The Cherry Hill school budget, and the uncertainty of state funding, are among the greatest challenges facing the district, candidates for the Board of Education agreed at a forum on Tuesday evening.
Academic performance, special education needs, and communicating to stakeholders also were cited as concerns by candidates running for three open board seats in the November election.
Seven out of eight candidates spent two hours making statements and answering questions in the cordial forum moderated by the League of Women Voters and hosted by the Cherry Hill Zone PTA at Cherry Hill High School West. One candidate could not make the event because of a work emergency, but his statement was read by the forum moderator. The in-person audience was small. The event also was livestreamed.
Money to pay for education in the future weighed heavily on each of the candidates.
“Every year, we’re trying to figure out how to maintain excellence with less and less and less,” incumbent candidate Renee Cherfane said.
The other incumbent running for reelection, Melissa Manzano, said the budget and state funding formula is “something that is really stressful to the community of Cherry Hill, to our teachers, to our community members and even trickles down to the students sometimes.”
None of the candidates offered solutions, with some pointing to the August announcement by Gov. Mikie Sherrill that directs the state Department of Education to pull together stakeholders in search of answers and “overhaul New Jersey’s school funding system.”
Cherry Hill leaders long have maintained the district does not get its fair share of aid. Adding to the problem is the uncertainty of the level of state aid year to year.
Candidate Steven Redfearn agreed the number one issue is funding, but he does not anticipate quick fixes from the Sherrill initiative.
That puts the focus on the district budget.
“I’m not going to wish and hope that funding can be solved within the next year with the task force, but my best guess would be we’re probably looking at … potentially going through a budget again this year and waiting for those solutions to the funding formula next year,” he said.
“Funding and the budget, I think, are of course the number one challenge that we’re facing, and that’s going to require a lot of creativity, coalition building, perseverance, because it’s not an issue that is going to be easily or quickly solved,” candidate Darby Malvey said.
But money is not the only challenge facing the district, the candidates said.
“Our second most-pressing issue of late seems to be the status of our special ed programs and how we’re running them and delivering services because we have too many parents coming to the mic telling us we don’t have something,” said candidate Anne Einhorn, referring to the public comment sessions at school board meetings.
Candidate Harold “Hal” Melleby Jr. said he was concerned about the decline in enrollment at Cherry Hill High School West. “I’m also very concerned about the academic program and standardized test scores, which have declined,” he added.
Like Melleby, candidate Ineda “Corrien” Elmore-Stratton said that among her top three issues was “academic achievement and the achievement gap that continues to grow and needs to consistently be addressed.”
Joseph Lynch could not attend the forum because of an emergency at his workplace. The League of Women Voters moderator read a statement from him.
Residents “deserve understandable budgets, earlier disclosure of financial challenges, careful oversight of contracts and transparent reporting on bond projects and associated costs,” Lynch wrote. “Special education requires particular accountability,” he added.
70and73.com is a hyperlocal news site focused on South Jersey, including the communities of Cherry Hill, Evesham, Mount Laurel, Voorhees, Medford, Medford Lakes, and Moorestown.
A brother and sister died Wednesday in what investigators are calling a murder-suicide at a Pennsauken home, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.
Janet Camacho, 59, was found on the front steps of the home at 4400 Bethel Avenue with a gunshot wound around 9 a.m., after police responded to reports of a shooting. Police were also told, investigators said, that a male suspect armed with a handgun was at the residence.
Camacho was taken to Cooper University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
About 10:37 a.m., police found Camacho’s brother, Daniel Lopez, 60, dead inside the house with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Both siblings were Pennsauken residents, but investigators did not say whether either lived at the home where the shooting occurred.
An icon of Jersey Shore waterways is in peril, according to a Stockton University study.
The osprey, a raptor that feeds primarily on fish, was reclassified from “threatened” to “stable” by New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection’s Fish and Wildlife agency, but a recent study by Atlantic County University, whose mascot is the osprey, found staggering declines along the Mullica River and Great Bay.
Biology students and instructors at the school monitored 27 osprey nests along the Mullica River and Great Bay this year and discovered that chicks were surviving at a dismal rate. During the first survey, in May, the team counted 54 eggs and three chicks. During the final survey, last month, there were nine fledged chicks, an 85% loss.
Melanie Schroer, a biology instructor at the school, said the study’s results were alarming.
