October 27, 2005

Senator Jon Corzine
Corzine for Governor Inc.
317 George Street
First Floor
New Brunswick, NJ 008901

Doug Forrester
Forrester for Governor
29 Emmons Drive C-10
Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Dear Senator Corzine and Mr. Forrester,

Enclosed you will find more than 7,000 signatures in support of the Monmouth Junction alignment for proposed Monmouth Ocean Middlesex (MOM) passenger rail line.

The Central Jersey Rail Coalition and the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers (NJ-ARP) are writing you to ask that you support the Monmouth Junction alignment that is being studied by New Jersey Transit in the MOM Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The petitions read: "The New Jersey counties of Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex are experiencing unprecedented growth. Passenger rail service to this region must be restored on order to relieve congested roads, improve air quality, reduce fuel consumption and provide dependable access to the New York metro area, Trenton, Philadelphia, Washington and other Northeast Corridor connecting points. I therefore support the funding and restoration of the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex passenger rail service."

Our members are very concerned with overdevelopment and traffic congestion, and strongly believe that the Monmouth Junction alternative is the far superior option to provide rail service to our region.

The Monmouth Junction alternative:

• Helps alleviate traffic congestion by providing service to Southern Middlesex and Western Monmouth, two of the fastest growing areas in the state,
• Attracts the most new rail riders,
• Reflects smart growth principles by restoring rail service where the most growth is occurring today and will continue to be concentrated in the future,
• Provides connectivity to and from the most destinations such as New Brunswick (Rutgers), Princeton, Trenton, Newark, New York City as well as other points on the Northeast Corridor,
• Provides much needed east-west public transportation options and links two of the State's urban enterprise zones; Lakewood and New Brunswick,
• Promotes improvements to air quality and public health by getting the most cars off the road.

We want to express our concern over the integrity of the DEIS process. A Major Investment Study (MIS) was completed in 1996 that eliminated the Matawan alignment from consideration. For political reasons it was added back into the study in 1999. During the 2001 Governor's race Jim McGreevey wrote a letter supporting the Monmouth Junction proposal only to later put the MOM project and particularly the Monmouth Junction alignment on the back burner.

There has been a clear bias in the process in opposition to the Monmouth Junction alignment since January 2002. One egregious example of this is that during scoping hearings on the project, our petitions have been considered as one submission by NJ Transit staff. We hope that our efforts in collecting over 7,000 signatures will be given appropriate weight and not counted as only one contact in the future.

Although it is getting progressively harder to trust our elected officials in New Jersey, we are optimistic that both of you will analyze this project on the merits. When doing so, because of the connectivity to the northeast corridor, the access to New Jersey specific points, providing new transit options to the fastest growing areas in the state and clearly providing the most environmental benefits, the benefits of the Monmouth Junction alignment are clear.

Our request to your campaign is to give us a clear position on the MOM project as well as a commitment that, if elected Governor, you will monitor the process at NJ Transit to ensure its integrity. We request that your campaigns provide us your position no later than Wednesday, November 2, 2005, as we intend to share your position with our many supporters prior to the election.

If we can be of any assistance in providing you information please contact us. Along with the signatures we have included an executive summary of a survey conducted by Ocean and Monmouth Counties in June of 2003 and a list of Say "Yes" to MOM Coalition supporters for your review.

We thank you for your attention to this crucial issue and look forward to hearing your detailed position before the election.

Sincerely,
Bill Braden Chairman Central Jersey Rail Coalition (732) 539-7932	Douglas John Bowen President NJ Association of Railroad Passengers (201) 798-6137