New Jersey Department of Transportation

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New Jersey Department of Transportation
Seal of the New Jersey Department of Transportation.svg
Agency overview
FormedDecember 12, 1966;57 years ago (December 12, 1966)
Jurisdiction New Jersey
Headquarters1035 Parkway Avenue
Ewing, New Jersey, U.S.
Agency executives
Parent agencyState of New Jersey
Website nj.gov/transportation

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) [2] is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportation policy, and assisting with rail, freight, and intermodal transportation issues. It is headed by the Commissioner of Transportation. The present Commissioner is Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti.

Contents

History

NJDOT headquarters 2014-05-10 11 08 52 Panorama of the New Jersey Department of Transportation headquarters in Ewing, New Jersey-cropped.JPG
NJDOT headquarters

The agency that became NJDOT began as the New Jersey State Highway Department (NJSHD) c.1920. [3] NJDOT was established in 1966 as the first State transportation agency in the United States. The Transportation Act of 1966 (Chapter 301, Public Laws, 1966) established the NJDOT on December 12, 1966.

Since the late 1970s, NJDOT has been phasing out or modifying many traffic circles in New Jersey. In 1979, with the establishment of New Jersey Transit, NJDOT's rail division, which funded and supported State-sponsored passenger rail service, was folded into the new agency.

Until 2003, the NJDOT included the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which was reorganized as the self-operating New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC).

NJDOT Commissioners

Divisions, programs and services

NJDOT regions Njdot-regions-soft.png
NJDOT regions

Public roads

NJDOT operates, develops, and maintains the State's public road system, including Interstate, State and Federal highways, with a total of 2,316.69 miles of NJDOT-owned and operated roads (as of July 2015). [4] Most major highways including Interstate, U.S. and NJ State routes within New Jersey are under NJDOT jurisdiction, except toll routes including the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway (under the New Jersey Turnpike Authority) and the Atlantic City Expressway as well as the interstate toll bridges and tunnels.

Freight planning

NJDOT develops interim and long-term plans and strategic policy on freight and shipping in and around the state. These intermodal policies cover trucking, rail, maritime and air freight.

Capital programs

The Transportation Capital Program and the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) allocate state and federal transportation funding, including projected projects and investment.

Community programs

Assistance to local communities and grants for transportation-related projects, such as transit villages.

Engineering

This refers to technical planning, development, design and research for projects.

Bureau of Aeronautics

NJDOT's Bureau of Aeronautics has general oversight of public use airports and restricted use facilities, including airstrips, heliports and balloon ports, addresses aviation safety and provides licensing and registration on aviation facilities and aerial activities including advertising, aerial racing, and sports.

Railroads

The NJDOT was also responsible for funding and supporting passenger rail service within New Jersey and to and from nearby points from the late 1960s onward, including procuring new modern equipment and rolling stock. The agency purchased EMD GP40Ps for the Central Railroad of New Jersey in 1968, the GE U34CH locomotives and Comet I cars for the Erie Lackawanna (1970) and Arrow I, II & III electric MU cars for the Penn Central in 1968–69, 1974 and 1977–78 respectively. During 1976 NJDOT took control of passenger rail routes operated by the Penn Central, Erie Lackawanna, CNJ and Reading Lines (with Conrail operating services under contract).

In 1979, New Jersey Transit assumed responsibilities for passenger rail in New Jersey.

NJDOT is a member of the Northeast Corridor Commission.

Traffic management

Statewide Traffice Management Center (STMC) in Woodbridge Township ITS.ENGINEER.jpg
Statewide Traffice Management Center (STMC) in Woodbridge Township

NJDOT maintains the Statewide Traffic Management Center (sTMC) headquartered in Woodbridge Township. STMC is also the home to New Jersey State Police and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. STMC is staffed 24/7 and is responsible for the coordination and logistics of statewide resources during major incidents within New Jersey.

See also

Related Research Articles

The vast majority of passenger travel in the United States occurs by automobile for shorter distances and airplane or railroad for longer distances. Most cargo in the U.S. is transported by, in descending order, railroad, truck, pipeline, or boat; air shipping is typically used only for perishables and premium express shipments. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad</span> Former U.S. Class 1 railroad

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of 395 miles (636 km). The railroad was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1853, and created primarily to provide a means of transport of anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeast Pennsylvania to large coal markets in New York City. The railroad gradually expanded both east and west, and eventually linked Buffalo with New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erie Lackawanna Railway</span> Transport company

The Erie Lackawanna Railway, known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NJ Transit Rail Operations</span> Commuter rail division of NJ Transit

NJ Transit Rail Operations is the rail division of NJ Transit. It operates commuter rail service in New Jersey, with most service centered on transportation to and from New York City, Hoboken, and Newark. NJ Transit also operates rail service in Orange and Rockland counties in New York under contract to Metro-North Railroad. The commuter rail lines saw 57,179,000 riders in 2023, making it the third-busiest commuter railroad in North America and the longest commuter rail system in North America by route length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bergen Arches</span> Abandoned railroad right-of-way in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States

Bergen Arches is an abandoned railroad right of way through Bergen Hill in Jersey City, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 280 (New Jersey)</span> Highway in New Jersey