“The broader context here is that osprey nest productivity is declining. Nesting success has taken a huge hit, not only in my little part of the world, but also New Jersey and much of the East Coast, and so, of course, everyone wants to figure out what’s going on,” Schroer said in a statement. “This population has been recovering for 50 years, and it’s been doing great, and then just the last handful of years, not so much anymore.”
Last year, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey found that osprey nest productivity had its steepest decline in decades, with 57% of active nests failing to produce any young.
Both studies mentioned fluctuations in food sources, particularly the Atlantic menhaden, also known as “bunker,” as a potential issue for the empty nests. Shroer, of Stockton, said researchers noticed that adult ospreys were bringing more flounder to their nests as opposed to menhaden, their typical food source. Menhaden, Schroer said, pack more calories.
“So they’re putting in more work and bringing back fewer calories, fewer resources for their young,” she said.
Menhaden are considered a “keystone species,” vital to a slew of food chains up and down the East Coast, feeding everything from whales, to game fish, to coastal birds like osprey. Commercial fishing harvests vast quantities of menhaden for animal feed and human supplements, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay. Advocates of the Chesapeake are calling for as much as a 50% reduction in menhaden harvests.
Last year, when New Jersey reclassified ospreys as stable, officials noted how pesticides had decimated populations, with only 50 nests statewide in the 1970s. Those numbers had rebounded to 800 by 2023.
Schroer said Stockton’s study reveals a questionable future, however, as those adults age out.
“There are still many adults in the ecosystem, ” she said, “but if the nest productivity declines as it has been in the last couple years, there won’t be enough young birds to replace the older ones and sustain the population.”
Cacia’s Bakery in Haddonfield shut its doors after two years in business, and the property is now on the market.
And South Jersey Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew accused state Democrats of a “cover-up” over New Jersey’s noncitizen voter registrations during a Tuesday congressional hearing.
Cacia’s Bakery in Haddonfield has a “closed” sign on the front door, and the property on South Haddon Avenue is up for sale.
The original location in South Philly is a family-owned operation that is more than 70 years old. It’s known for its square pizzas and rolls with thick crusts.
The name has since expanded across the bridge with locations in Williamstown, Cherry Hill, and Hammonton.
South Jersey Republican Jeff Van Drew re-upped New Jersey’s noncitizen voting issue during a Congressional hearing Tuesday without anyone directly involved in the matter to testify.
The hearing comes a day after the Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s mail ballot restrictions, which means states can continue their standard procedures related to how they send ballots.
Meanwhile, there’s still an ongoing investigation. Gov. Mikie Sherrill hired an independent firm to conduct it and said she will release the findings publicly.
On the local level, Burlington County has confirmed there were ineligible voters who were removed from rolls and Gloucester County has not been notified of any questionable voters.
The Camden Planning Board approved 44 market-rate townhouses to be built on the waterfront as well as a related development of 16 more townhouses on Penn Street, according to TAPinto Camden.
Empire Buffet will soon take over the former Tang Asian Cuisine restaurant on Black Horse Pike in Audubon, 42 Freeway reports.
Former WMMR music director Erin Riley wrote a newly published book that shares the history of the Philadelphia rock station, which includes anecdotes about Bruce Springsteen.
🎉 Congratulating: Tom Pelphrey from Howell Township, who won an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series for his role as Robbie Prendergrast in Task.
🎧 Listening to: The latest episode of unCovering the Birds, in which Jeff McLane and David Murphy discuss Jalen Hurts’ performance.
🥣 Perusing: The ceramic dinnerware seen on The Bear made by designer Jono Pandolfi, whose studio is based in New Jersey.
The standouts of this three-story, five-bedroom home with five bathrooms are a kitchen with a breakfast nook and quartz countertops, a family room with a gas fireplace, a finished basement, and a fenced backyard.
The new construction also includes a primary suite with two walk-in closets and its own bathroom complete with a double vanity and a soaking tub.
Cherry Hill Mall is among the swath of sites with automated license plate readers across New Jersey, where 523 of the state’s roughly 530 law enforcement agencies are using the technology from Flock and other surveillance companies.
Over the last year, Flock has generated 2.2 million alerts in Cherry Hill alone. The 10 Flock readers in the township have helped police identify vehicles involved in crimes committed both in and out of the township, they say.
Use of the cameras doesn’t sit right with activist group DeFlock South Jersey, which formed this summer amid growing bipartisan concern around how the license plate-reading technology impacts privacy — worries shared by both progressive organizers and national conservative figures.
