Legislative findings and declarations

The Legislature finds and declares that many senior citizens and disabled residents in the State require assistance in meeting their need for available and accessible transportation so that they may obtain the necessities of life, including but not limited to employment, post-secondary education, social and recreational activities, shopping and medical service; and that the voters of this State recognized the need for such assistance when in 1981 they approved an amendment of the State Constitution which provides that State revenues derived from the taxation of gambling establishments in Atlantic City may be used, in addition to the purposes for which they were originally dedicated, for additional or expanded transportation services or benefits to senior citizens and the disabled. The Legislature further finds and declares that it is appropriate that the New Jersey Transit Corporation, in conjunction with its advisory bodies, representatives or associations of counties, and other interested parties, develop a plan for transportation assistance to senior citizens and the disabled; that the instrumentalities of local government, particularly the counties of this State, should play a major role in facilitating the provision of that transportation assistance; and that the New Jersey Transit Corporation in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Transportation's Office of Coordination, as well as the counties, should coordinate the assistance with existing transportation services, including but not limited to those services funded by any other State agency, at the local level and coordinate inter-county transportation services.