New Jersey, which has challenged New York’s congestion pricing plan to charge a fee to enter lower Manhattan in court, is seeing some money out of the plan after all.
As NJ Transit has been buying new buses and selling off the surplus vehicles they replaced, it found an unexpected buyer across the river, New York’s MTA.
Surplus “cruiser” style NJ Transit buses will be used to help the MTA provide additional bus service from the outer boroughs when New York’s congestion pricing program starts on June 30.
That program charges a $15 fee for E-ZPass drivers of passenger vehicles to enter Manhattan’s central business district south of 60th Street during peak daytime hours.
The MTA purchased 15 buses from NJ Transit for $100,000, primarily to provide a source of maintenance parts for its existing MCI fleet of the same year, model and specifications, said Michael Cortez, an MTA spokesperson.
The sale was first reported by The City news website Tuesday.
The surplus NJ Transit buses will be used to keep the MTA’s 1,030 express bus fleet running after service was been expanded on six outer borough routes in Brooklyn and Staten Island, Cortez told NJ Advance Media.
The pilot program announced by the MTA on April 30 increases service frequency on six express bus routes from Brooklyn, the BM2 and 5 and Staten Island on the SIM1C, SIM4C, SIM23, SIM24 to the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan.
Those routes use buses similar to the Motor Coach Industries used by NJ Transit on its longer distance suburban commuter routes.
NJ Transit systematically been has been replacing its cruiser bus fleet of almost 1,400 vehicles since 2015. It made its last purchase in November 2022 of 172 buses.
Congestion pricing rates were approved by the MTA board on March 27 and need a final okay by the Federal Highway Administration. A decision on a court challenge by New Jersey, or other lawsuits filed in New York could delay implementation.
It would be the first such program in the nation with a goal of cutting 10% of daily traffic in Manhattan, reducing air pollution and crashes.
Congestion pricing is expected to generate $1 billion annually for major MTA subway, bus and commuter rial projects.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry.
