NJ bill would harden bus stops
A New Jersey Assembly bill would require NJ Transit to add barriers and lighting at bus stops in high-traffic, high-crash locations — a legislative push tying infrastructure upgrades to safety outcomes. That kind of mandate could trigger localized design RFPs and safety-audit work for consultants. (shorenewsnetwork.com)
Assembly Bill A4724 was filed as part of the 2026–2027 session and lists Assemblyman Kenyatta Stewart as the primary sponsor. (njleg.state.nj.us) The measure was introduced and referred to the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on March 16, 2026. (billtrack50.com) The bill’s text sets a statutory definition for “high-traffic area” and instructs NJ Transit to consider average traffic, frequency of collisions, frequency of pedestrian injuries or fatalities, and proximity to schools, hospitals, or senior housing when identifying such locations. (pub.njleg.state.nj.us) A4724 applies both to shelters installed going forward and to “pre-existing shelters” when a municipality or the maintaining entity requests upgrades, and it explicitly allows NJ Transit to coordinate with local governments on cost-sharing. (pub.njleg.state.nj.us) The bill conditions installation on the “availability of funds appropriated or otherwise made available,” language that preserves executive budgeting discretion and could influence the timing of any procurement actions. (pub.njleg.state.nj.us) State planning documents show the scale of the market the bill would affect: New Jersey has roughly 20,000 marked bus stops and about 600,000 daily transit bus trips, per the NJTPA Bus Stop Safety Toolbox. (njtpa.org) Separately, NJ Transit launched a one-year pilot of AI-powered digital bus stop signs at eight stops in five municipalities on March 3, 2026 through the Transit Tech Lab, a recent procurement activity that includes solar-powered e-paper displays, ADA features and built-in analytics. (njtransit.com)
