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The Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) is a light rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by New Jersey Transit (NJT) and operated by the 21st Century Rail Corporation, it connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Union City (at the city line with West New York), and North Bergen. The system began operating its first segment in April 2000, expanded in phases during the next decade, and was completed with the opening of its southern terminus on January 31, 2011. The line generally runs parallel to the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay, while its northern end and its western branch travel through the lower Hudson Palisades. HBLR has twenty-four stations along a total track length of just over and serves over 54,000 weekday passengers.〔 There are plans for expansion through extensions and additional stations. The project was financed by a mixture of state and federal funding. With an eventual overall cost of approximately $2.2 billion to complete its initial operating segments, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail was one of the largest public works projects ever in New Jersey. The system is a component of the state's ''smart growth'' strategy to reduce auto-ridership and to revitalize older urban and suburban areas through transit-oriented development. ==Historical overview== Hudson is the 6th most densely populated county in the U.S. and has one of America's highest percentages of public transportation use. During the 1980s and early 1990s, planners and government officials realized that alternative transportation systems needed to be put in place to relieve increasing congestion along the Hudson Waterfront, particularly in the vicinity of the Hudson River crossings. After extensive studies, it was decided that the most efficient and cost-effective system to meet the growing demands of the area would be a light rail system, constructed in several phases. The design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the system is part of a public–private partnership. In 1996, New Jersey Transit awarded a "DBOM" (design/build/operate/maintain) contract to the 21st Century Rail Corporation, a subsidiary of Washington Group International, an engineering and construction consulting firm later acquired by URS. Under the contract, 21st Century Rail would deliver a fleet of vehicles, a guaranteed completion date, and 15 years of operation and maintenance of the system,〔 for a fixed price. The agreement was later extended to a 20-year period.〔 Original plans called for extending the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail north to the Vince Lombardi Park-and-Ride in Ridgefield, south to 5th Street in Bayonne, and west to Droyer's Point in Jersey City. In Hoboken, the line was to have originally been configured as a through-running operation, with an alignment built closer to the river which would have given closer access to both the PATH station entrance and the bus terminal. This was shelved in favor of the current stub-end station in the southern end of Hoboken Terminal and the current route along an existing right-of-way at the foot of the Hudson Palisades on the city's west side. The light rail opened to the public in April 2000 with an initial operating segment connecting Bayonne 34th Street and Exchange Place, as well as the spur line to West Side Avenue. Later that year, the service was extended northward to Pavonia-Newport. In 2002 service was extended to Hoboken Terminal, which completed MOS-1, the first Minimum Operating Segment (MOS) of the project at the cost of $992 million. MOS-2 involved extending service south to Bayonne 22nd Street (which was completed in 2003), west and north of Hoboken Terminal into Weehawken (which was completed to Lincoln Harbor in 2004 and to Port Imperial in 2005), and through Union City to Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen (which commenced on February 25, 2006),〔("New Jersey: Newark: 2 New Rail Stations To Open" ), ''The New York Times'', February 3, 2006.〕 with a total cost of $1.2 billion.〔 The extension to southern terminal at 8th Street opened January 31, 2011, at a cost of $100 million. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hudson–Bergen Light Rail」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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