After a media frenzy lasting almost two weeks, the Port Authority chairman on January 14 announced that a proposal to end overnight PATH service on weekdays was no longer under consideration. In a letter to leaders of New Jersey's Senate and Assembly, PA chairman John Degnan did not totally foreclose such a move in the future, but said it would not take place at any time soon, and then only after detailed study, consultation, and public hearings. The retraction of the proposal was widely reported, including by Matt Chabin in the New York Times (Jan. 15).

The governors of New York and New Jersey made headlines when they each vetoed identical, bipartisan legislative proposals to reform the Port Authority, saying they preferred to proceed along the lines of a report they had commissioned.  But buried deep in the report, according to reporting by CBS, is a recommendation that PATH service between 1 and 5 a.m. on weekday nights be discontinued, as revenue did not justify keeping the system in operation.  The proposal quickly drew fire from New Jersey officials in the area, who said that such a cut would devastate the booming economies of waterfront cities, and that the service was a vital one for workers who labor in the wee hours.  Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said it was one of the most foolish proposals he's seen in years.

Reaction from politicians swiftly followed. According to reporting in the Star-Ledger (Dec. 30), Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), co-chair of the legislative committee investigating the now-famous lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, speculated that the PATH reduction proposal might also be explained as some kind of political retribution, against the mayors of Jersey City and Hoboken, whose communities would be directly affected by any PATH reductions. Port Authority Chairman John Degnan dismissed Wisniewski's suggestion as having no merit: "Absolutely none," Degnan said.

See the Jan. 15 NY Times story here.

See the original CBS story here.

Read the original Star-Ledger story here.

Riders on the Raritan Valley Line of NJ Transit have always had to change trains at Newark to reach Manhattan. New "dual-mode" locomotives acquired by the railroad make a one-seat ride technically feasible, but implementation has been slow in coming, as NJT pleads that the direct service would cost them money.  A trial service began for some midday trains in March, 2014; now additional trips will run in weekday evening hours, according to reporting by Katie Lannan in the Star-Ledger (Dec. 19). Four trains will depart Penn Station on weekday evenings beginning January 12, with equivalent inbound service. The expanded service was originally scheduled to begin in November, but NJT budgetary constraints forced a postponement. Advocacy by the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition helped spark the transfer of $910 thousand in Federal congestion management and clean air funds to finance the new trips. The group's chair, Somerset County freeholder Peter Palmer, said "We're only halfway toward our goal of full Mid-Town Direct service" for all Raritan Valley trains.

In contrast, other lines which might benefit from direct service to Manhattan have not seen any new trains; lines on which this would be technically feasible include the Montclair-Boonton Line west of Montclair State University, the North Jersey Coast Line south of Long Branch, as well as the Gladstone Branch, which currently has only two rush-hour trains direct to Manhattan, with transfers (sometimes involving lengthy waits) at other times.

Read the complete story here.

PATH weekend service suspensions to the World Trade Center and Exchange Place stations have ended; normal service will operate on Saturday, December 20, and in the near future. However, PATH said that addititional closures will be necessary in the second half of 2015. PATH also advised that closures may be necessary on its uptown line to 33 Street, also in the second half of 2015, due to a cable fire earlier this year. The recent closures on the downtown line to World Trade Center were made necessary by damage from flooding due to Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as installation of Postitive Train Control technology required by Federal regulations. PATH said that one of the two trans-Hudson lines will remain open at all times, and that alternative transportation options are under consideration for riders inconvenienced by the 2015 closures.

Responding to riders' complaints, NJ Transit has scheduled classes on customer relations for their train crews. NJT already has a similar program for employees in its bus division, according to reporting by Larry Higgs of NJ Advance Media and published in the Star-Ledger (Dec. 3). Lackawanna Coalition chair David Peter Alan was quoted in the article; Alan said that he saw operational problems as more important, but that  "I don't see how it hurts to have a refresher in customer service skills once and a while. Sometimes front line employees need a refresher. I'd give the crews high marks. I'd like to see the operational problems straightened out." NJT had a similar focus on employee training back in 2003 under then-executive director George Warrington, who called the campaign "back to basics."

See the complete article here.

There's no new trans-Hudson rail tunnel a-building.  Riders to Penn Station cope with a basement labyrinth. Portal Bridge is falling down.  But, by golly, the 46,000 daily riders on PATH who use the World Trade Center terminal will have a world-class station -- someday, even if it costs four billion dollars.  David Dunlap, reporting in the New York Times (December 3), details how this flashy but extremely expensive addition to New York's transportation scene came about. Meanwhile, 13 years after 9/11, PATH riders still cope with an inconvenient temporary station. The now-predicted $4 billion price is twice what was considered when the futuristic design was adopted ten years ago; Port Authority executive director Patrick Foyle says that the agency never would have gone forward with the design had they known how much the project would balloon. But a $4.55 billion Federal "pot" for lower Manhattan transportation improvements proved irresistible.  In contrast to the WTC improvements, PATH riders to the 33 St. uptown terminal number only ten thousand less than at WTC, and nobody's planning a new station for them; they just end up in the basement subway complex there. It's not even clear that PATH commuters will make much use of the new above-ground complex: it's turning out to be a high-priced shopping mall. The Santiago Calatrava-designed station was due to open in 2009; the famous architect, however, is exacting in his methods, and demanded expensive features such as column-free interiors and hard-to-source curvilinear steel pieces; luckily, an early design that envisioned a roof that could open was scrapped. The station could've been built more quickly if the No. 1 subway line, running underneath, could've been temporarily shut down, but that would've angered Staten Islanders who use it to access the ferry to their home. Constantly changing leadership, adjacent WTC projects that interfered with the new station's construction, and additional expenses to speed up the lagging project all took their toll. And attempts to limit the cost have seriously compromised the effect of Calatrava's design. Barring further setbacks, the station is expected to open in 2015.  PATH commuters may not appreciate the shopping mall, but at least they won't have to endure a lengthy detour to get to their jobs.

See the complete story here.