Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) launched a commission with the ambitious goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and serious injuries in the Garden State within the next 15 years.
Murphy signed legislation into law on Monday creating the Target Zero Commission, which will investigate how to implement the aggressive traffic safety objectives by 2040.
“The actions we take today will ensure that New Jersey families no longer have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to traffic fatalities. The Commission will collaborate to prioritize safety and mobility, forging a clear path to making sure everyone, whether walking, biking, driving, or using public transit, can travel safely in New Jersey,” the governor said in a statement.
The 13-member commission was approved unanimously by both chambers in New Jersey last year. Murphy added his signature to the legislation after traffic deaths and injuries have seen a sharp increase in recent years. From 2023 to 2024, fatalities increased by 14%, and pedestrian fatalities, specifically, increased by 32%, according to the governor’s office.
“The Target Zero Commission represents a powerful collaboration between state agencies, and the people of New Jersey to achieve a singular, life-saving goal: eliminating traffic fatalities,” said Col. Patrick Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.
“By leveraging data-driven strategies and prioritizing roadway design, speed management, and equity, we can ensure that every pedestrian, cyclist, and driver has a safer journey,” he added. “Together, we’re not just creating safer roads — we’re building stronger communities and a brighter future for every resident of our state.”
Murphy has previously backed several initiatives during his time as governor seeking to reduce automobile-related accidents and injuries.
In 2023, Murphy expanded New Jersey’s Move Over law to place penalties on drivers who don’t move over a lane when approaching a disabled vehicle with flashing hazard lights. He also signed a bill in 2021 called the NJ Safe Passing Law, which established enforceable guidelines about when and how to pass walkers, wheelers, and bicyclists.
In 2019, Murphy backed several other traffic-safety-related measures, including expanding access to driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, which he said would decrease the number of uninsured drivers and increase safety on the roads, and supporting an autonomous vehicle task force, which proponents said would reduce human error while driving.
Since he was first elected governor in 2017, Murphy has also become involved in several other transportation-related proposals, including the New York governor’s congestion pricing plan, which affects the flow of traffic in his state.
“I am firmly opposed to any attempt to force through a congestion pricing proposal in the final months of the Biden Administration,” Murphy said of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D-NY) congestion pricing agenda in November 2024, citing “severe economic strains” and inflation. “There could not be a worse time to impose a new $9 toll on individuals who are traveling into downtown Manhattan for work, school, or leisure.”
Earlier the same year, Murphy signed legislation raising the tax rates for the state’s largest corporations to fund public transportation. A 15% rate increase was also implemented on NJ Transit, and it is set to increase by another 3% this summer.
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Working to reduce vehicle-related greenhouse emissions and pursuing “green” policies has formed a key component of Murphy’s traffic and transportation policy.
Similar to his latest steep target to erase traffic fatalities, Murphy signed an ambitious “ban” on future new gasoline car sales in 2023, saying the Garden State should focus on producing only zero-emissions cars, electric vehicles, by 2035.