27:1A-5.7. Findings, determinations

1. The Legislature finds and determines that:

a. The development of a comprehensive transportation system to serve the needs of the residents of the cities of this State is essential to promoting and maintaining employment opportunities and continued economic development of the cities.

b. Increasingly large numbers of inner city residents are travelling from the cities where entry-level jobs are scarce to the suburbs where these jobs are plentiful on a transportation system organized for the benefit of suburban commuters travelling to work in the cities rather than for the needs of the "reverse commuters" who travel from areas of high unemployment in the cities to suburban areas where there is a shortage of labor.

c. Many professionals and business people living in suburban areas could be attracted back to the cities as part of an urban renaissance in the State if transportation facilities were improved to better serve the needs of the residents of the cities.

d. Stimulating the development of more balanced transportation systems for the purposes described is in the public interest and should be encouraged to aid in preserving and enhancing the economic well-being of the cities of this State.

e. Immediate research and planning is necessary by public transportation officials in the State in order to formulate recommendations for action to assist the State's "reverse commuters" and to insure the continued economic vitality of the cities.

L.1991,c.481,s.1.