Gen Z needs reliable mass transit, for the climate and our quality of life

(Fran Baltzer for New Jersey Monitor)

By Hana Katz, David Roberts, and Ben Dziobek

What do most young people and older people living in New Jersey have in common? Isolation without public transportation.

Talk to an older person about their daily trek to school, and they may jokingly reminisce about traversing tall hills both ways, biking through parks, and long walks with friends. But as times have changed, the story of a contemporary young person’s trek has evolved and often includes stressful scenes of congested carpool lanes, emission-belching school buses, and dangerous highways.

Lack of access to affordable, efficient, and comprehensive public transportation is a concern that crosses generational lines in New Jersey. Unsafe walking along roads without sidewalks or bike lanes, dodging speeding and reckless vehicles, and inconvenient public transit routes have become the norm for young residents and those who do not drive in New Jersey.

And now, NJ Transit is facing a dire financial situation as a result of years of insufficient funding and the absence of a consistent revenue stream. Loyal riders will be forced to experience significant service cuts, service-wide fare increases, and strict limits on ticket viability, without much assurance that there will be visible improvements of the quality of public transit infrastructure.

The continual imposition of increasing transit fees on individuals in a fragmented transportation system will be felt the most by those who cannot drive . Historically, cars have symbolized freedom, but our state’s car-centric approach to development has cost us our quality of life and a healthy environment.

Because cities have been built around drivers, and the need for a car is so vital to surviving outside and even sometimes within our biggest cities, people who cannot drive are forced to either stay home or undergo difficult circumstances to get around. This has created a mobility privilege, where only those who can afford private transportation benefit.

For decades the automobile lobby has dominated cities in New Jersey. But now the lobby must soon face the challenge of the younger generation’s rallying cries for better planning for transit.

Here’s what young people are looking for: dedicated funding for sustainable public transportation infrastructure, stakeholder engagement in land-use decisions, and political consideration of the needs of marginalized communities.

Investing in public transportation is essential to meeting our state’s climate goals. According to NJ Transit, 270 million passenger trips are made yearly by New Jersey residents. The agency reports switching from cars to public transport reduces an individual’s carbon footprint by 47% with buses, 63% with light rail, and 69% with commuter rail. In a state where 40% of its carbon emissions are from vehicles, one would expect more effort to develop a diversified mix of sustainable solutions.

Our leaders have tunnel vision on car-centric planning, even to achieve our state’s climate goals .  Already, we’re seeing record-setting heat waves , disastrous air and water quality from runoff and emissions, and increasing asthma rates in children and adults . While electric vehicles are a great opportunity for individuals to cut their carbon footprint, clearly they cannot be the only avenue for progress.

Sustainable public transit is the greatest mitigator of air pollution and GHG emissions, yet this hasn’t been enough to convince New Jersey officials to advocate for better public transit. Unimaginative decisions such as highway widenings, like the recent New Jersey Turnpike Authority decision to approve the massive $11 billion widening of the NJ Turnpike from the Newark airport to the Holland Tunnel, are widely opposed . NJ Transit’s board also approved a major fare hike at the same time.

There is a difference between promising climate action as campaign lip service and codifying legislation that follows through on actual climate goals. It is concerning that our so-called climate-conscious leaders have naively accepted plans for highway widening, considered penalizing e-bikers with new financial barriers, and most notably neglected public transportation. Young residents are aware of the many benefits of a robust and fully supported public transportation system.

The Public Transportation Act of 1979 established NJ Transit to “acquire, operate and contract for transportation service in the public interest. ” The youth need our leaders to hold true to NJ Transit’s founding principles.

To better serve the public, New Jersey needs a permanent funding mechanism for sustainable, statewide public transit; and the implementation of zero-emission buses, light rails, and passenger trains.

With the coupling of this proposed commitment to public transportation with local connectivity planning, like protected bike lanes and dedicated pedestrian pathways, we may once again cultivate communities where all people have freedom of mobility.

Hana Katz and David Roberts are Policy Directors and Ben Dziobek is the Executive Director of Climate Revolution Action Network , a Gen Z-led climate organization based in New Jersey.

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