As a result of a first-of-its-kind exercise for NJ Transit, the agency is proposing cuts in 11 bus lines, which NJT says are little-used compared to the majority of its bus services; Mike Frassinelli reported the proposed cuts in the Star-Ledger (May 15).  NJT's review of its bus operations involved an "inward look" using metrics to find ways to better allocate its resources; the new initiative is said to stem from NJT's "Scorecard" user input survey program.  The 11 bus routes targeted average 14 customers per hour, compared to the systemwide average of 24.  And the average subsidy per passenger on these routes is a whopping $4.87, compared to a systemwide average of $1.29.  Five bus lines would be eliminated completely: routes 42, 43, 75, 78, and 93; six others would have services "adjusted:" for example, the lightly-used University Heights branch of route 258 would be eliminated, but the rest of the 258 service would be unaffected.  Savings of $3.1 million are forecast from the changes; but $1 million would be reinvested in new projects, including 24-hour bus service between Newark Penn Station, Newark Airport, and Elizabeth. Public hearings are scheduled for the cuts on June 12 at One Penn Plaza, Newark (11 a.m. - 2 p.m.) and at the Wayne Municipal Complex on June 13 (5-8 p.m.)

The Lackawanna Coalition believes that coordinated bus and rail service is essential to an effective transportatioin network.  All too often, NJT bus and rail services are not coordinated as far as schedules and fare schemes; attention to this could improve ridership on both rail and bus lines.

More than two years ago, NJ Transit changed its policy on the use of trains by bicyclists, publishing (in timetables) rules that restricted boarding or leaving trains with bicycles to stations with high-level platforms; it's more difficult and perhaps less safe to do this at stations with low-level platforms, which requires the cyclist to carry the bicycle up or down the train door steps.  Within the last year, NJT has begun enforcing the new rules.  Unfortunately, many NJT stations do not have high level platforms, which severely restricts the use of the rail system by cyclists.  (NJT's three light rail lines, in contrast, are bicycle-accessible; and many NJT buses also are bicycle-capable.)  Bicycle advocates, including the New York Cycle Club, protested the changes and began working with NJT's advisory committee on the issue.  Now, change may be in the offing, according to reporting by Larry Higgs in the Daily Record. The advisory committee has recommended that cyclists be allowed to board and get off at all stations, although rush hour trains would continue to prohibit bicycles.  Transportation Commissioner James Simpson noted that New Jersey is "one of the most bike-friendly states," and said "we'll try to put the issue to bed at the next (NJT) board meeting."  Meanwhile, NJT staff will do some trials, loading and unloading bikes at low-level platforms.  The advisory committee also proposed increased signage showing where bikes could be stowed on various rail car types, and increasing the number of bikes allowed to be carried on each car.  Segway motorized devices also fall under the bicycle policy.

For one year, NJ Transit has been encouraging its customers to participate in its periodic "Scorecard" survey of opinion.  The latest results show improvement, although NJT rail services continue to fare the worst among riders.  The latest results were from surveys between Feb. 21 and March 12, and were reported by Mike Frassinelli in the Star Ledger (May 10).  Scores run from zero to ten, with 5.0 meaning "acceptable;"  NJT's goal is to score 6.0.  On the latest results, the Access Link service for the disabled scored a resounding 8.3, followed by Light Rail (6.9) and Bus (5.9).  Rail services lagged with a score of 5.3, nonetheless above the Acceptable level.  Bus customers constitute 61% of total riders, Rail 31%, Light Rail 8%, and the handicapped Access Link less than one percent. Both Rail and Bus customers gave relatively high ranks to NJT's Website.  The lowest scores for bus passengers were for information during service disruptions; rail passengers gave their lowest grade to fares, only rating fares at 4.1, perhaps a reflection of the 2010 25% average rail fare increase (47% for off-peak riders).

