a transportation authority are not to supplant or replace the
funding of projects by the Transportation Trust Fund Authority or the operation
of public transportation services by the New Jersey Transit Corporation.

(cf: P.L.2013, c.253, s.7)

���� 2.��� Section 3 of P.L.1991,
c.252 (C.27:25A-3) is amended to read as follows:

���� 3.��� As used in this act:

���� "Air passenger
service" means any service which involves the carriage of persons for
compensation or hire by aircraft.�

���� "Atlantic City
Expressway" means the expressway project known as the Atlantic City
Expressway constructed by the New Jersey Expressway Authority pursuant to
section 40 of P.L.1962, c.10 (C.27:12C-40).�

���� "Atlantic City
International Airport" means the airport authorized by section 24 of this
act.�

���� "Atlantic County
Transportation Authority" means the county transportation authority
authorized pursuant to P.L.1980, c.44 (C.40:35B-1 et seq.).�

���� "Authority" means
the South Jersey Transportation Authority created by section 4 of this act.�

���� "Bond" means any
bond or note issued by the authority pursuant to the provisions of this act or
issued by or for an original authority or any predecessor authority thereof, as
the case may be.�

���� "Commissioner" means
the Commissioner of Transportation.

���� "Construction" or
"construct" means the planning, designing, construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, replacement, repair, extension, enlargement,
improvement and betterment of expressway projects and transportation projects,
and includes the demolition, clearance and removal of buildings or structures
on land acquired, held, leased or used for those projects.�

���� "Cost" means all or
any part of the expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition,
construction and maintenance of any real� property, lands, structures, real or
personal property rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and interests
acquired or used for a project; any financing charges and reserves for the
payment of principal and interest on bonds or notes;� the expenses of
engineering, appraisal, architectural, accounting, financial and legal
services; and other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the
acquisition, construction and maintenance of a project, the financing thereof
and the placing of the project into operation.�

���� "County" means a
county in South Jersey.

���� "Department" means
the Department of Transportation.

���� "Economic development
facility" means any area, place, building or other improvement or
structure related to, connected with, or in the vicinity of, a transportation
project which may serve the users of that project or assist in, enhance or stimulate
its operation or development.�

���� "Expressway project"
means the acquisition, construction and maintenance of the Atlantic City
Expressway as transferred to the authority pursuant to this act and of any
express highway, super highway or motorway at the locations and between the
termini as may hereafter be established by law and acquired or to be acquired
or constructed or to be constructed under the provisions of this act by the
authority, over which abutters have no easements or rights of light, air or
direct access by reason of the fact that their properties abut thereon, and
shall include but not be limited to all bridges, parking facilities, tunnels,
overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, traffic circles, grade separations,
entrance plazas, approaches, toll houses, service areas, stations and
facilities, communications facilities, administration, storage and other
buildings, and other structures related to the use of the express highway,
superhighway or motorway, intersecting highways and bridges and feeder roads
which the authority may deem necessary or desirable for the operation of the
project, together with all property rights, easements and interests which may
be acquired by the authority for the construction or the operation of the
project, and includes any planning necessary for the execution of any
expressway project.�

���� "Feeder road" means
any road which in the determination of the authority is necessary to create or
facilitate access to a project and is not more than five miles in length from
the point of its connection with the project.�

���� "Land and
improvements" means any area or lands, any interest, right or title in
land, including but not limited to, any reversionary right, and any real or
personal property, structure, facility, building or equipment.�

���� "Marine passenger
service" means any service which involves the carriage of persons for
compensation or hire by waterborne craft.�

���� "Motorbus charter
service" means subscription, tour and other special motorbus services.�

���� "Motorbus regular route
service" means the operation of any motorbus or motorbuses on streets,
public highways or other facilities, over a fixed route and between fixed
termini on a regular schedule for the purpose of carrying passengers, for hire
or otherwise, within South Jersey or between points within South Jersey and
points without South Jersey.�

���� "Municipality" means
any city, borough, village, town or township in South Jersey but not a county
or a school district.�

���� "New Jersey Expressway
Authority" means the authority created pursuant to P.L.1962, c.10
(C.27:12C-1 et seq.).�

���� "Original authority"
means the New Jersey Expressway Authority or the Atlantic County Transportation
Authority.�

���� "Paratransit
service" means any service, other than motorbus regular route service and
motorbus charter service, including but not limited to, dial-a-ride,
non-regular route, jitney or community minibus, and shared-ride services such
as vanpools, limousines or taxicabs which are regularly available to the
public.�
�
Paratransit services
�
shall not include limousine or
taxicab service reserved for the private and exclusive use of individual
passengers.�

