NJ Transit unveils new bus fleet, with more to follow
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
NEWARK - NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri couldn't help but rib Representative Rob Menendez fore being late to a press conference about new transit buses last month. [09/2025]
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"I have to give my friend congressman Menendez a bit of a hard time," Kolluri said, grinning. "If you had taken the train here, instead of drive, you would have gotten her on time, but we'll let that go this time."
..... A bit rid, Menedez thanked his friend for the reminder.
..... "We should be in buses and trains and out of cars, not just to unclog our corridors but to make sure we're all stewards in investing in our mass public transit system and also in our environments - so thank you so much, Kris, for that reminder," Menendez said.
..... And soon enough, those bus rides could be on one of the 175 sparking new 40-foot, two-door buses arriving through June 2026. One such vehicle was on display outside Newark Penn Station last month [09/2025] - and outfitted with a few new perks such as USB charging ports, brighter lights, improved intercom systems, blind-spot cameras and turn-warning systems to aid drives and pedestrians.
..... This is among the steps taken to follow through on a commitment to help NJ Transit fully replace its outdated rail and bus vehicles by 2031 - an expensive but meaningful investment, Kolluri said.
..... "We take the reactions and feedbacks from residents var, very seriously, and when they say that we need to improve our service, there's only three place to do it," Kolluri said. "You do it through infrastructure, you do it through making sure you have proper human capital, and third making sure you have rolling stock."
..... NJ Transit buses transport 500,000 daily passengers, who make up 64% of the agency's annual 214 million riders using bus, train and light rail.
..... There are more than 2,000 buses in NJ Transit's fleet, and Kolluri is making plans to spend more than $1.3 billion to replace 1,400 of them in the next six years. Each 40-foot transit bus, manufactured by New Flyer costs about $815,000, he said.
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This work was underway before Kolluri was tapped to head NJ Transit in January. [2025]
..... Since 2018, NJ Transit has received authorization to spend more than $1.7 billion to purchase 578 articulated buses, which are 60 feet long and bend in the middle, 810 40-foot buses, and 54 electric buses.
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Those purchases will be made possible, in large part, by federal grants and programs hat provide dollars for low-and no-emission buses. However, some of those programs are in jeopardy under the Trump administration, which earlier this year [2025] paused funding for grants that the president said were part of a "green new deal," which is not a federal grant program.
..... "this is fulfilling a promise that we made to the people of New Jersey," Menendez said. "this is what government should look like. It's the federal government working with our state partners to deliver results for all of our New Jersey residents."
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In 2024, NJ Transit;s buses traveled on average 10,302 miles before requiring repairs - a statistic known as mean distance between failure - the lowest average since at least 2017. Through the first eight months of 2025, the average has dipped even further to 7,946.
..... "This order of buses will enable us to replace the oldest buses in our fleet - they are 2008 model year buses - as well as those with the highest shop time," said Michael Kilcoyne, NJ Transit's senior vice president of surface transit and general manager of bus operations. "these 40-foot buses are critical for our local bus routes that require frequency and flexibility and help us to address current garage capacity constraints."
..... Three 40-foot buses fit in the space of two articulated buses, Kilcoyne added. This is significant because NJ Transit's North Jersey bus garages are at least 28% over capacity an din some cases require operators to fold in the mirrors so buses fit in the aging depots overnight.
..... Two hundred of the older transit buses from 2012-2013 are going through a midlife rehabilitation, with 44 completed so far - a process that was delayed after NJ Transit absorbed routes and buses sued by private carriers hat terminated service.
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Overall customer satisfaction among bus riders was down from past years, coming in at 6.5 out of 10, according to the most recent survey conducted between June 16 and July this year. [2025] System-wide, customer satisfaction was 6.3, down form its highest-ever rating, 6.8, in 2023.
..... "This is not the expectation of this system" Kolluri said, and the investment in buses reflects the agency's commitment to improvement.
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"I wanted to make sure that we made tangible progress in meeting these goals not because it sort of sounds good, but because it meaningfully improves the lives of our residents," he said.