New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson suggested on May 9 that some NJT buses might pick up passengers on the streets of Manhattan, rather than just at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.  Simpson broached the idea at NJT's monthly board meeting; the idea was reported by Karen Rouse in The Record (May 10). Although any such street pickups would fall under the jurisdiction of New York City's Department of Transportation, Simpson noted that New York Waterway ferry shuttle buses already pick up passengers on city streets.  NJT spokeswoman Nancy Snyder noted that NJT pays the Port Authority $1.78 million a year for the use of its bus terminals (the midtown Port Authority, and the uptown George Washington Bridge terminals).

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has announced the imminent start of the first phase of the expansion of Penn Station, a long-term project that will eventually reconstruct the main Post Office west of Eighth Avenue into the new Moynihan Station, mostly to be used by Amtrak. According to the Associated Press, published in the Star-Ledger (May 9), Port Authority chairman Patrick Foyle said "From the point of view of NJ Transit Riders, this is going to be a significant advancement."  The first phase concentrates on improved access to the west end of Penn Station, and will expand an existing concourse which today serves only Long Island Rail Road riders; the concourse is at the northwest corner of Penn Station and is actually under the Post Office.  There willl be new escalators and elevators, and new street level access to Eighth Avenue at 31 and 32 Streets.  This first phase is due to begin this summer and be finished by 2016.

The Lackawanna Coalition is concerned that the existing access to NJ Transit trains at Penn Station, despite improvements over the years, remains inadequate and sometimes even dangerous as heavy passenger loads attempt to board and leave trains, sometimes simulataneously on the same platform.  Access to the west end of the platforms, as planned by the new program, is particularly critical, given that many NJT off-peak departing trains inexplicably are positioned so that the only open cars are at the extreme west end.

US Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has called for bipartisanship rather than politics as Washington lawmakers struggle to come up with a compromise on a new transportation bill to fund highway and transit operations and improvements. According to reporting by Malia Rulon Herman in the Daily Record (May 9), Menendez is one of 47 lawmakers from both Houses and both parties who met for the first time on May 8 to try to forge a compromise between House and Senate versions of the bill. Under the Senate version, New Jersey would get the highest public transportation funding ever, $519 million per year, an increase of $63 million; the total funding, including highway, would be $1.5 billion for New Jersey.  Public transportation funding continues to be controversial, with Republicans wanting to slash dedicated mass transit funding.  Currently, 2.86 cents of the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gasoline tax is reserved for mass transit.  Menendez said that he was committed to protecting mass-transit funding.

The Lackawanna Coalition believes that a stable, long-term funding source for transit capital and operating budgets is essential if public transportation is to survive, improve, and satisfy increasing demand for service.

One of the legacies of commuter access to Manhattan is that it was developed by a number of different railroads, each with their own terminal in Manhattan, or on the west bank of the Hudson.  Many cities in the US and abroad have managed to unite their legacy rail networks, affording direct access to multiple locations in the central city; but New York is still struggling to do so.  The three commuter railroads in the area, NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North Railroad, each have but one terminal in Manhattan: Penn Station on the West Side for NJ Transit and the LIRR; and Grand Central Terminal on the East Side for Metro-North.  All three would like to be able to deliver their riders to both sides of Midtown.  The most advanced project to achieve this is the eight-billion-dollar East Side Access project of the Long Island Rail Road, which plans to connect the LIRR in Queens to new platforms under Grand Central Terminal, building tracks in Queens and Manhattan and utilizing two tracks in the 63 Street East River tunnel first built forty years ago, but never used.  The East Side project was originally slated to be completed this year, but delays have pushed the projected completion out farther and farther; on May 8 Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joseph Lhota confirmed a one-year slip, to 2019, for the current projected completion date.  The latest delay, reported in International Rail Journal, is due to unexpected tunneling difficulties, not in the bedrock of Manhattan but rather under Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where the new tracks will join existing LIRR trackage.  Sandhogs there have hit contaminated soil and underground springs that are stifling progress.  Once the East Side project is complete, some LIRR trains will terminate there rather than in Penn Statioin, freeing up space for possible West Side service to Penn from the New Haven and Hudson Lines of Metro-North.  Meanwhile, hopes of NJT commuters to reach the East Side directly seem far off; plans for such access would apparently require new tunnels under the Hudson, as well as extending trackage from the Penn Station area to the East Side, no mean feat given existing infrastructure -- subways and water tunnels -- which already occupy underground real estate in Midtown.

