SJ Connects launches free shuttle service across Cumberland County

Cumberland County riders now have a free shuttle option that is meant to do what many buses and family carpools cannot: get people to work, class, medical appointments, shopping centers, government offices and NJ Transit hubs without a fare. SJ Connects began service in early June 2026 as a regional pilot across seven South Jersey counties, including Cumberland County, with routes intended to reach Vineland, Bridgeton, Millville and nearby communities.

The practical promise is straightforward. For workers, students, patients and older residents, the service could cut down on missed appointments and unreliable rides, especially in places where a car is not always available and existing transit can be thin. The rollout uses small shuttle vehicles and multiple routes rather than one fixed bus line, a design meant to match how people actually travel across South Jersey’s job centers, schools and health care corridors.

The launch also extends a transit push that started when Gov. Phil Murphy announced expanded South Jersey service on Aug. 20, 2025. That package included a Vineland-to-Atlantic City express shuttle pilot and a $5 million federal investment to expand microtransit in the region. The Vineland service was described as a one-year pilot with two round trips each weekday between the Vineland Transportation Center and the Atlantic City Bus Terminal, aimed in part at casino workers and other commuters from Cumberland County.

SJ Connects is being operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority with support from NJ TRANSIT, and officials have presented it as more than a mobility fix. The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey has framed the service as a workforce and economic development tool, saying better transit can widen access to employment and education across the region. Chamber testimony said the pilot included six new routes serving communities in Legislative Districts 1, 2, 3 and 7, with additional connections reaching Districts 4, 5 and 6, and that the routes were expected to launch between late May and June 2026.

The agency behind the service already runs transportation work through shared-service agreements with universities, counties and corporations. SJTA said its transportation services received about $3.2 million in grant funding and about $4 million in non-grant funding in 2025, while its core mandate covers six counties, Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem. Expanding to a seven-county shuttle network marks a broader reach for a system now being asked to fill one of South Jersey’s most stubborn gaps: getting residents to the places where daily life actually happens.