Politics, Infrastructure, And Safety, Oh My

Livingston residents, have you been thinking or fuming about how horrible your commute into and out of Manhattan has been lately? I have been both fuming and thinking about it, and I don’t even use NJT for my commutes into the city.

If you ride the NJT rail system then you have likely experienced delays, cancellations and moments of pure anger. My wife uses the Morris and Essex line like many others from the Livingston area do. Her morning (along with others) starts off driving to the mall, parking her car in the free park and ride area, hopping on the Jitney to South Orange, and then connecting with a train to Penn Station which is usually close to on time. The afternoons are a different story with cancellations and delays; for her Friday seems to be the worst day.

We have all heard the reasons for the recent delays and cancellations, we have seen the fiery exchanges at NJT hearings, Governor Murphy has spoken up about the issues, and lately we witnessed our train system as a top story on the local news.

So, what is really going on here?

In May, I could no longer take it and I wrote a letter to New Jersey Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett. My letter stemmed from an evening where my wife went to see Billy Joel, a concert she was really looking forward too; but rather than enjoying the concert she was more worried about her commute home. By the time I picked her up she was nearly in tears from frustration, and she’s an experienced commuter. Theb we find out her friend who also attended the concert had her train cancelled on the Bergen line. She didn’t get home until close to 1am, even though the show ended at 1030pm.

I explained to Mr. Corbett, who in his defense only started this role in early 2018, the current difficulties of the NJT train rider and offered my own personal stories. I told him that because of the inconsistency of the transit service my wife and I won’t go into the city to see shows or dine on days we don’t already need to be in the city.

Within a few weeks I received a letter from Dionna Sumner who is the Acting Senior Director of Customer Service and Transit information. Mrs. Sumner offered apology and explained the many issues facing the transit system. Some of us may be unaware that Penn Station was built over a hundred years ago and was designed to service about 4 trains an hour. Current data shows Penn takes in about 300 trains during the peak service hours.

Some other issues that the system and riders have to accept are Amtrak’s aging infrastructure as well as aging bridges and tunnels. The good news, is there may be light at the end of the tunnel as a couple of bridges have replacement plans under review. The politically heated Gateway Program still seems on track with NY and NJ still fighting the battles in legislature according to the Gateway Program Development Corporations website.

A highly discussed issue is Positive Train Control. So, what is PTC? In simple terms PTC is a system meant to stop a train in the event of human error. According to the National Transportation Safety Board’s web site, PTC has been a recommendation for over 40 years but it was not until a rail crash in California that Congress enacted the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008. NJT is removing trains from service in order to have PTC installed on all trains by the extended deadline of years end. PTC will add an extra layer of safety, and safety should always be first.

Mrs. Sumner thanked us for our patience and feels over time we will see some improvements. NJT is committed to their mission statement of “safe, reliable, convenient, and cost-effective transit.”

In the short term the commute may be painful, but just like any long term project the goal is to be a positive for future generations.