Recycling Electronic Waste In The News

A group of New Jersey nonprofits urged Congress to provide $4 billion for high-speed rail in this year’s federal budget.

The funding would help replace the Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River, which currently slows trains on the Northeast Corridor line.

While the U.S. House of Representatives provided $4 billion, the Senate cut that amount to $1.2 billion, according to Rebecca Alper, program associate for the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group. Alper and representatives of New Jersey Future and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign called on Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-Cliffside Park) to support the higher number in a conference committee that will finalize the amount.

Zoe Baldwin, of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, said the funding would contribute to a shorter, smoother and easier commute for transit riders.

“New Jersey residents deserve a 21st-century transit network,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin said $4 billion in federal funding would be a “boon to the region” and aid the replacement of the Portal Bridge. The state also applied for funding for the bridge under $8 billion in the federal stimulus law signed by President Barack Obama this year.

Jay Corbalis, a policy analyst with New Jersey Future, noted that his organization promotes smart growth and favors high-speed rail funding.

“This is really a no-brainer for us,” he said.

Corbalis said commercial and residential developers favor transit-oriented projects over those on congested roads like Route 1. “Businesses in New Jersey really get it,” Corbalis said.

Alper noted that there is more than $100 billion in funding requests from 40 states, adding that the $4 billion is needed to “even make a dent in the demand.”

E-mail Andrew Kitchenman at akitchenman@njbiz.com