Cherry Hill’s new Asianfresh Food Market held its grand opening last weekend, pulling in shoppers with its array of produce, seafood, and specialty items from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and other Asian countries.
The outpost taps into growing demand for these offerings across the nation, including in the township, where the Asian population grew 32% between 2014 and 2024.
Cherry Hill contractors, landlords, and residents are among the most common offenders illegally dumping in Camden, according to police, who are using drones and resident-provided footage to hold them responsible.
Childhood education and daycare network Lightbridge Academy recently broke ground on its second Cherry Hill center, which it plans to open next summer, the Courier-Post reports.
Mosquito spraying was slated to take place throughout the township this morning, including on Evans Mill Road, Bortons Mill Road, and South Kings Highway. See the full list of affected sites. Officials also advised residents to remove standing water on their properties to reduce mosquito breeding.
🏫 Schools Briefing
The Cherry Hill Special Education PTA filed a grievance with the school board alleging discrimination after the group says it was blocked from setting up an information table at back-to-school nights for the first time in 12 years.
Akira 70 Omakase, a new Japanese fine-dining concept complete with an omakase experience, is coming to a former Cherry Hill fur salon on Marlton Pike this fall. It’s one of the 60 restaurants launching in the area in the coming months, The Inquirer’s Michael Klein reports.
🎳 Things to Do
🤡 Flip Circus: Marvel at the lineup of aerials, acrobatics, comedy, and live music. ⏰ Wednesday, Sept. 16-Sunday, Sept. 20, various times 💵 $22.88-$84.97 📍 Cherry Hill Mall
💉 Cherry Hill Tattoo Expo: Get some new ink — or watch others who do — at the sixth annual iteration of this event. ⏰ Friday, Sept. 18-Sunday, Sept. 20, hours vary 💵 $24.71-$47.47 📍 DoubleTree by Hilton Cherry Hill Philadelphia
🧵 Cherry Hill Autumn Craft & Vendor Market: Check out wares from local vendors, including seasonal home goods, tasty treats, and candles. ⏰ Saturday, Sept. 19, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 20, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 💵 Pay as you go 📍 Cherry Hill Mall
This 1990 estate brings a dose of French Provincial flair to Cherry Hill’s Hunt Tract neighborhood, complete with a curved staircase in the foyer, a marble-crafted fireplace and floors, and a three-car garage with side entry. The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom home also features a guest suite on the first floor and a conservatory with a view of the surrounding foliage. There is a heated in-ground pool as well as a pool house with a full bathroom.
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This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
No injuries were reported after a fire broke out at an elementary school Tuesday night in Camden County, officials said.
Lindenwold School 4, which is located at 900 E. Gibbsboro Rd., will be closed Wednesday after a fire damaged the school, officials said.
“At the time of the incident, members of our evening facilities crew and a construction crew were on site. We are very grateful that everyone is safe,” the Lindenwold School District said in a statement.
The district said it is “is currently still completing summer construction work at School 4, and we are currently assessing the situation and any impact to the building.”
Firefighters and investigators were on site to determine the cause of the fire, the district said.
South Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew tried to ramp up pressure on Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill over the state’s noncitizen voter registrations at a Tuesday hearing in Washington, which did not feature testimony from anyone in Sherrill’s administration.
“Whose side is New Jersey government on?” Van Drew said early in the congressional hearing as he airedgrievances about Sherrill and the state’s immigration policies. “That’s the question hanging over this entire hearing.”
None of the witnesses at the hearing were employees of New Jersey or IDEMIA, the software vendor which Sherrill has blamed for the issue, a point disputed by the company. Van Drew defended IDEMIA at the hearing and said the company is cooperating with his probe.
As he chaired the hearing, Van Drew repeatedly accused the state of New Jersey of knowing about the noncitizen registration issue since 2024.
“In political terms, that’s called a cover-up,” he said.
Van Drew, the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, has been a thorn in Sherrill’s side since she announced in July that about 6,600 noncitizens had been registered to vote due to an issue with the software used for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission’s (MVC) voter registration program under former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
Tuesday’s hearing came the day after the Supreme Court rejected President DonaldTrump’s mail ballot restrictions, allowing states to continue sending ballots under the same processes they have been using for years. Van Drew has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s efforts to overhaul national elections, including passing legislation to require proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote.
