A3315 1R

An Act establishing requirements for on-demand micro transit programs operating within the State and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):

¹[“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Transportation.]¹

“Corporation” means the New Jersey Transit Corporation.

“On-demand micro transit” means ¹[publicly available, technology-enabled,]¹ shared ¹public¹ transportation ¹services¹ provided by means of a motor vehicle to individuals selecting a pick-up and drop-off location by telephone or through a ¹[mobile] software¹ application, and which transportation is provided at a time selected by the individual or as soon as possible after the individual selects pick-up and drop-off locations for such transportation.

“On-demand micro transit program,” “micro transit program,” or “program” means any on-demand micro transit program operated in the State by the New Jersey Transit Corporation, a county transit agency, or any other entity ¹using public funding to fund the on-demand micro transit program in whole or in part¹.

“Software ¹[services] application¹” means technology to enable the New Jersey Transit Corporation, a county transit agency, or any other entity to provide an on-demand micro transit program with transportation services provided by employees under the conditions and in compliance with the requirements described in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). “Software ¹[services] application¹” shall not include a digital network as that term is defined in section 2 of P.L.2017, c.26 (C.39:5H-2).

“Transit desert” means a municipality, or ¹a five square mile¹ physically contiguous area in the State, in which, as of the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), residents have limited ¹or no¹ access to public transportation services, including motorbus regular route service, rail passenger service, and light-rail passenger service ¹, that provide efficient routes to local education, commerce, and employment and other social services resources¹.

¹[2. The Commissioner of Transportation shall establish and issue requirements for the operation of any on-demand micro transit program within the State. These requirements shall provide that:

a. all vehicles used by an on-demand micro transit program shall have drivers who are employees of the New Jersey Transit Corporation, a county transit agency, or any other public entity and employees of those entities shall be responsible for directly operating transportation services provided by an on-demand micro transit program, except that:

(1) the entity may outsource software services to one or more third parties as necessary for the operation of the program; and

(2) a public entity that did not previously employ public employees as transportation drivers may provide on-demand micro transit services through a third-party contractor, provided that:

(a) existing employees of any third‑party contractor providing transit services are offered employment in the on-demand micro transit program at no less than their existing wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits;

(b) third-party contractors that provide on-demand micro transit services shall directly employ all on-demand micro transit drivers, who shall not be regarded as independent contractors; and

(c) any contract or agreement between an entity and a third-party contractor, wherein the entity is using public funding to fund the on-demand micro transit program, in whole or in part, includes a precondition that the contractor and all subcontractors of the contractor enter into an agreement with one or more labor organizations which represent or seek to represent the contractor’s employees, which agreement requires any participating labor organization and its members to agree to refrain from work stoppages, boycotts, or other economic interference against the contractor for the duration of the agreement;

b. on-demand micro transit drivers hold a valid commercial driver license;

c. on-demand micro transit drivers are compensated at no less than the same wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits as other drivers directly employed by a public entity providing on-demand micro transit service;

d. existing employees of the public entity and, if applicable, its existing transportation contractors, and the corporation are not adversely affected by the establishment and operation of the on-demand micro transit program;

e. each on-demand micro transit program creates additional transit service to transit deserts, rather than replacing existing transit services;

f. on-demand micro transit services are available to persons without access to smart phone technology, Internet service, or a credit card;

g. on-demand micro transit services include accessibility features to accommodate the mobility needs of persons with disabilities at the same service levels as the general population, including wheelchair-accessible vehicles, and an accessible mobile application;

h. an entity that uses public funding to fund the on-demand micro transit program, in whole or in part, reports data on any on-demand micro transit program to the corporation by the first day of each month, including the previous month’s average:

(1) cost per ride;

(2) passengers per trip;

(3) passenger wait times; and

(4) miles driven without a passenger;

i. the corporation publishes the data reports described in subsection h. of this section on its Internet website on a quarterly basis;

j. any failure of an employer, including a third-party contractor, to comply with the requirements of this section, shall be regarded as a failure to meet the wage payment requirements of the "New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law," P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), as applicable, or other violation of that act, as the case may be, and remedies, penalties, and other measures provided by that act, by R.S.34:11-58, and by section 10 of P.L.1999, c.90 (C.2C:40A-2) for failure to pay wages or other violations of that act shall be applicable, including, but not limited to, penalties provided pursuant to sections 23 and 25 of P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a22 and 34:11-56a24), and civil actions by employees pursuant to section 26 of that act (C.34:11-56a25), except that an award to an employee in a civil action shall include, in addition to the amount provided pursuant to section 26 of that act (C.34:11-56a25), any actual damages suffered by the employee as the result of the violation plus an equal amount of liquidated damages; and

k. the commissioner, in consultation with the corporation, may establish any other rules, guidelines, or protocols that the commissioner, in consultation with the corporation, deems necessary.]¹

