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UPDATED: 5/17/20 1:52 p.m.
The governor stipulated social distancing and sanitation measures must be followed, including online and phone reservation and payment systems to decrease person to person contact. Passenger and customer logs must be preserved as well, in case contact tracing becomes necessary.
Murphy also sent one of his "shout outs" to President Donald Trump, who approved $1.4 billion in CARES Act recovery funding for New Jersey Transit. That will keep the buses and trains rolling not just for first responders, but for workers of all sorts as the reopening of the state's economy continues.
"Certainly we know that NJ Transit will need more assistance to make up for the significant loss in fares it has seen over the past couple of months, and I will continue to work with the White House and other federal officials, and with our congressional delegation, and with leaders in Congress, to bring that assistance to our state," he pledged.
"But make no doubt about it," he added, "this $1.4 billion is absolutely necessary, and it is certainly welcomed."
During his press briefing, the governor also discussed the House of Representatives' passage of the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package. While Murphy acknowledged the bill that reaches the president's desk might be very different from the one that passed the house, he reiterated the need for direct state aid and urged House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to sit down with Democratic leadership to come to a bipartisan solution.
"We need this relief, and we need it now," Murphy said.
New Jersey updates case count
1,245 new positive cases were announced statewide Sunday, raising New Jersey's total to 146,334.
107 additional fatalities were reported as well, lifting the state's death toll to 10,356.
South Jersey's total case count climbed to 15,332, with 850 deaths.
According to Murphy, all of the state's regions have been trending downward in new cases and hospitalizations.