The Newark Light Rail station, operated by NJ Transit, raises serious questions about public transit infrastructure and equity in the New York–New Jersey metro region. Riders are met with inadequate facilities: no WiFi access, limited seating, lack of station staff, poor maintenance, and a subterranean design that prioritizes cost-cutting over dignity and accessibility.

In this video, Lo Sontag, Feminist Urban Critic and Theorist, examines how the Newark Light Rail station reflects broader structural issues in New Jersey’s transit planning, including the neglect of rider experience, disinvestment in public infrastructure, and disregard for principles of accessibility, comfort, and care in urban design.

By situating the Newark Light Rail within debates on feminist urbanism, transportation equity, and metropolitan governance, this critique asks a central question: Why does NJ Transit continue to provide substandard facilities in one of the nation’s most significant transit corridors, and what does this say about the politics of urban infrastructure in Newark?