By David Madden

MAPLEWOOD, N.J. (CBS) — It’s been talked about for years: improving bus service from South Jersey into Philadelphia.

Now, New Jersey Transit has committed to a plan that sets up a pair of new express routes, but the service won’t be fully operational until 2020 at the earliest.

Runs would start in Winslow Township and Deptford, NJ, with 1,800 new park-and-ride spaces built.

To get you into town faster, bus-only lanes would be set up, according to NJT spokesman John Durso.

“A three-mile section of improved shoulder guideway for buses would be constructed along Route 42 northbound,” he tells KYW Newsradio. “In addition, transit signal priority would be established within downtown Camden and Center City Philadelphia.”

Similar services are currently up and running in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Minneapolis.

The next step is approval from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. A request would be made to the federal government for at least half of the funding for the $46-million project.

As for the proposed light rail link from Camden into Gloucester County that has also been debated for a long time … well, it’s still being debated.