27:25A-3. Definitions

3. As used in this act:

"Air passenger service" means any service which involves the carriage of persons for compensation or hire by aircraft.

"Atlantic City Expressway" means the expressway project known as the Atlantic City Expressway constructed by the New Jersey Expressway Authority pursuant to section 40 of P.L.1962, c.10 (C.27:12C-40).

"Atlantic City International Airport" means the airport authorized by section 24 of this act.

"Atlantic County Transportation Authority" means the county transportation authority authorized pursuant to P.L.1980, c.44 (C.40:35B-1 et seq.).

"Authority" means the South Jersey Transportation Authority created by section 4 of this act.

"Bond" means any bond or note issued by the authority pursuant to the provisions of this act or issued by or for an original authority or any predecessor authority thereof, as the case may be.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Transportation.

"Construction" or "construct" means the planning, designing, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, replacement, repair, extension, enlargement, improvement and betterment of expressway projects and transportation projects, and includes the demolition, clearance and removal of buildings or structures on land acquired, held, leased or used for those projects.

"Cost" means all or any part of the expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition, construction and maintenance of any real property, lands, structures, real or personal property rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and interests acquired or used for a project; any financing charges and reserves for the payment of principal and interest on bonds or notes; the expenses of engineering, appraisal, architectural, accounting, financial and legal services; and other expenses as may be necessary or incident to the acquisition, construction and maintenance of a project, the financing thereof and the placing of the project into operation.

"County" means a county in South Jersey.

"Department" means the Department of Transportation.

"Economic development facility" means any area, place, building or other improvement or structure related to, connected with, or in the vicinity of, a transportation project which may serve the users of that project or assist in, enhance or stimulate its operation or development.

"Expressway project" means the acquisition, construction and maintenance of the Atlantic City Expressway as transferred to the authority pursuant to this act and of any express highway, super highway or motorway at the locations and between the termini as may hereafter be established by law and acquired or to be acquired or constructed or to be constructed under the provisions of this act by the authority, over which abutters have no easements or rights of light, air or direct access by reason of the fact that their properties abut thereon, and shall include but not be limited to all bridges, parking facilities, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, interchanges, traffic circles, grade separations, entrance plazas, approaches, toll houses, service areas, stations and facilities, communications facilities, administration, storage and other buildings, and other structures related to the use of the express highway, superhighway or motorway, intersecting highways and bridges and feeder roads which the authority may deem necessary or desirable for the operation of the project, together with all property rights, easements and interests which may be acquired by the authority for the construction or the operation of the project, and includes any planning necessary for the execution of any expressway project.

"Feeder road" means any road which in the determination of the authority is necessary to create or facilitate access to a project and is not more than five miles in length from the point of its connection with the project.

"Land and improvements" means any area or lands, any interest, right or title in land, including but not limited to, any reversionary right, and any real or personal property, structure, facility, building or equipment.

"Marine passenger service" means any service which involves the carriage of persons for compensation or hire by waterborne craft.

"Motorbus charter service" means subscription, tour and other special motorbus services.

"Motorbus regular route service" means the operation of any motorbus or motorbuses on streets, public highways or other facilities, over a fixed route and between fixed termini on a regular schedule for the purpose of carrying passengers, for hire or otherwise, within South Jersey or between points within South Jersey and points without South Jersey.

"Municipality" means any city, borough, village, town or township in South Jersey but not a county or a school district.

"New Jersey Expressway Authority" means the authority created pursuant to P.L.1962, c.10 (C.27:12C-1 et seq.).

"Original authority" means the New Jersey Expressway Authority or the Atlantic County Transportation Authority.

"Paratransit service" means any service, other than motorbus regular route service and motorbus charter service, including but not limited to, dial-a-ride, non-regular route, jitney or community minibus, and shared-ride services such as vanpools, limousines or taxicabs which are regularly available to the public. Paratransit services shall not include limousine or taxicab service reserved for the private and exclusive use of individual passengers.