���� "Parking facility"
means any area or place, garage, building, or other improvement or structure
for the parking or storage of motor or other vehicles, including but not
limited to all real property and personal property, driveways, roads and other
structures or areas necessary or useful or convenient for access to a facility
from a public street, road or highway, or from any transportation project;
meters, mechanical equipment necessary or useful or convenient for or in
connection with that parking or storage; and any structures, buildings, space
or accommodations, whether constructed by an authority or by the lessee, to be
leased for any business, commercial or other use, including the sale of
gasoline or accessories for, or the repair or other servicing of automobiles
and other motor vehicles, if, in the opinion of the authority, the inclusion,
provision and leasing is necessary to assist in defraying the expenses of the
authority and make possible the operation of the parking facility at reasonable
rates, but the authority shall not itself engage in the sale of gasoline or
accessories for, or in the repair or other servicing of automobiles or other
motor vehicles except in emergency, nor in the sale of any service or commodity
of trade or commerce.�

���� "Project" means an
expressway project or transportation project and the costs associated
therewith.�

���� "Public highway"
means any public highway, road or street in South Jersey, including federal aid
highways, whether maintained by the State or by a county, municipality or other
governmental subdivision in South Jersey.�

���� "Public transportation
facility" means, in connection with public transportation service,
passenger stations, shelters and terminals, automobile and bus parking
facilities, ramps, track connections, signal systems, power systems,
information and communication systems, roadbeds, transit lanes or
rights-of-way, equipment storage and servicing facilities, bridges, grade
crossings, rail cars, locomotives, motorbuses and other motor vehicles,
maintenance and garage facilities, revenue handling equipment and any other
equipment, facility or property useful or related to the provision of
transportation service.�

���� "Public transportation
service" means rail passenger service, motorbus regular route service,
paratransit service, motorbus charter service and marine passenger service.�

���� "Rail passenger
service" means the operation of railroad, subway, or light rail systems
including fixed and automated guideway systems for the purpose of carrying
passengers in South Jersey or between points within South Jersey and points
without South Jersey.�

���� "Real property"
means lands within the State, above or below water, and improvements thereof or
thereon, or any riparian or other rights or interests therein.�

���� "South Jersey" means
the area encompassing the counties of Atlantic,
Burlington,
Camden, Cape
May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem.�

���� "Transfer date"
means, with respect to the New Jersey Expressway Authority, the date on which
all bonds issued by the New Jersey Expressway Authority cease to be outstanding
within the meaning of the resolutions pursuant to which those bonds were
issued, as certified by the trustee or trustees thereunder and, with respect to
the Atlantic County Transportation Authority, the date on which New Jersey
Economic Development Authority first mortgage revenue bonds, series of 1980,
dated July 1, 1980, (New York Parking Associates - Parking Authority of
Atlantic City project) issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority
cease to be outstanding within the meaning of the indenture pursuant to which
those bonds were issued, as certified by the trustees thereunder or the date on
which the South Jersey Transportation Authority certifies to the Atlantic
County Transportation Authority for a predecessor authority to the Atlantic
County Transportation Authority and the State Treasurer that it assumes all
debts and obligations of the Atlantic County Transportation Authority.�

���� "Transportation
facility" means any area, place, building, or other structure designed to
provide rail passenger service, motorbus regular route service, paratransit
service, motorbus charter service, air passenger and air freight service, or marine
passenger service, or any two or more of these services, to the public, and
includes passenger stations, shelters and terminals, air passenger terminals,
hangars, heliports, docking and launching facilities, parking facilities,
ramps, track connections, signal systems, power systems, information and
communication systems, roadbeds, transit lanes or rights-of-way, equipment
storage and servicing facilities, bridges, grade crossings, rail cars,
locomotives, motorbus and other motor vehicles, boats, ferries and other marine
vehicles, aircraft, maintenance and garage facilities, revenue handling
equipment and any other equipment, facility or property useful for or related
to the provision of these services
[
;
]

.
�

���� "Transportation
project" means the acquisition, construction, and maintenance of an
airport, public transportation facility or other transportation facility,
established by this act or which may be hereafter established by law and may
include related facilities and activities which may consist of public
transportation services, public transportation facilities, including but not
limited to rail and bus stations and terminals, noise abatement projects,
parking facilities, public highways and feeder roads related to or connected
with the project, and any economic development facilities as defined in this
section.�
�
Transportation project
�
includes any planning
necessary to develop a comprehensive, efficient, convenient or economical
transportation system in South Jersey, any planning or marketing necessary or
desirable for the execution of any transportation project, and any planning, acquisition,
construction or operation of economic development facilities related to,
connected with, or in the vicinity of the project.�

���� "Transportation
system" means public highways, expressway projects, transportation
projects, and all other methods of transportation for the movement of people
and goods in South Jersey.�

���� "Transportation Trust
Fund Authority" means the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority
established by section 4 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-4).�

(cf: P.L.1991, c.252, s.3)

���� 3.��� Section 5 of P.L.1991,
c.252 (C.27:25A-5) is amended to read as follows:

