SOUTH JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — In an effort to make communities more walkable, New Jersey is providing cash to help build out so-called "transit villages."
Transit villages are scattered throughout the state, 34 of them to be exact. These are places where residents rely more on mass transit.
Department of Transportation commissioner Dianne Gutierrez-Scaccetti said the state is providing nearly $4 million this year, the most ever for this program, to make various upgrades.
"It could be improved sidewalks. It could be ADA improvements. It could be any type of project that may in fact benefit that community," she said.
So far, grant money has already been awarded to Burlington City, Riverside, Collingswood and Pleasantville.
"A big part of that is that it doesn't require the municipality or county to raise their local property tax portion to fund these kind of projects when the state can provide these grants to them," she explained.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti said this is all part of a long-term goal to make the state less reliant on fossil fuels and encourage more people to use mass transit.
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