NJ TRANSIT Takes Next Step To Find Innovative Transportation Solutions for the Meadowlands Complex

For Immediate Release: February 18, 2021

NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT continues advancing the “Innovation Challenge” project, moving it into the next phase of the development process. Today the Request for Proposals (RFP) has been issued to develop an inventive and original solution to increase mass transit capacity between the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction and the Meadowlands Complex.

“Partnering with industry to find innovative, creative and sustainable solutions to enhance our public transportation system, particularly to a popular destination like the Meadowlands, is a way to generate viable environmentally-friendly projects to meet our future needs,” NJDOT Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “This RFP brings us closer to making that a reality.”

“This RFP will allow NJ TRANSIT to receive and evaluate proposals from the best and the brightest in the industry,” said NJ TRANSIT President & CEO Kevin S. Corbett. “It’s an encouraging and important step forward in our goal to provide more robust public transit, with increased capacity, to the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex from Secaucus.”

“On behalf of the Meadowlands Chamber and its members, I was thrilled to hear that The NJ DOT and NJ TRANSIT have announced the release of the Innovation Challenge RFP requesting novel, viable and environmentally-friendly transportation options to and from The Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex,” said Jim Kirkos, CEO of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber. “The forward thinking ideas that are sure to emerge will better connect the Meadowlands with the rest of the NYC-Metro area, allow people to visit for major events without getting into their cars, attract new entertainment, meetings and hospitality businesses, and reestablish the Meadowlands Region as New Jersey’s major economic driver.”

In continuing to advance this critical initiative, NJ TRANSIT is looking to the future of the post-pandemic demands of the mass transit system and making the investments, planning and design required of projects with long lead times. These investments will drive future economic activity and maintain the ability to attract the world’s largest events.  MetLife Stadium remains in contention as a host venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

NJ TRANSIT is asking qualified contractors to help solve a very real problem; how to move a stadium’s worth of people seamlessly and continuously between Secaucus Junction and the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex, anchored by MetLife Stadium, the Racetrack and American Dream, seven miles away.

The Meadowlands provides unique challenges to mass transit: including: sporting events and concerts at MetLife Stadium; the American Dream which will have 20,000 employees and 40 million visitors annually; highly sensitive environmental features including the famous meadows and Hackensack River; highly traveled existing roads; and an existing rail line to the stadium from Secaucus Junction.

NJ TRANSIT is looking for proposals that can provide end-to-end solutions for peak capacity service, including design, build, operation and management as well as identifying the financial resources to make a proposal a reality.

Last November, NJ TRANSIT welcomed more than 140 attendees from 54 private and public entities to the kickoff of its “Innovation Challenge” at the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex to discuss the challenges and possible innovative solutions to moving people to and from the location’s popular venues.  Another 80 participants also joined in via live stream over the Internet.

For more information of NJT “Innovation Challenge” njtransit.com/challenge.

About NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 925,000 weekday trips on 253 bus routes, three light rail lines, 12 commuter rail lines and through Access Link paratransit service. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 166 rail stations, 62 light rail stations and more than 18,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.