NJT Issues Meadowlands ‘Innovation Challenge’ RFP

Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
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New Jersey Transit on Feb. 18 issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for its “Innovation Challenge” to develop “an inventive and original solution” to increase transit capacity between the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station at Secaucus Junction and the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex.

NJT said it is asking qualified contractors “to help solve a very real problem: how to move a stadium’s worth of people seamlessly and continuously between Secaucus Junction and the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex, anchored by MetLife Stadium, the Racetrack and American Dream, seven miles away.” The Meadowlands, the agency said, “provides unique challenges to mass transit” that involve moving people to sporting events, concerts and other venues to a complex with “sensitive environmental features” and an existing rail line from Secaucus Junction. NJT is seeking proposals “that can provide end-to-end solutions for peak capacity service, including design, build, operation and management as well as identifying the financial resources to make a proposal a reality.”

In continuing to advance this initiative, NJT said it “is looking to the future of the post-pandemic demands of the mass transit system and making the investments, planning and design required of projects with long lead times. These investments will drive future economic activity and maintain the ability to attract the world’s largest events.”  MetLife Stadium remains in contention as a host venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. 

In November 2020, NJT hosted more than 140 attendees from 54 private and public entities to its Innovation Challenge kickoff of its at the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex “to discuss the challenges and possible innovative solutions to moving people to and from the location’s popular venues.” Another 80 participants joined via live stream over the Internet.  

“This RFP will allow NJ Transit to receive and evaluate proposals from the best and the brightest in the industry,” said President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett. “It’s an encouraging and important step forward in our goal to provide more robust public transit, with increased capacity, to the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex from Secaucus.”

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