Three witnesses, including the former chief counsel of the Republican National Committee, advocated for stricter rules around voting. A fourth witness,a former election official fromArizona, said the issue of noncitizen voter registration is incredibly rare.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew and President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, shortly after Van Drew switched parties.Heather Khalifa / MCT
Van Drew claims state knew of problem sooner
IDEMIA confirmed after the hearing that the company had met with staff from Van Drew’s office and “will continue to cooperate with congressional and state investigations to help ensure a complete and accurate understanding of the facts.”
Van Drew contended that internal documents show the state government had “tested and approved” the software that led to the improperregistrations.
“We also know that in 2024, IDEMIA received a request from New Jersey after the state finally realized that noncitizens were being registered to vote,” the Cape May County lawmaker said.
Van Drew spokesperson Paxton Antonucci told The Inquirer on Tuesday evening that the documents showed that New Jersey reached out to IDEMIA in June 2024 after noticing individuals who were registered to vote had missing information on their age and party affiliation. She said that information was missing because the software failed to flag thatthe group of individuals had selected they were not citizens, but were still allowed to registered to vote.
“The committee is working with IDEMIA to obtain additional information on how this was allowed to happen, and we are seeking documents from New Jersey as to why this error was never disclosed to the public prior to 2026,” she said.
Sherrill spokesperson Darwin Pham said the governor’s office “can’t speak” for the prior administration. Mahen Gunaratna, Murphy’s spokesperson, pointed to a previous statement on Tuesday that said Murphy “had no knowledge” of the issue and applauded Sherrill for investigating it.
Pham said in a statement Tuesday that congressionalRepublicans are weaponizing the issue “to advance Trump’s voter suppression agenda” while the governor “is focused on continuing to solve the problem she inherited from the previous administration.” He called the hearing “political theater.” Sherrill hired an independent firm to conduct an investigation that is ongoing. She said she will present the findings to the public.
Sherrill’s administration said earlier this summer that the state had removed roughly 4,000 voters from the rolls and left the rest to county election officials to verify whether they were citizens or not. Locally, Burlington and Camden Counties confirmed removing noncitizens from the rolls but did not specify a number.
Sherrill’s administration said fewer than400 of the noncitizens voted but did not affect the results of an election. Van Drew pushed back against this assertion on Tuesday, saying he still does not know the details of which elections these noncitizens voted in.
“Anybody knows if you follow local elections, they can be a handful of votes very often. It can even happen in Congress,” said Van Drew, who was elected as a Democrat in 2018 before declaring his loyalty to President Donald Trump and switching parties a year later. This November, he will face Democrat Zack Mullock, the Cape May mayor, at the ballot box.
Van Drew said that Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, the secretary of state, has been “somewhat cooperative” but that the state has broadly “done everything it can to not cooperate and stonewall the investigation.”
A Sherrill official said Tuesday her administration had provided the committee with public documents.Thegovernor haspledged to protect New Jerseyans’ data, and her administration has been in a legal battle with the Trump administration over providing the personal information of noncitizens.
At the hearing,Van Drew referred to Caldwell being under investigation without going into details.Sherrill has touted her transparency in disclosing the noncitizen voter registrations, but she has been criticized by some in her party for staying tight-lipped about a reported investigation into Caldwell and his alleged behavior with women.
Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell (left) follows Gov. Mikie Sherrill off the stage following the celebration of their victory at an election night party in East Brunswick Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Noncitizens removed from voter rolls in Burlington and Camden Counties
David Levinsky, a spokesperson for Burlington County, confirmed some ineligible voters were removed from the rolls in the South Jersey county but deferred to the state on specific numbers.
“The [Burlington County] Superintendent of Elections Office continues to follow all relevant state laws and guidance to ensure that all residents who register to vote are eligible,” he said.
Camden County spokesperson Dan Keashen also confirmed that the county received a list of voters to investigate. The rolls are up to date after noncitizens were removed, he said.
Stephanie Salvatore, the Gloucester County superintendent of elections, said Tuesday that the county had not been notified of any questionable voters due to the MVC issues from the state.
Salvatore, who has been in the election office for more thanthree decades, said the issue had come up “a handful of times” before.
“I have police powers over elections, and an investigator assigned full-time. We work closely with many agencies, including the FBI, the state police, the county prosecutor, among other agencies,” she said. “If I cannot verify the voter eligibility in question within my office, I send it to the professionals and/or the courts to decide.”
