I remember years ago when we first got offered some cars, and our governor was influenced by environmental groups to pass on it. Glad we are finally with the program.

Subway Cars to Hit Bottom on Cape May Reef


July 29, 2008

During the week of August 10, 2008, 50 stainless steel subway cars will be deployed on the Cape May Reef site as part of the Artificial Reef Program.

The Cape May Reef is located 9.1 nautical miles offshore of Cape May Inlet, has a depth range of 40-75 feet and is 4.5 square miles in area. Also located on the Cape May Reef are Redbird subway cars, concrete, reef balls, army tanks and various vessels all of which total just under 104,000 cubic yards of reef material.

Three locations will be chosen to be the final resting place for these subway cars at the north, central and south portion on the reef site. One of the deployment locations will have subway cars grouped close together to better accommodate scuba divers

A total of 600 decommissioned stainless steel subway cars are to be deployed eventually, all being given to the Reef Program by New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Each car is approximately 60 feet in length, 10 feet in width and 11 feet in height. The average weight of an individual subway car is 18 tons.

Prior to the deployment each car is stripped of all plastic, degradable materials and grease to avoid contamination to the marine ecosystem. The MTA covers all cost for the cleaning, transportation and deployment to the artificial reef sites.

The remainder of the subway cars are scheduled to be deployed at the Deepwater, Garden State North and Shark River Reef sites.