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Improving reverse commute
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - July 16, 2008)
On Tuesday, July 15, local politicians, county and state representatives, NJ Transit officials and countless representatives from local businesses and corporations met at the headquarters of Paragon Federal Credit Union in Montvale. They came together to discuss what the Pascack Valley, and specifically the three boroughs of Montvale, Woodcliff Lake and Park Ridge could do to improve mass transit for people who commute into the area for work, and at the same time reduce the region’s “carbon footprint.”
“I’m pleased to welcome all of you here to take part in a great opportunity – the opportunity to make a positive step to improving our quality of life here in the Tri-boro,” said Montvale Councilman Tim Lane in an opening statement. “What’s most exciting is that we may be able to take this step while being kind to the environment.”
The Borough of Montvale has organized a committee to explore options for maximizing mass transit to and from the corporate sites within the Tri-boros. “As a lifelong resident of the area, I have seen traffic and congestion grow progressively worse over the years,” said Montvale Councilwoman Leah LaMonica, who is the chairperson of the committee. The initiative of the committee, she said, is “taking positive steps to reduce traffic, lower energy consumption, lessen air pollution and take the pressure off our infrastructure.”
State Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk used statistics to lend emphasis to the gravity of the issue being addressed. “Within the Tri-boro area we have over 23,000 employees,” she said. “If we can do something to integrate their commute with the transit we already have, it would be worth the struggle.” She pointed out that while funding for alternative transit programs is a major concern, there are numerous government agencies that can be approached for assistance. Funds are available through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority specifically for the purpose of encouraging and enabling “JARC” or job-access through a reverse commute.
Joe Sanzari, Director of the Bergen County Economic Development Corporation, made a statement attesting to the importance of large corporations to the community. He said that since serving in his current position, he has gotten a lot of input from
Bergen
County businesses, approximately 950 of which are located in the Tri-boro area. He said that at one point, a Montvale-based corporation contacted him and said, “We’re leaving
Bergen
County .”
The message he was getting from business owners and corporate representatives was that something needs to be done to make owning and operating a corporation in
Bergen
County feasible. Sanzari said he went back to the borough council and planning board and appealed to them. “I said, ‘We cannot let these people leave this county. We need the revenue, the employment… We have to accommodate and we have to grow.’”
A prominent element of the complaints of corporations is that their businesses are too hard to access by public transportation, which discourages new employees and hurts retention rates of existing employees. Furthermore, with most employees driving to work, corporations in the area are constantly submitting new applications for the construction of parking facilities, which are costly and can be judged unsightly to residents.
Richard Preiss, a planner with Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates and a planning consultant to the Borough of Montvale, provided specifics for how the tri-boro towns can go about organizing a cohesive system of east to west corridor transit for workers in the area. He summarized three possible solutions that the committee has come up with to remedy a situation and prevent large, tax-revenue-producing corporations from relocating out of
Bergen
County .
First among the solutions, said Preiss, would be to adjust the Pascack Valley Line train schedule to accommodate peak-hour reverse commuters travelling to the region from the south, and then provide a shuttle bus from the Montvale train station through the Tri-boro corporate zone. The second recommended solution would be to provide a shuttle service from the Route 17 Ramsey train station through the corporate zone. Third would be to introduce express bus service from the
Brookdale
Park and Ride to the
Montvale
Park and Ride and then a shuttle to the corporate zone.
Scott Forman, co-president of the Montvale Chamber of Commerce, emphasized how positive the community response has been so far for the initiative; governing officials, business owners and residents as well, he said, share a common interest in the goals of the committee. “Gas prices are high, all the businesses are for this plan, the politicians – Democrats and Republics – they’re for it… Everybody has to just get together… and get this done in an expeditious manner.”
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com.
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