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, speaks during a hearing on New Jersey noncitizen voter registrations. House Judiciary Subcommittee video
‘Worst-case scenario’
Stephen Richer, a legal fellow withthe libertarian Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies,was the one witness who strayed from Van Drew’s position on noncitizen voting. Richer, who previously served as a Republican responsible for voter registration in Maricopa County, Ariz., cited as an example an audit in Utah, which found that 0.001% of voters were noncitizens. He said New Jersey’s case is the worst he has seen.
“Even in this scenario, this worst-case scenario, noncitizens made up a fraction of a percent of voters,” he said.
Josh Findlay, a senior fellow for election integrity policy at the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, argued that every noncitizen vote cancels out a citizen’s vote.
“The default should be that voters must verify their eligibility before being added to lists, not that people are added to lists and then we hope that the state catches them,” he said. “Even small numbers matter.”
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat and ranking member of the subcommittee, called Trump “the biggest threat to democracy,” pushing back on the GOP messaging.
Van Drew contended that pressure from the federal government led to the noncitizen voterrevelation, but U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, emphasized that the error was discovered and disclosed by New Jersey itself.
“No matter how much our colleagues seek to inflate it, a clerical error is not structural corruption, much less is it a criminal conspiracy,” said Raskin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “It does not rise to the level of, say, a violent insurrection deliberately incited and organized to overthrow a completed presidential election.”
Cacia’s Bakery in Haddonfield appears to have closed its doors without any fanfare after two years in business.
A “closed” sign has been posted on the front door of the Italian bakery at 26 S. Haddon Ave., and the store was dark during a visit last week. Another sign advertises the 1,100-square-foot building and the equipment inside for sale.
Cacia’s Bakery in Haddonfield has not made any public announcement about the closure, nor has the business responded to calls or emails requesting comment.
Leonard Guerriero, who owns the Haddonfield Cacia’s, according to deed records, also did not return requests for comment on why the bakery closed.
But the Cacia’s name has expanded across South Jersey over the years, with current spots in Williamstown, Cherry Hill, and Hammonton that sell Italian bread, strombolis, hoagies, cannoli, and more.
Sam Cacia, a third-generation owner of the South Philly location, said his family taught Guerriero how to bake before he became the private owner of the Cherry Hill and Haddonfield locations.
Cacia said the closure in Haddonfield was due in part to the tough parking situation and competition with sit-down restaurants downtown.
“When you ride around the block looking for a spot, it becomes a bit of a challenge. It just came to, like, there wasn’t enough demand,” Cacia said. “It’s a shame. [He] tried to bring the product to a different set of people and it didn’t work that way.”
Guerriero and co-owner Steven Santore opened the downtown Haddonfield bakery in the summer of 2024, NJ Pen reported, after their Audubon location was demolished by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection due to groundwater contamination. The bakery was across the street from the Haddonfield post office.
The pair purchased the Haddonfield property for $375,000 in 2023, according to deed records, from the owners of Spice C, a noodle joint in Chinatown.
The storefront previously occuped by Cacia’s in Haddonfield is now on the market.Sarah Nicell
MSC, a Philly-based real estate brokerage firm, is managing the property sale. Danny Wolf, senior vice president at MSC, said the property hit the market in August and is listed for $495,000. The price includes the equipment inside the bakery, including a double Blodgett pizza oven.
Wolf said the property already has potential buyers, though he declined to provide further details.
Despite still reeling from decimated apple crops due to a surprise spring freeze, South Jersey farmers are fighting to find a way to ring in fall with festivals, cider, and more.
South Jersey farmers have an uphill battle if they want to fulfill customers’ typical fall desires, from warm ciders to bushels of fresh-picked apples.
They’re trying their best to fill gaps after a late April freeze left farms across the state with massive crop damages.
With fewer apples, some have outright canceled their apple-picking offerings this year.
It’s caused farmers to get more creative to retain customers who still want to have a festive season. Strategies include:
🍏 Importing apples from other states
🌻 Planting sunflower fields and popcorn plants for picking
Starting Sept. 21, Burlington County residents will able to ride on a free blue bus.
The 11-stop route begins at the Pennsauken Transit Center and concludes at Twosome Drive and Church Street in Moorestown after looping south.