¹[3. a. There shall be established in, but not of, the New Jersey Transit Corporation, a Micro Transit Oversight Committee (committee), which shall review each on-demand micro transit plan established by the New Jersey Transit Corporation, a county transit agency, or any other entity and certify that the plan meets all of the requirements of section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

b. The committee shall be comprised of three members as follows:

(1) a representative from the New Jersey Transit Corporation appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the executive director of the corporation;

(2) a member of the New Jersey General Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; and

(3) a member appointed by the President of the Senate upon recommendation of the labor organization representing the plurality of the employees of the corporation involved in motorbus operations; provided that if at any time during the term of appointment, the member ceases to be affiliated with the labor organization representing a plurality of the relevant segment of employees of the corporation, the labor organization may, thereupon or at any time thereafter during such term, recommend a new member to the President of the Senate for appointment to serve the remainder of the term.

Each member shall serve for a term of one year and until the appointment and qualification of a successor. A majority of the membership of the committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of committee business, and action may be taken at any meeting by the affirmative vote of a majority of the membership of the committee.

c. The New Jersey Transit Corporation, a county transit agency, or any other entity shall not provide on-demand micro transit service until the entity receives the certification required by this section.]¹

¹[4. This act shall take effect immediately.]¹

¹2. a. Any on-demand micro transit program within the State shall meet the following requirements:

(1) the corporation may provide on-demand micro transit services through a third-party contractor so long as third-party contractors or subcontractors that provide on-demand micro transit services directly employ all on-demand micro transit drivers, meet all federal and State wage and hour requirements including, but not limited to, the “Temporary Disability Benefits Law,” P.L.1948, c.110 (C.43:21-25 et al.), the “New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law,” P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), P.L.1965, c.173 (C.34:11-4.1 et seq.), and P.L.2023, c.10 (C.34:8D-1 et al.), and the drivers receive a federal Internal Revenue Service W-2 form;

(2) (a) any other entity operating an on-demand micro transit program may provide services through a third-party contractor so long as third-party contractors or subcontractors that provide on-demand micro transit services directly employ all on-demand micro transit drivers, meet all federal and State wage and hour requirements including, but not limited to, the “Temporary Disability Benefits Law,” P.L.1948, c.110 (C.43:21-25 et al.), the “New Jersey State Wage and Hour Law,” P.L.1966, c.113 (C.34:11-56a et seq.), P.L.1965, c.173 (C.34:11-4.1 et seq.), and P.L.2023, c.10 (C.34:8D-1 et al.), and the drivers receive a federal Internal Revenue Service W-2 form; and

(b) any contract or agreement between an entity and a third-party contractor includes a precondition that requires the contractor and all subcontractors of the contractor to enter into a labor harmony agreement with one or more labor organizations which represent or seek to represent the contractor’s employees, which agreement requires any participating labor organization and its members to agree to refrain from work stoppages, boycotts, or other economic interference against the contractor for the duration of the agreement;

(3) existing employees of the entity and, if applicable, its existing transportation contractors, and the corporation are not adversely affected by the establishment and operation of the on-demand micro transit program;

(4) each on-demand micro transit program makes reasonable attempts to createservice to transit deserts, rather than replacing existing transit services;

(5) on-demand micro transit services are available to persons without access to smart phone technology, Internet service, or a credit card; and

(6) on-demand micro transit services include accessibility features to accommodate the mobility needs of persons with disabilities at the same or similar service levels as the general population as is reasonable under the circumstances, including wheelchair-accessible vehicles, and an accessible mobile application.

b. P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall not be construed to be applicable to complementary paratransit service.¹

¹3. This act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment, except that any on-demand micro transit programs which are operating as of the effective date of this act, or have not yet begun operating but have entered into a contract or have received a federal grant to provide on-demand micro transit services prior to the effective date of this act, shall be exempt from the provisions of this act for the life of the existing contract or federal grant, if any, excluding any options exercised or extensions agreed to as of the effective date of this act, or an additional 60 days, whichever is greater.¹