ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
[First Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 1545
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: September 17, 2026
The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 1545 (1R).
As amended, the bill authorizes the New Jersey Transit Corporation (corporation) to install and operate bus obstruction monitoring systems on buses owned or operated by the corporation, or operated under contract with the corporation, to capture recorded images of motor vehicles that stop, stand, or park in a dedicated bus lane, bus stop zone, or designated bicycle lane (covered violation) and to issue citations for covered violations. The bill requires an officer with the New Jersey Transit Police Department, or an employee, consultant, or contractor of the corporation, who has been designated and trained by the corporation to review a digital image recorded by a bus obstruction monitoring system (recorded image) to determine whether a covered violation occurred. The corporation is permitted to issue a citation for any covered violation identified by a reviewing officer, employee, consultant, or contractor.
Under the bill, a bus obstruction monitoring system may only be used if it is operated by a bus obstruction monitoring system operator (system operator) and a sign is affixed to the bus alerting drivers that the bus is equipped with a bus obstruction monitoring system. In addition, the bill provides that a bus obstruction monitoring system is to only retain recorded images of motor vehicles that contain evidence of a covered violation. Moreover, the bill establishes restrictions on how long a recorded image may be retained, a timeline for the disposal of certain recorded images, guidelines for the secure storage of recorded images, and restrictions on the treatment of recorded images as government records under current law and as evidence in certain civil or administrative proceedings. The bill also prohibits a bus obstruction monitoring system from using biometric identification techniques, including facial recognition technology.
The bill also establishes certain training requirements for system operators concerning the procedures for setting up, testing, and operating the bus obstruction monitoring system. The corporation is to retain records documenting a system operator’s completion of such training for a certain period of time outlined in the bill. In addition, the bill requires a system operator to perform manufacturer-specified functionality tests, as outlined in the bill, and to complete and sign a test verification log for each bus obstruction monitoring system, which log is to meet certain requirements under the bill.
Under the bill, owners and operators are to be jointly liable for a citation issued by a bus obstruction monitoring system for a covered violation unless the owner can demonstrate to the corporation that the motor vehicle was used without the owner’s express or implied consent. However, an owner or operator may contest a citation on certain grounds provided in the bill pursuant to a procedure, review, and appeal process outlined in the bill.
If an owner or operator of a motor vehicle is found to have committed a covered violation, as captured by a bus obstruction monitoring system, the owner or operator is subject to a fine of $45 for the first offense. Subsequent offenses within a 12-month period from the date of the first offense are to increase by $45, with a maximum fine of $135 per offense. The corporation is to use any fines collected to cover administrative costs of administering the bus obstruction monitoring system program and any excess revenue from the fines collected to fund Access Link services. If an owner or operator has failed to pay three or more fines, the corporation may notify the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (commission) in writing, and the commission is required to take certain enforcement action against the owner or operator, as outlined in the bill.
The corporation is also required to conduct a public education and awareness campaign (campaign) regarding the corporation’s implementation of the bus obstruction monitoring system program for a period of 180 days beginning on the date of implementation of the bus obstruction monitoring system program. The campaign is to include, but not be limited to, web-based and social media outreach. During the final 90 days of the campaign, the corporation is required to issue warning notices, rather than citations or fines, for covered violations.
