New Jersey is electing a new state governor this year, but where do the candidates stand when it comes to walking, biking and transit? NJ Future, a nonprofit organization that promotes smart growth, held a candidate forum last week to try to find out. Although all candidates from both parties were invited, none of the Republican candidates for governor participated. Three of the Democratic candidates joined, and they each brought interesting perspectives to the conversation.

The host, Meishka Mitchell, is President and CEO of Emerald Cities Collaborative, chair of the NJ Future Board of Trustees, and a champion for trails in her native Camden, NJ. She started by asking the candidates what they would do to try to bring down the rate of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities, which is currently hitting record levels in New Jersey?

Former NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney reckoned that the answer is to try to widen roads to add safe walking and bike facilities, and that the state should help provide money to make that happen. NJEA President Sean Spiller didn’t fully agree – he pointed to data showing that making roads feel narrower helps to cut down on reckless driving. Spiller spoke about his experience as mayor of Montclair NJ, talking about how it is possible to add curb bulbouts or re-stripe during road projects to incentivize drivers to go more slowly. Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop pointed out that he had created the largest bike-share program in the state, added 25 miles of protected bike lanes, and adopted a ‘Vision Zero’ program that significantly reduced serious crashes. Fulop wants the state to work much faster to make intersections safe and to prioritize mass transit.

Regarding trails, all three candidates saw a priority for state and regional planning. Sean Spiller worried that there is a shortage of dollars to fund a trail network. He suggested that ‘public-private partnerships’ could help support trail expansion, but fears that the Donald Trump administration would cut off funding at the federal level. Fulop disagreed that the funding conversation has to always revolve around Trump. He pointed out that the state, the NJ Turnpike Authority, and local municipalities spend billions of their own money on transportation projects every year, and the key thing is to make sure that those dollars are spent with more focus on mass transit and alternative forms of getting around. Sweeney agreed that funding had to be “more than just funding for roads and trucks”, and that bike paths had never been a priority in New Jersey.

The issue of funding kept coming up in the light of ongoing federal cuts. Steve Sweeney conceded that there was only so much that a candidate could promise at this time. He made the point that it was necessary to have “shovel-ready” projects that can start right away when funding is available. Sean Spiller promised to “go after the wealthy, the rich, the powerful, and the politically connected” by changing the state tax code to provide dollars to support transit and street safety projects. Steve Fulop’s running mate Sheena Collum, who took over from Mayor Fulop mid-way through the discussion, pointed out that many great street safety projects can be tested using low-cost approaches. Currently the mayor of South Orange, NJ, Collum sees street safety as an all-round financial win, because unsafe streets contribute to ever-increasing car insurance premiums and school busing costs.

Funding NJ Transit is a perennial issue, and it came up again at this forum. Steve Sweeney said that he has long been a supporter of a dedicated funding source for NJ Transit, which he said had been “starved of funding and investment for decades”. He supports the new ‘corporate transit fee’, a tax on big corporations that was introduced to fund NJ Transit, but he fears that the state will not use the money for the right purposes. Sweeney wants to extend the Hudon-Bergen Light Rail system, and also bring light rail to South Jersey with the Glassboro-Camden Line.

Sean Spiller echoed Sweeney’s concern about the corporate transit fee money being repurposed for other state budget needs. He wants to clearly outline how the funds would be spent. Sheena Collum pointed out that Steve Fulop had been an early champion of the corporate transit fee, and would aim to make it permanent as Governor. Steve Fulop is also unique in that he has been the only candidate to support New York congestion pricing, and sees road pricing as a potential way to fund investments in trains and buses.

As the discussion turned to the environmental benefits of clean transportation, Sean Spiller pointed out that housing is an important part of the solution, because people need to be able to live close to where they work, so that they can choose other alternatives alternatives to cars. Sheena Collum, as Executive Director of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association, reckoned that pairing transportation improvements with new housing development is key. In particular, she described parking requirements as a costly barrier to housing construction, which also reinforces car use. By reinvesting the money that is spent on building parking lots on other forms of transportation, it is possible to incentivize greener forms of mobility.

The full video of the ‘Walk, Bike, Ride’ candidate forum is linked below. The primaries for the Democratic and Republican candidates for NJ Governor will take place on June 10, 2025. The deadline to register to vote is May 25. You can register to vote online using a driver’s license or social security number at this link from the New Jersey Division of Elections: Voter Registration Application