in our Spotlight on Business Report environmentalists want to know why the state is investing in diesel if officials believe the future is electric clean energy Advocates today rallied in Camden against New Jersey transit's recent decision to buy 750 new diesel buses despite a yearlong push to Electrify the agency's fleet along with well-known data showing the transportation sector is New Jersey's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions senior correspondent Brenda Flanigan reports for hours a steady stream of diesel buses pulled into NJ transit's main Depot in Camden eight electric buses do operate in central Camden City part of a pilot program introduced in late 2022 but that's the extent of NJ transit's entire electric bus fleet a group of green energy Advocates today pushed the agency to amp up the pace hampon should not be the only city in New Jersey that has access to Electric bus Advocates brandished a cardboard cutout of Governor Murphy who signed a 2020 law requiring 10% of NJ transit's new bus purchases be zero emissions by next year 50% by 20126 we didn't expect an overnight transition to electric buses but eight electric buses is not enough one Depot housing electric buses is not enough where are the buses in unin city where the buses a new right we are in a climate crisis we're in a Public Health crisis and every bus driver and every bus rider knows the spell of diesel pollution so let us not forget about the health impacts of not moving towards an elected future a mandate that the Murphy Administration passed into law in early in 2020 NJ Transit is replacing its Aging bus fleet but it's buying diesel buses last week the board approved spending 600 $86 million to buy another 750 diesel buses 200 more than it had put out for bid with an option to buy up to 1,300 of them these buses have a life expectancy of an additional 12 years um so that's 12 Warriors at least of dirty F fuel buses on the road it looks bad you're supposed to be trying to go green but you diesel looks bad but NJ Transit maintains these new diesel buses meet the highest EPA emissions standards and anyway it doesn't plan to buy any more we anticipate this this will be our last diesel bus procurement we are currently diligently advancing our zero Mission bus program with infrastructure already in place at Newton Avenue in Camden and no less than four additional facilities Hilton Union City Metals and the northern bus garage are all in development right now NJ transits argued that it's still buying diesels in order to protect its customers in case the power grid doesn't meet demand or that there are other problems Beyond its control we didn't manage to catch a glimpse of Camden's electric bus fleet today The Advocates meanwhile called for lawmakers to pass a dedicated funding source for NJ Transit which faces a billion dooll fiscal cliff in 2026 we need reliable Capital funds to meet electrification goals and dedicated operating funds to ensure the survival of the agency which is facing service cuts and fair hikes if lawmakers don't act but Governor Murphy's refused calls to use New Jersey corporate business tax sech charge as an NJ Transit funding source instead of letting the search charge sunset in Camden I'm Brenda Flanigan and J Spotlight news support for the business report provided by the New Jersey tourism industry Association NJ Tia will host their New Jersey conference on tourism November 30th through December 1st at Resorts Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City njta .org for event information