The new public transit offering is called the Burlington County Shuttle, and it’s the last of the six lines that make up SJ Connects, a no-cost bus service run by the South Jersey Transportation Authority.
Voters in Cinnaminson and Clementon will head to the polls today to decide on multimillion bond referendums that would raise local property taxes for school updates.
During a legislative hearing in Trenton on Monday, parents from Camden and Burlington Counties pleaded for New Jersey lawmakers to mandate the installation of cameras in group homes serving people with disabilities, The Inquirer’s Susan K. Livio reports.
New Jersey and 24 other state leaders reached a settlement that limits the Trump administration’s ability to make significant changes to AmeriCorps without at least 30 days notice.
Burlington County began repaving a 1.9-mile stretch of New Lisbon Road in Pemberton Township Monday. It’s expected to take two weeks, and those traveling eastbound will be detoured. Expect delays.
The Burlington County Clerk’s office is mailing out 52,000 vote-by-mail ballots ahead of the general election for registered voters who requested them. Residents should expect them to arrive in mailboxes soon.
🗣️ Quote of the week
Romagnoli, a player at Kingsway Regional High School in Woolwich Township, grew up playing coed flag football. Now that the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has sanctioned girls’ flag as a high school varsity sport, the first season can begin in the spring of 2027.
🧠Trivia time
Laura Quinn’s debut historical romance novel, Thicker Than Water, was set in Cape May, Wildwood, and Philadelphia. But where does the author live?
Some Burlington County residents might see an unfamiliar blue shuttle bus on the roads next week as the region welcomes its first new public transit option in more than two decades.
The new route will officially start service on Sept. 21, the last of six new shuttle lines that form SJ Connects, a free bus service run by the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA). The first five lines were launched on June 1 while the transportation authority worked to get formal authorization to operate in the county.
Together, the shuttles can take riders from Cape May Court House to as far north as Palmyra with connections to other shuttles, SJTA routes, NJ Transit lines, and more sprinkled throughout.
Though the newest route is called the Burlington County Shuttle, it technically begins over the Camden County line at the Pennsauken Transit Center before concluding 10 stops later at Twosome Drive and Church Street in Moorestown.
Along the new route, up to 20 riders per bus can hop on or off at various locations including the Cinnaminson ShopRite, Fox Meadow Apartments in Maple Shade, or at Cooper University Healthcare’s Moorestown Mall location.
Stretching from early morning to late evening, the shuttles will make a total of five visits to each of the stops along the route throughout the day.
The first shuttle leaves from the Pennsauken Transit Center at 7 a.m. with the final drop-off scheduled for 8:11 p.m., according to the SJTA schedule. A full schedule for the Burlington County shuttle is available online.
SJ Connects received $5 million in state funding from former Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration for an 18- to 24-month trial run to boost transit services in the region.
Map of planned SJ Connects route in Burlington County.John Duchneskie
The investment was secured in part thanks to the efforts of state Sen. Troy Singleton, a longtime Burlington County resident who called the county “the crown jewel of South Jersey.”
“Burlington County is the largest county by land mass here in New Jersey and being able to connect what was a lot of former farmland to economic and educational opportunities is critically important,” Singleton said during a ride-along of the new route Monday.
“We know that there’s enormous economic opportunity here in South Jersey as it connects to Philadelphia and connects to other parts of New Jersey so continuing that investment is one of my responsibilities that I take really personal,” he said.
Many of the stops along the SJ Connects routes were chosen to help South Jersey residents travel between medical centers, educational institutions, and other areas of interest, said Stephen Dougherty, SJTA’s executive director.
The Burlington County Shuttle will begin service on Sept. 21, 2026.Lacey Latch
The half-dozen routes include stops at multiple Cooper and Inspira locations in addition to the region’s various community colleges and universities. The routes also have stops located at or near large employers, Dougherty said, including Logan Township’s Pureland Industrial Complex, the second largest industrial park east of the Mississippi River.
“We know that these routes are crucial — based on the nature of what these stops are — to people’s everyday lives,” Dougherty said.
Now that all six of the SJ Connects shuttles are ready for riders, local leaders are simply asking South Jersey residents to hop on for a ride.
The more demand there is for this service in Burlington County, the more likely it will be for legislators to get state funding to keep the rides free and create more routes in the future, Singleton said.
“My hope and my ask of the public is to utilize this free resource — their tax dollars coming to their benefit — in order for us to try and expand it even more,” Singleton said.