"Parking facility" means any area or place, garage, building, or other improvement or structure for the parking or storage of motor or other vehicles, including but not limited to all real property and personal property, driveways, roads and other structures or areas necessary or useful or convenient for access to a facility from a public street, road or highway, or from any transportation project; meters, mechanical equipment necessary or useful or convenient for or in connection with that parking or storage; and any structures, buildings, space or accommodations, whether constructed by an authority or by the lessee, to be leased for any business, commercial or other use, including the sale of gasoline or accessories for, or the repair or other servicing of automobiles and other motor vehicles, if, in the opinion of the authority, the inclusion, provision and leasing is necessary to assist in defraying the expenses of the authority and make possible the operation of the parking facility at reasonable rates, but the authority shall not itself engage in the sale of gasoline or accessories for, or in the repair or other servicing of automobiles or other motor vehicles except in emergency, nor in the sale of any service or commodity of trade or commerce.

"Project" means an expressway project or transportation project and the costs associated therewith.

"Public highway" means any public highway, road or street in South Jersey, including federal aid highways, whether maintained by the State or by a county, municipality or other governmental subdivision in South Jersey.

"Public transportation facility" means, in connection with public transportation service, passenger stations, shelters and terminals, automobile and bus parking facilities, ramps, track connections, signal systems, power systems, information and communication systems, roadbeds, transit lanes or rights-of-way, equipment storage and servicing facilities, bridges, grade crossings, rail cars, locomotives, motorbuses and other motor vehicles, maintenance and garage facilities, revenue handling equipment and any other equipment, facility or property useful or related to the provision of transportation service.

"Public transportation service" means rail passenger service, motorbus regular route service, paratransit service, motorbus charter service and marine passenger service.

"Rail passenger service" means the operation of railroad, subway, or light rail systems including fixed and automated guideway systems for the purpose of carrying passengers in South Jersey or between points within South Jersey and points without South Jersey.

"Real property" means lands within the State, above or below water, and improvements thereof or thereon, or any riparian or other rights or interests therein.

"South Jersey" means the area encompassing the counties of Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem.

"Transfer date" means, with respect to the New Jersey Expressway Authority, the date on which all bonds issued by the New Jersey Expressway Authority cease to be outstanding within the meaning of the resolutions pursuant to which those bonds were issued, as certified by the trustee or trustees thereunder and, with respect to the Atlantic County Transportation Authority, the date on which New Jersey Economic Development Authority first mortgage revenue bonds, series of 1980, dated July 1, 1980, (New York Parking Associates - Parking Authority of Atlantic City project) issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority cease to be outstanding within the meaning of the indenture pursuant to which those bonds were issued, as certified by the trustees thereunder or the date on which the South Jersey Transportation Authority certifies to the Atlantic County Transportation Authority for a predecessor authority to the Atlantic County Transportation Authority and the State Treasurer that it assumes all debts and obligations of the Atlantic County Transportation Authority.

"Transportation facility" means any area, place, building, or other structure designed to provide rail passenger service, motorbus regular route service, paratransit service, motorbus charter service, air passenger and air freight service, or marine passenger service, or any two or more of these services, to the public, and includes passenger stations, shelters and terminals, air passenger terminals, hangars, heliports, docking and launching facilities, parking facilities, ramps, track connections, signal systems, power systems, information and communication systems, roadbeds, transit lanes or rights-of-way, equipment storage and servicing facilities, bridges, grade crossings, rail cars, locomotives, motorbus and other motor vehicles, boats, ferries and other marine vehicles, aircraft, maintenance and garage facilities, revenue handling equipment and any other equipment, facility or property useful for or related to the provision of these services;

"Transportation project" means the acquisition, construction, and maintenance of an airport, public transportation facility or other transportation facility, established by this act or which may be hereafter established by law and may include related facilities and activities which may consist of public transportation services, public transportation facilities, including but not limited to rail and bus stations and terminals, noise abatement projects, parking facilities, public highways and feeder roads related to or connected with the project, and any economic development facilities as defined in this section. Transportation project includes any planning necessary to develop a comprehensive, efficient, convenient or economical transportation system in South Jersey, any planning or marketing necessary or desirable for the execution of any transportation project, and any planning, acquisition, construction or operation of economic development facilities related to, connected with, or in the vicinity of the project.

"Transportation system" means public highways, expressway projects, transportation projects, and all other methods of transportation for the movement of people and goods in South Jersey.

"Transportation Trust Fund Authority" means the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority established by section 4 of P.L.1984, c.73 (C.27:1B-4).

L.1991,c.252,s.3.