���� 5.��� a.� The authority shall
consist of the Commissioner of Transportation who shall be an ex officio voting
member, the
Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development
Authority

[
Commissioner
of Commerce, Energy and Economic Development
]

who shall be an ex officio nonvoting member, and
[
seven
]

eight
members appointed
by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate,
[
six
]

seven

of whom are residents of South Jersey, four of whom shall be residents of that
portion of South Jersey within a 30 mile radius of the civil aviation terminal
at the Atlantic City International Airport or of municipalities through which
the Atlantic City Expressway traverses
,

[
and
]

[
two
]

and three
of whom shall
be residents of that portion of South Jersey outside of a 30 mile radius of
that terminal; provided that all of the appointed members shall have expertise
in transportation, finance, law, public administration, or aviation or any
other related field.� Not more than
[
four
]

five

of the appointed members shall be members of the same political party.� Each
appointed member shall have been a qualified voter of the State for at least
one year preceding the appointment.�

���� b.� Each ex officio member of
the authority may designate an employee of the member's department to represent
the member at meetings of the authority.� The designee of the commissioner may
lawfully vote and otherwise act on behalf of the member.� The designation shall
be made annually in writing and delivered to the authority and shall be
effective until revoked or amended by written notice delivered to the
authority.�

���� c.� Each appointed member of
the authority shall serve for a term of five years, except that, of those first
appointed, one shall serve for a term of two years, two shall serve for a term
of three years, two shall serve for a term of four years and two shall serve
for a term of five years, as the Governor may designate upon appointment.�

���� d.��� Each member appointed by
the Governor shall hold office for the term of appointment and until a
successor is appointed and qualified.� A member shall be eligible for
reappointment.� Any vacancy in the membership occurring other than by
expiration of term shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment but for the unexpired term only.�

���� e.���� The Governor shall
designate one of the members of the authority as chairperson who shall serve as
such at the pleasure of the Governor.� The authority, upon the first
appointment of its members and thereafter on or after July 1 in each year,
shall annually elect from among its members, including the ex officio voting
member, a vice-chairperson who shall hold office until July 1 next ensuing and
until a successor is elected.� The authority may also appoint and employ,
without regard to the provisions of Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes, a
secretary, a chief financial officer, an executive director, a general counsel
and a chief engineer and other consulting engineers, special attorneys or
counsel, accountants, construction, legal and financial experts, and other
agents and employees as the authority may require, and shall determine their
qualifications, terms of office, duties and compensation, except (1) the
authority shall not enter into a contract of employment for the position of
executive director or other policy-making positions for a term of employment
ending later than the last day of the four-year gubernatorial term in effect on
the date on which the contract is executed, provided the authority may continue
to employ, at its pleasure, the executive director or other employee subject to
the provisions of this paragraph after the termination of an employment
contract until such time as a contract of employment for that position is
executed and (2) those employees not subject to the "New Jersey Employer-Employee
Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-1 et seq.) shall receive (a)
sick and vacation leave only as provided for State employees in Title 11A of
the New Jersey Statutes and if supplemental compensation upon retirement is to
be paid, it shall be calculated and limited as in N.J.S.11A:6-19 and (b) health
benefits no greater than the level of benefits provided to State employees
pursuant to the "New Jersey State Health Benefits Program Act,"
P.L.1961, c.49 (C.52:14-17.25 et seq.).�

���� f.���� The powers of the
authority shall be vested in the voting members thereof in office from time to
time; five voting members of the authority shall constitute a quorum and the
affirmative vote of five members shall be necessary for any action taken by the
authority unless the bylaws of the authority shall require a larger number.� No
vacancy in the membership of the authority shall impair the right of a quorum
to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the authority.�

���� g.��� The members of the
authority shall serve without compensation, but the authority may reimburse its
members for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their
duties.� Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, no member of the authority
shall be deemed to have forfeited nor shall forfeit the member's office or
employment or any benefits or emoluments thereof by reason of the member's
service as ex officio member of the authority.�

���� h.��� Each appointed member of
the authority may be removed by the Governor for cause after a public hearing
and may be suspended by the Governor pending the completion of the hearing.�
Each member of the authority before entering upon the duties of office shall
take and subscribe an oath to perform the duties of the office faithfully,
impartially and justly to the best of the member's ability.� A record of these
oaths shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State.� Each member of
the authority, the executive director and other employees as the authority may
require shall file annually with the Secretary of State a financial disclosure
statement in the manner required by Executive Order No. 1 of 1990.�

���� i.���� The authority may be
dissolved by act of the Legislature on condition that the authority has no
debts or obligations outstanding or provision has been made for the payment,
retirement, termination or assumption of its debts and obligations.� Upon
dissolution of the authority all property, funds and assets thereof shall be
vested in the State.�

(cf: P.L.1991, c.252, s.5)�

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.