Interstate 280 (I-280) is a 17.85-mile (28.73 km) Interstate Highway in the US state of New Jersey. It provides a spur from I-80 in Parsippany–Troy Hills, Morris County, east to Newark and I-95 in Kearny, Hudson County. In Kearny, access is provided toward the Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel to New York City. The western part of the route runs through suburban areas of Morris and Essex counties, crossing the Watchung Mountains. Upon reaching The Oranges, the setting becomes more urbanized and I-280 runs along a depressed alignment before ascending again in Newark. I-280 includes a vertical-lift bridge, the William A. Stickel Memorial Bridge, over the Passaic River between Newark and East Newark/Harrison. The highway is sometimes called the Essex Freeway. I-280 interchanges with several roads, including the Garden State Parkway in East Orange and Route 21 in Newark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Branch</span>

The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey, and formerly extended further into New York State. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch terminus in Piermont, New York, directly to Erie's primary terminal in Jersey City, initially Exchange Place, later Pavonia Terminal. In 1870 the line was extended to Nyack, New York, and continued to provide passenger service until 1966. After the Erie's unsuccessful merger with the Lackawanna Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna, ownership of the line passed into the hands of Conrail upon its formation in 1976 from a number of bankrupt railroads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Jervis Line</span> Commuter rail line in New York

The Port Jervis Line is a predominantly single-track commuter rail line running between Suffern and Port Jervis, in the U.S. state of New York. At Suffern, the line continues south into New Jersey on NJ Transit's Main Line. The line is operated by NJ Transit Rail Operations under a contract with Metro-North Railroad (MNRR).

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GE U34CH</span> American passenger diesel locomotive

The U34CH is a 3,600 hp (2,700 kW) passenger diesel locomotive built by General Electric between 1970 and 1973. In total, 33 U34CH units were built; 32 were built for the New Jersey Department of Transportation and operated by the Erie Lackawanna Railway and, later, Conrail, with the last unit coming as a later rebuild of a GE U30C for the New York MTA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsland station</span> NJ Transit rail station

Kingsland is a railroad station on New Jersey Transit's Main Line. It is located under Ridge Road (Route 17) between New York and Valley Brook Avenues in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and is one of two stations in Lyndhurst. The station is not staffed, and passengers use ticket vending machines (TVMs) located at street level to purchase tickets. The station is not handicapped-accessible. Originally part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Boonton Branch, the current Kingsland station was built in 1918.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paterson station</span> NJ Transit rail station

Paterson is a New Jersey Transit commuter railway station located on an elevated viaduct above Market Street in downtown Paterson, New Jersey. The railway through the station is double tracked, for north and south traffic on the NJT Main Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project</span>

The Passaic–Bergen–Hudson Transit Project is a project under study by NJ Transit to reintroduce passenger service on a portion of the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) right-of-way (ROW) in Passaic, Bergen and Hudson counties using newly built, FRA-compliant diesel multiple unit rail cars. Plans call for service to run from Hawthorne south through Paterson, east to Hackensack and then southeast to North Bergen, where it would join the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in New Jersey</span> Overview of the transportation in New Jersey

Transportation in New Jersey utilizes a combination of road, rail, air, and water modes. New Jersey is situated between Philadelphia and New York City, two major metropolitan centers of the Boston-Washington megalopolis, making it a regional corridor for transportation. As a result, New Jersey's freeways carry high volumes of interstate traffic and products. The main thoroughfare for long distance travel is the New Jersey Turnpike, the nation's fifth-busiest toll road. The Garden State Parkway connects the state's densely populated north to its southern shore region. New Jersey has the 4th smallest area of U.S. states, but its population density of 1,196 persons per sq. mi causes congestion to be a major issue for motorists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montclair-Boonton Line</span> Commuter rail line in New Jersey

The Montclair-Boonton Line is a commuter rail line of New Jersey Transit Rail Operations in the United States. It is part of the Hoboken Division. The line is a consolidation of three individual lines: the former Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's Montclair Branch, which ran from Hoboken Terminal to Bay Street, Montclair. The Erie Railroad's Greenwood Lake Division, a segment from Montclair to Mountain View-Wayne, originally ran from the Jersey City Terminal to Greenwood Lake, NY, and the former Lackawanna Boonton Line ran from Hoboken to Hackettstown, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark Drawbridge</span> Railroad bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and Harrison, New Jersey, U.S.

The Newark Drawbridge, also known as the Morristown Line Bridge, is a railroad bridge on the Passaic River between Newark and Harrison, New Jersey. The swing bridge is the 11th bridge from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is 5.85 miles (9.41 km) upstream from it. Opened in 1903, it is owned and operated by New Jersey Transit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project</span> American railway infrastructure project

The Lackawanna Cut-Off Restoration Project is a New Jersey Transit and Amtrak effort to restore passenger service to the Lackawanna Cut-Off in northwest New Jersey.

The Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource is a list of 53 New Jersey Transit stations in New Jersey entered into the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for their architectural, historical, and cultural merit.

Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti is the former Executive Director of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Florida's Turnpike Enterprise. She became acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation in January 2018 and was confirmed in June 2018 and acting director of the state's Transportation Trust Fund Authority. She also serves chair of the board for NJ Transit.

References

  1. Unit, NJDOT Web Development. "New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner". www.state.nj.us. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  2. About NJDOT. New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). Retrieved July 19, 2009
  3. "Fernwood Service Station" (PDF). NJDOT. Retrieved December 30, 2015.
  4. "New Jersey Department of Transportation Statewide Mileage" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Transportation.