TEA-21 RENEWAL DETAILS ARE EMERGING
Some details of the recent renewal of the TEA-21 federal transportation funding program are emerging. The new program is being called SAFETEA-LU.

The schedule of the minimum amount of state funding based on the amounts of federal gas tax each state sends to Washington is:
   Fiscal 2005--- minimum guarantee of 90.5 per cent, same as under TEA-21.
   Fiscal Years 2006 and 2007--- minimum guarantee rises to 91.5 per cent.
   Fiscal Years 2008 and 2009--- the minimum guarantee increases to 92 per cent.

Among projects the legislation cites as of national and regional significance is Liberty Corridor in New Jersey at $100 million. For transit new start earmarks, the bill lists three parts of the Urban Core. They are two parts of the Hudson-Bergen light rail project for a total of $352.7 million, and the Newark-Elizabeth rail link, $1.34 million.

ROUTE 18 RECONSTRUCTION FINALLY BEGINS
The long-awaited major reconstruction of Route 18 in New Brunswick has finally begun after a groundbreaking ceremony on August 4. The Alliance for Action’s Gerald Keenan and Clifford Heath were in attendance at the ceremony. The $200 million multiple-stage project is estimated to last four years. Reconstruction will begin just north of Route 1 and extend north to the NJ Transit/Amtrak Northeast Corridor rail bridge. An express section for through traffic and another for local traffic will be provided. There will also be multi-use paths, bicycle/pedestrian overpasses and bus stop pullouts.

NEW STUDENT APARTMENTS DEDICATED
The new $55 million luxury apartment building for Rutgers University students in the heart of downtown New Brunswick was dedicated on August 3 and awaits its first sellout wave of students for the fall semester. The twelve-story Rockoff Hall provides 186 fully furnished apartments for 670 residents and amenities such as a state-of-the-art fitness center and spa, and street-level retail establishments.

The project represents the partnership which is revitalizing New Brunswick among Rutgers, the City of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DevCo). It is named for Alvin J. Rockoff, a Rutgers graduate who is former chairman of the Rutgers Board of Governors and has served on the DevCo Board for twenty years.

CABLE TV TRANSPORTATION SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED
A special Caucus New Jersey cable TV program on transportation, in which Alliance for Action President Phil Beachem participated, will begin its broadcast schedule on Saturday, August 27, at 12:30 p.m. over Channel 13 (WNET) New York. The program is entitled “Democracy Works: Transportation, A Crucial Issue for 2005 and Beyond.”

The schedule for Sunday, August 28, is: 8 a.m., WPSJ (Camden, Burlington, Atlantic and Gloucester counties); 8:30 a.m., NJN Public Television (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut); 11:30 a.m., Cablevision of Morris, Channel 3; and at times between 6:30 and 11:30 p.m., Comcast Network Channel CN8, Cablevision of Oakland, Channel 7, Bergen and Passaic; Channel 70 Bergen Cablevision of New Jersey, and Cablevision of Paterson, Channel 71.

On Monday, August 29, the broadcasts will be 9 p.m. on Comcast Channel 57 (Essex, Hudson, Union, and Middlesex), and 11:30 p.m. PBS Affiliated-Public Television.

NEW TRAIN CARS AND BUSES ON THE WAY
In an effort to relieve overcrowding and discomfort, NJ Transit has decided to buy an extra 131 multi-level passenger cars for $1.58 million apiece. In addition to the new trains, the agency’s Board of Directors also has approved the purchase of 289 new buses. They will replace buses built in 1989, the last among NJ Transit’s 2,000-bus fleet that do not meet federal requirements for providing access to people with disabilities.

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