In recent years the fund has supported $1.2 billion in annual construction, maintenance and operating costs at NJ Transit and the state Department of Transportation. The money will run out on June 30, according to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services. Without new revenue, road and bridge construction projects will halt. Major maintenance of commuter trains will stop. NJ Transit riders will face a massive fare increase.
For many transportation experts, that meets the definition of a crisis.
“He’s really got himself in a big jam this year,” said Martin E. Robins, a former deputy director of NJ Transit and founding director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University. “The Transportation Trust Fund is a disaster.”