Department of Transportation

Release report, based on ongoing listening sessions (including in environmental justice communities), provide guidance and implement relevant administrative actions to identify appropriate locations for warehouses and other goods movement facilities.
1. Building up, rather than out (“high cube” warehouses)
2. Require warehouses to be solar- and green-roof ready
3. Enabling more goods to be shipped by rail
4. Prioritize heavy- and medium-duty trucks and port equipment for vehicle electrification and establish “zero-emission zones” in port areas
5. Prohibiting the siting of warehousings on prime agricultural land

Develop new trails and maintain existing trails through:
1. Enhance staffing and capacity to accelerate trails projects to ensure coordination and capacity across state agencies for recreational and circuit trails
2. Support of DEP’s Statewide Mapping Initiative and using the data to create a statewide network of trails
3. Increasing use of federal transportation funds for multi-use trails
4. Provide planning, design, and construction support to environmental justice communities to ensure the success of trail projects
5. Condition use of state funding for trails to ensure design and accessibility for people of all ages and abilities
6. Partner with and fund nonprofit organizations and community-based organizations to assist with maintenance, repair and construction of trails around the State
7. Update and implement the New Jersey Trails Plan in cooperation with the New Jersey Trails Council, including priority trail gaps and how to close them
8. Increase award size under the Recreational Trail Program grants in order to facilitate completion of major projects
9. Showcase Governor remarks during the 2022 Trails Summit that speak to the tremendous mental and physical health benefits, as well as tourism and economic benefits of trails
10. Convene stakeholder process to review permitting process for trail construction to identify obstacles that result in environmental degradation and threats to visitor safety

Establish a Safe Routes to Parks program, similar to Safe Routes to Schools, where neighborhoods are reviewed as a whole and parks are accessible and welcoming.

Initiate and fund a Vision Zero program that sets forth a Vision Zero goal of eliminating deaths by 2030 and creates a Vision Zero Task Force which will create an Action Plan to get there. Include the concept of “boulevarding,” which is the reconstruction of freeways as boulevards and focus on narrowing lanes, creating safer crossings and slowing speeds. Utilize funds from the American Rescue Plan and include community outreach as part of the study and design process.

Encourage the transportation sector to use green infrastructure as a way to manage road runoff by amending New Jersey’s Complete Streets policy to include green streets and provide technical assistance and incentives for communities to apply for New Jersey DOT local aid funds to implement green streets.

Explore mechanisms that allow municipalities to deny development and redevelopment in high-risk flood areas, such as enabling towns to refrain from rebuilding public infrastructure, such as roads, after repetitive damage and destruction.

Provide economic development and land use planning financial assistance to municipalities that want to improve an existing downtown.

Initiate a Main Street program that focuses on re-thinking and investing in state and county roads that serve as “Main Streets'' to make towns more pedestrian and business friendly. This should include making outdoor dining possible, encouraging open streets and pedestrian plazas, car-free downtowns, and making it easier for municipalities to lower speeds on state and county roads traveling through downtowns.

Update and adopt new Model Complete & Green Streets policy to encourage shifting focus to moving people and supporting economic development.

Focus on pedestrian accessibility at transit stations, through expanding Safe Streets to Transit program and local aid to support planning and funding of Complete Streets projects.

Direct all state departments and agencies to give priority funding and treatment to redevelopment projects compared to development of undisturbed greenfields. Increase DCA, EDA and HMFA subsidy funding and provide additional support for redevelopment. Create new and enhance existing programs, including at DEP and DOT, to reduce barriers and incentivize redevelopment.

Provide incentives to re-design car-oriented suburbs to increase overall street network connectivity by creating new through-streets and connections to surrounding development.

Minimize investment in new road miles, especially in low-density areas, and direct those scarce resources to redevelopment areas where the most people would benefit (i.e., “Fix it First”).

Create or maintain incentives for economic development and job growth in transit hubs.

Provide leadership at the state agency level on the concept of “boulevarding” (reconstructing roadways to provide access while slowing down traffic) by creating templates and pursuing pilot projects for boulevarding redevelopment plans. This should emphasize centering local community businesses, minority- and women-owned enterprises, and community amenities in future plans.

Implement alternative roadway uses through policy and capital planning to eliminate the perceived need for additional lanes: identify shuttle and HOV lanes, electric vehicle access and amenities, bicycle/pedestrian paths along highways and bridges.

Redefine metrics for the need for road widening versus implementing other traffic mitigation techniques first. Explore replacing “level of service” standard with Vehicle Miles Traveled as the metric by which transportation impacts of new development are developed, as other states have done.

Move forward with existing bus depot renovations and other capital projects to capitalize on federal funding opportunities over the next four years, with an emphasis on getting NJ Transit climate- and electrification-ready.

Host regular and required trainings for all pertinent project management and engineering staff on Complete and Green Streets principles and how they are to be implemented in all projects.

Incentivize implementation for the adoption of the revised Complete and Green Streets Model Policy, including through additional points on grant applications, and for those municipalities and counties that have existing policies to make appropriate updates.

Prioritize clean transportation investments in projects that benefit communities most harmed by pollution, with at least 50 - 75 percent of funding from any air pollution settlements, regional emissions reduction agreements, federal funding or similar sources targeted in New Jersey’s more than 300 overburdened communities. Include additional investments in electrifying public transportation like buses and last-mile options.

Follow the fix-it-first mandate to keep existing infrastructure safe and reduce overall maintenance costs as structures continue to age as part of the capital planning process.

Enact policies and regulations to mitigate the environmental harm from existing roads and bridges, such as using low carbon concrete, green infrastructure practices (e.g. porous pavement) that manages stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and accounts for impact on wildlife.

Resolve New Jersey Administrative Code (NJAC) challenges to allow for bicycle-share advertising opportunities that would fund bicycle share programs.

Make sure project problem screenings include Complete and Green Streets review.

Vet out all projects on the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) (with Complete Streets checklist) through a process that ensures Complete Streets principles are agency-wide rather than within one department. Include recommendation for public posting of accepted and exempted projects and remove 20 percent financial exemption.

Incentivize green streets as part of new or updated stormwater regulations and ensure that environmental regulations help advance alternative modes of transportation rather than prevent their creation. Adjust regulations for sidewalks, bicycle lanes and multi-use paths and trails in projects to ensure there are limited barriers to these types of transportation projects, as well as guidance on best practices to encourage stormwater management.

Continue to participate in and explore state-wide or regional approaches to reducing transportation emissions that include state-specific complementary policies, such as joining the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program or creating a Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

Continue to reduce congestion and employ smart growth strategies to spur density; and additional investments in electrifying public transportation like buses, last-mile options, and increasing funding for municipalities to foster walk- and bicycle-friendly communities.

Issue a governor’s executive order articulating specific strategies for reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled with clear and measurable objectives and with estimated GHG reduction outcomes. Assign ownership of these objectives to specific state departments to develop actions and timelines.