U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee who served for a decade on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, today announced that NJ Transit received $8.5 million to upgrade their bus fleet.  The funds, which will be used to implement new Smart Bus technology and install on-board cameras, were awarded as part of the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) State of Good Repair program.

"Commuters who rely on mass transit every day to get to their workplaces will now experience improved quality and reliability of service along with increased safety and security thanks to new smart bus technology and on-board cameras," said Rep. Pascrell.  "Investing in New Jersey's transit system is a proven way to to create jobs, and maintaining transit infrastructure is essential in order to provide safe and reliable service to New Jersey's commuters."

Funds will be used to implement Smart Bus technology on over 900 NJ Transit buses statewide, which will include automatic bus stop announcements, vehicle condition monitoring, passenger counting, and real-time location reporting. The project also includes the purchase and installation of more than 900 on-board cameras on NJ Transit current fleet of busses.

In FY2010 and FY2011, FTA awarded a total of more than $1.8 billion in grants for hundreds of state of good repair projects, primarily involving buses and bus facilities.

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