In our spotlight on Business Report tonight.

Train delays have plagued travelers over the last few months, leading New Jersey lawmakers to pass a state budget that includes a corporate transit fee which guarantees future funding for NJ Transit.

But the agency is dealing with crumbling infrastructure and a looming budget deficit.

And Republican lawmakers are saying enough is enough.

They're calling for hearings and audits to dig deeper into the agency's financial problems and to identify solutions to get it back on track.

Raven Santana spoke to lawmakers about their mounting concerns.

New Jersey Transit has been a mess.

Senator Anthony Bucco is calling for an independent audit of NJ Transit after he says not enough has been done to fix the ongoing issues plaguing the agency and commuters who use it.

Part of the problem is, is that unless you really know what the problems are, how can we address.

So, you know, early on in this year, as part of the transportation trust fund package that I introduced along with Senator Tolliver, we had a bill that would have caused called for an independent audit of New Jersey transit, both financially and functionally, how New Jersey Transit operates.

But to continue to just throw money at New Jersey Transit is just a waste.

His comments come in response to weeks of delays that have left commuters stranded for hours and a 15% fare hike that he says should be used to support immediate and reliable service.

The 15% fare increase.

All of that money ought to be dedicated to put more routes and more busses on the street until we get this train problem corrected.

This is not a Republican or Democrat issue.

This shouldn't be somebody that people try to score political points on.

You know, you're dealing with people's livelihoods or their health when they can't get to a doctor's appointment or they can't get to and from work.

So, you know, they don't distinguish between Republicans and Democrats and independents.

When folks are getting on the train.

Senator Michael Testa recently called on Kevin Corbett to step down from his role as NJ Transit CEO in light of ongoing delays, saying in no world would an organization be able to continue business as usual while suffering so many failures.

Should have been an urgency to this that there just simply wasn't.

They did a study, some sort of infrastructure audit back in 2018.

No idea what had happened to that and no idea what happened in response to that.

Certainly, certainly we have not seen the type of communication we need to see about the timelines, about the funding.

It's a mess.

The backlash continues.

Senator Declan O'scanlon, Assemblywoman Victoria Flinn and Assembly man Jerry Sharp and Berger, who all represent the same district in Monmouth County, are now requesting a special legislative hearing to investigate the ongoing issues.

This comes after NJ Transit North Jersey Coastline rail service was suspended in both directions again last week after a drawbridge across the Broughton River near Perth Amboy could not fully closed due to signal issues.

The bridge is more than a century old.

NJ Transit is currently building a new $446 million bridge to replace it.

The Murphy administration tomorrow could do what they should have done years ago and challenge Amtrak, a challenge that the Biden administration should take to pay more attention to the Northeast corridor and to the coast line.

They have done some work in other areas, even in New Jersey.

The legislature can be called back in session at any time I projects.

I know people have.

We all need a little break in the summer, but I the urgency of this is such that it should happen right away.

Senator O'scanlon is now urging his colleagues in the state legislature to support his request of scheduling a special hearing.

Immediately, Senate President Nix Kittery and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin both declined to comment for energy Spotlight News on Raven Santana.

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