I understand your perspective, and any big infrastructure project like this would be a tough idea to sell. But it wouldn’t be due to existing services, like PATH and NJT bus services already being in place. It would be simply: cost. Such a project would be a billion or two, maybe more? But. In my very humble opinion, the cost would be very much worth that multi billion dollar investment price tag, because the growth that Newark, Hoboken, and Jersey City has experienced over the past five years is crazy. Interconnecting Northern NJ’s biggest growing cities will not only strengthen and further solidifies the NJ economy, but offer new opportunity for economic development and investment.

The HBLR is very expansive, and is way more intimate with the Jersey City and Hoboken streetscape than the PATH. Yes there’s bus service, but solidifying successful and over capacitated bus lines with a light rail line is very different, and offers new transit and economic opportunities that the bus can’t bring to the table. It’s the “next logical step” if you will, for the economy and regions maturity. I believe the NLR being connected to the HBLR system would be beneficial in many ways. I believe it can awaken a lot of new economic opportunities for economic investment and job growth, offer much needed investment opportunities for real estate investment and development, and the two systems being interconnected is another option for people to move around Northern NJ. Remember, the more mobility options an individual has at their disposal in their city, the better.

I also believe this interconnected system should finally pressure NJT to wake up, and to add more much needed light rail stops for Newark and for the HBLR to be further expanded well into Fort Lee. Such a system I know for a fact would be much welcomed and appreciated between Hoboken and Fort Lee, as it is very car dependent and congested. This won’t be cheap of course. There will be long environmental and community reviews/studies, infrastructure hurdles to jump, cost overruns, inevitable deadline delays, and lots of property to be attained for construction that I’m sure will be a headache. But the economic implications in my opinion are just too good to ignore, and simply justify the cost and its construction given the regions growth. It’s way too good of an opportunity.

Side note: I would love as much of this idea to be separated from traffic, or buried underground to maximize transit performance to maintain this being a viable transit option over the car, as possible lol.