Finally, the corporation is required to submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature regarding the bus obstruction monitoring system program, which report is to include certain information outlined in the bill.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
(1) revise the definition of “bus obstruction monitoring system”;
(2) permit, rather than require, the corporation to install and operate bus obstruction monitoring systems;
(3) require the corporation to determine the number of buses to be equipped with bus obstruction monitoring systems, as well as the selection of routes and deployment locations, based on public interest and the corporation’s operational and safety needs. The first reprint of the bill required the corporation to make this determination based on a cost-benefit analysis, anticipated impact on motorbus regular route service efficiency, safety and rider accessibility, predicted violation frequency, and overall operational feasibility;
(4) require an officer with the New Jersey Transit Police Department, or an employee, consultant, or contractor of the corporation, rather than just an employee of the corporation, who has been designated and trained by the corporation, rather than being designated, trained, and certified by the New Jersey Transit Police Department, to review recorded images to determine whether a covered violation has occurred;
(5) permit, rather than require, the corporation to issue a citation for a covered violation identified by a reviewing officer, employee, consultant, or contractor;
(6) require recorded images to be destroyed within 30 days, rather than 15 days, after the recorded images were first captured if the images do not contain evidence of a covered violation;
(7) require system operators to complete training established and approved by the corporation, rather than by the manufacturer of the bus obstruction monitoring system;
(8) require the corporation to maintain records documenting a system operator’s completion of certain training required under the bill for the duration of the system operator’s service in operating a bus obstruction monitoring system for the corporation and for one year thereafter instead of requiring the corporation to retain a certificate of completed training issued by the manufacturer;
(9) require the corporation to retain the test verification log for one year after the log’s creation or until the final disposition of any related citation for a covered violation, whichever is later. The first reprint of the bill required the corporation, or its designated contractor, to retain the log and make it available upon request for administrative review or legal proceedings;
(10) require the test verification log to be admissible as evidence in any court proceeding and not just those proceedings related to a covered violation;
(11) require an owner seeking to contest a covered violation on the grounds that the motor vehicle was a school bus, an authorized emergency vehicle operating under specific circumstances outlined in the bill, or was owned or operated by certain branches of government and engaged in official duties to provide proof documenting the claim;
(12) require an owner seeking to contest a citation for a covered violation on the grounds that the motor vehicle was stolen at the time of the covered violation to provide proof documenting the claim instead of requiring the documentation of a police report;
(13) remove a provision that established a procedure for an owner or operator to contest a citation through the corporation’s Internet website, by mail, or by requesting certain hearings;
(14) require an owner or operator to send written notice, containing certain information outlined in the bill, to the corporation of the owner’s or operator’s intent to contest a citation;
(15) require the corporation to notify an owner or operator, in writing, of the corporation’s final decision on the contested citation, rather than requiring the corporation to send the registered owner a copy of its final decision;
(16) clarify that the corporation is to provide information concerning the owner’s or operator’s options to either pay the fine or appeal the corporation’s decision only if the corporation upholds the citation;
(17) provide that owners and operators are to be jointly liable for a citation unless the owner can demonstrate to the corporation that the motor vehicle was used without the owner’s express or implied consent;
(18) permit an owner who pays any fine, costs, or administrative fees in connection with a citation to recover that sum from the operator in a court of competent jurisdiction;
(19) require a citation issued by the corporation for a covered violation to be sent by mail to the owner or operator of the motor vehicle, rather than to only the owner, within 30 calendar days, rather than within 15 calendar days of the date of the covered violation;
(20) permit the corporation to notify the commission in writing, instead of in a form and manner prescribed by the commission, if an owner or operator has failed to pay three or more fines issued under the bill;
(21) require, rather than permit, the commission to suspend the driver’s license of an owner or operator who has not paid or otherwise satisfied three or more fines issued under the bill’s provisions or suspend the registration of the motor vehicle associated with the commission of the covered violation for which the citation was issued and three or more fines issued under the bill were not paid or otherwise satisfied, upon receiving such notice from the corporation;
(22) require the commission to reinstate the suspended driver’s license or registration of an owner or operator who has not paid or otherwise satisfied three or more fines issued under the bill’s provisions once notified by the corporation that the fines have been paid or the case was dismissed or otherwise disposed of;
(23) require, rather than authorize, the corporation to use fines collected under the bill to cover the administrative costs of the bus obstruction monitoring system program;
(24) remove bus exterior advertising and press events from the list of components for the campaign required under the bill;
(25) require the corporation to issue warning notices instead of citations or fines for a period of 90 days, which period is to coincide with the final 90 days of the campaign under the bill. The first reprint of the bill required the 90-day warning notice period to begin 90 days after the date of implementation of the bus obstruction monitoring system program;
(26) provide that the bill is to take effect 180 days, rather than 90 days, after enactment; and
(27) make technical changes.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.