in our Spotlight on Business Report tonight modernizing the state's aging public transportation system the federal government is giving New Jersey Transit more than $83 million to retrofit historic train stops like The Brick Church station in East Orange built more than 150 years ago to make them ADA Compliant and accessible for residents with disabilities as Raven Santana reports it's just the latest tranch in federal funding for projects like these [Music] I'm pleased to highlight that NJ Transit has been awarded 8 83.3 million in grant funding Kevin Corbett CEO of NJ Transit had that 83.3 million check on full display at NJ Transit Brick Church station in East Orange which was awarded the money for renovations Corbett says the goal is to enhance the quality of life for all residents by making the station compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act this grant it'll be the install the highle platforms for Swift convenient boarding and deboarding elevators all the Ada accessories they'll make it as easy uh and accessible for all all our Riders and including The Pedestrian tunel tunnel the staircases and other related work Transit stations that are more than 30 years old were built before the Americans with Disabilities Act meaning many are not accessible out of about 160 NJ Transit train stations fewer than half are wheelchair accessible a tough reality for Rucker's professor and chair of the New Jersey disability action Community Javier robbles who relies on his wheelchair to get around it's one of the biggest issues for people with disabilities um probably next to housing having an accessible station near you as a person with a disability means you can access the rest of the world you can go to your job you can go to the mall you can visit friends you're not isolated in one place I I mean the reality is that people with disabilities are second class citizens in this country they always have been I hope they don't always I hope they always aren't second class citizens but that's just a reality Federal Transit Administration acting administrator Veronica vanterpool says the funding is in an effort to modernize public transportation in New Jersey and throughout the United States and efforts by the Biden Harris Administration to improve accessibility in transit systems Nationwide with this funding NJ Transit will replace lowlevel platforms with higher level platforms so it makes it easier for people not just in a wheelchair right this isn't just about people in a wheelchair this is about people who have broken their foot and are limping around this is about parents who are pushing strollers this is about young people who are carrying their book bags and toing lots of things around this is about making accessibility available to everyone and those stairs behind me won't be the only option for Riders trying to Access Transportation that funding will also include the installation of elevators and backup generators so this station you may not know does not have elevators so if you are in a physically assisted device how do you use this you don't with this funding n Transit will also install two elevators two new elevators with backup generators think about this everyone how many times have you gone to a St and the elevator is not working well you need backup and that's what NJ Transit is going to do as well and I got to tell you well yes this is a dream but I have another one and it's right down the street and Kevin knows all about it and we're going to go after for more money for the East Orange Station as well the FTA awarded a total of $343 million in ASAP grants for 2024 to eight Transit agencies in eight states of which J Transit received the second highest award for NJ Spotlight news I'm Raven Santana support for the business report is provided by Riverview Jazz presenting the 11th annual Jersey City Jazz Festival May 29th to June 2nd event details including performance schedules and location or online at Jersey City jazz festival.com [Music]