Common sense prevails in DeCamp lawsuit
May 15th 2007 11:33 am
A Superior Court judge has ruled against DeCamp Bus Lines in its $36 million lawsuit against NJ Transit. The bus company argued that NJ Transit’s opening of the Montclair Connection was unfair competition, as the train service is subsidized by the government. The judge ruled that DeCamp does not have exclusive rights to its bus routes nor its passengers. It should also be noted that DeCamp benefits from state government subsidies and operates 50 buses provided for practically nothing.
DeCamp had 75 years to prepare for the opening of the Montclair Connection, but chose to ignore it. As reported by the Star-Ledger:
[Superior Court Judge Theodore] Winard noted that the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit agency that helps guide transportation policies, had recommended a Montclair-Manhattan commuter rail link as far back as the 1920s.
Echoing the arguments of Alvin Little, the deputy state attorney general who represented NJ Transit, Winard said DeCamp raised no opposition in the decade and a half after the state first announced plans for a Montclair Connection in 1979.
He said NJ Transit issued an environmental impact statement and held public hearings on the plan in 1984, without an appearance by or any opposition from DeCamp.
“Thus, DeCamp knew, or should have known, about the impending development and implementation of the Montclair Connection as far back as 1984,” the judge said. “Yet, the company failed, for 14 years, to voice any objection to the Montclair Connection’s operation over its ‘exclusive’ terrain, or the rail’s encroachment on its ‘protected property.’”
DeCamp had plenty of time to restructure their bus routes to work with the Montclair Connection. Three train stations lost service, and DeCamp could have served them. DeCamp could have even acted as feeder buses to the train. But they chose to play the victim card and lost. Maybe they’ll do something constructive now.