 The Lackawanna Coalition believes that East Side access for long-suffering NJ Transit commuters is essential, and that all planning for infrastructure improvements in the Tri-State area need to be better coordinated among all railroad operators in the area: NJ Transit, Metro-North, Long Island Railr Road, and Amtrak.

On most railroad systems, passengers present their tickets to train crew who walk the aisles, making holes in the ticket with their time-honored punches.  (Some systems collect fares automatically at stations, and NJT uses magnetically-coded tickets at Newark Airport and Secaucus Junction.)  But the days of the old punch may be numbered.  Brian X. Chen, writing in the New York Times  (May 7), reports that Amtrak is trying a new approach: instead of punching the ticket, the conductor simply scans the ticket electronically, using a modified iPhone.  Not only is the new system faster than the manual punch, it allows Amtrak's headquarters to know instantly how many people are on each train and adjust equipment and sales accordingly. The customer need not even have a paper ticket: the conductor can simply scan an image of the ticket from the customer's own smartphone. The new system seems long overdue in an age where airlines have long used automatic check-in, but railroads are unusually challenging to automate, given the many stops, with passengers frequently boarding and detraining. Amtrak is initially deploying the new system between Boston and Portland, Maine; and between San Jose and Sacramento, California.  By late summer, Chen writes, 1700 Amtrak conductors will be using automatic scanners across the country.

The Lackawanna Coalition believes that accurate collection of fares and reliable data regarding train usage are essential to efficient management of any transportation system.

Federal law requires commuter rail operators to implement an advanced safety technology, Positive Train Control, by 2015. However, many operating agencies protest that the new technology is expensive, untested, and cannot easily be obtained.  The presidents of the two railroads operated by New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metro North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road, have protested that they may be unable to meet the deadline.  Howard Permut and Helena Williams, presidents of M-N and LIRR respectively, note that they "make operating a safe and reliable system . . . our absolute priority," and that the lines have already invested over $1 billion on a signaling system "providing a level of security greater than that of many rail systems today." But, they say in a joint letter to the New York Times (May 5), to install PTC requires retrofitting 1200 miles of track and more than 1000 rail cars; and that much of the technology needed is not yet even developed, let alone approved or in production. In a followup letter to the Times  (May 8), the CEOs of the American Public Transportation Association and of the Association of American Railroads emphasized that the railroads do not seek to delay implementing the new technology due to the costs involved; instead, they wrote, the technology simply won't be ready in time for the 2015 deadline.

We do not have information on PTC compliance at NJ Transit; however, NJT is known to have already implemented highly advanced "civil speed enforcement" technology on many lines, and this technology may provide most or all of the features required in the new law.

This article was published in the Bergen Record. It is quoted here as a matter of interest, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Lackawanna Coalition. 

Bergen and Passaic county commuters could have a direct ride into New York if Amtrak’s proposed Gateway project is built, an official said Tuesday.

Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole, citing an April 12 PowerPoint presentation, said Amtrak’s plan to build a pair of rail tunnels under the Hudson River to connect North Jersey with New York includes a “Bergen Loop option.”

He said that would allow trains carrying commuters on NJ Transit’s Pascack Valley and Main-Bergen lines to link into the Northeast Corridor to New York

Those lines don’t directly feed into the corridor; as a result, commuters transfer at Secaucus or Hoboken.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/Amtraks_Gateway_proposal_includes_Bergen_loop_to_NYC.html