NJ Transit

History

NJT was founded on July 17, 1979, an offspring of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), mandated by the state government to address many then-pressing transportation issues. It came into being with the passage of the Public Transportation Act of 1979 to "acquire, operate, and contract for transportation service in the public interest." NJT originally acquired and managed a number of private bus services, one of the largest being those operated by the state's largest electric company, Public Service Enterprise Group. It gradually acquired most of the state's bus services. In northern New Jersey, many of the bus routes are arranged in a web. In southern New Jersey, most routes are arranged in a "spoke-and-hub" fashion, with routes emanating from Trenton, Camden, and Atlantic City. In addition to routes run by NJT, it subsidizes and provides buses for most of the state's private operators providing fixed route or commuter service, such as Coach USA, DeCamp, Lakeland, and Academy.

In 1983, NJT assumed operation of all commuter rail service in New Jersey from Conrail, which had been formed in 1976 through the merging of a number of financially troubled railroads and operated commuter railroad service under contract from the NJDOT. It now operates every passenger and commuter rail line in the state except for Amtrak; the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), which is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the PATCO Speedline, which is owned by the Delaware River Port Authority; two SEPTA Regional Rail lines, the West Trenton Line and the Trenton Line; and a handful of tourist trains in the southern and northwestern parts of New Jersey. Since inception, rail ridership has quadrupled.

In the 1990s the rail system expanded, with new Midtown Direct service to New York City and new equipment. On October 21, 2001, it opened a new station at Newark Liberty International Airport. On December 15, 2003, it opened the Secaucus Junction transfer station, connecting two major portions of the system, allowing passengers on trains to Hoboken Terminal to transfer to trains to Midtown Manhattan, saving an estimated 15 minutes over connecting with PATH trains at Hoboken. On October 31, 2005, NJT took over Clocker (NY-Philadelphia) service from Amtrak. Four new trains were added to the schedule, but cut back to Trenton.

During Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the rail operations center of NJ Transit was flooded by 8 feet (2.4 m) of water and an emergency generator submerged. Floodwater damaged at least 65 locomotive engines and 257 rail cars.

Governance

The Governor of New Jersey appoints a seven-member Board of Directors, four members from the general public and three State officials. The Governor has veto power on decisions made by the board.

Current operations

NJT's operations are divided into three classes: bus, rail, and light rail, operated by three legal businesses: NJ Transit Bus Operations, Inc, for buses and Newark Light Rail, subsidiary NJ Transit Mercer, Inc. for buses around Trenton, and NJ Transit Rail Operations, Inc., for commuter rail.

Bus

NJT operates 871 bus routes using 2,477 buses (leasing out the remainder to private operators) and the Newark Light Rail with 20 light rail vehicles (with numerous other line runs being subsidized by NJT). The bus fleet includes buses purchased for other New Jersey operators above the 2,477.

Light rail

NJT operates three light rail lines:

Rail

NJT has 11 commuter rail lines:

Additional special event service is provided on the Meadowlands Rail Line.

NJT operates over 100 diesel locomotives, of which 11 are supplied by Metro-North Railroad as part of an operating agreement for the Port Jervis Line, and 61 electric locomotives. It has over 650 push-pull cars, of which 65 are supplied by Metro-North, and 230 electric multiple unit cars.

Security

The New Jersey Transit Police Department (NJTPD) is the transit police force for NJT. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction with the primary focus on policing the numerous bus depots, rail, and light-rail stations throughout New Jersey. It employs 240 sworn police officers.

Repair, recovery and resiliency projects

Superstorm Sandy, on October 29, 2012, caused a 13-foot tidal surge that inundated many coastal communities. A report released in December 2013 by Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service found that NJT ignored flood warnings and did not follow its own damage mitigation plans. The storm's aftermath left washed-out track; movement of bridge girders; flooded rail stations; fallen catenary and damage to more than 300 pieces of rail equipment left in low-lying areas. NJT has undertaken various projects to restore and replace damaged infrastructure as well as take measures to mitigate future damage and upgrade systems. The creation of a "train haven" at County Yard began in January 2014. NJT has proposed the construction of a new generator in the Kearny Meadows that would be flood-proof. and support an electrical "micro-grid" that would be exclusively for train service.

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit in New Jersey includes limited stop bus lines, exclusive bus lanes (XBL) and bus bypass shoulders (BBS). Next Generation Bus is the term used by NJT to refer to the development of numerous bus rapid transit (BRT) systems across the state which are being studied by the agency, NJDOT, the metropolitan planning organizations of New Jersey (MPO), and contract bus carriers. In 2011, NJT announced that it would equip its entire bus fleet with real-time location, creating the basis for "next bus" scheduling information at bus shelters and web-abled devices and considered an important feature of BRT.

Northern Branch

NJT is planning to extend the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to Englewood or Tenafly along the Northern Branch, a freight rail line. As of 2012, a draft environmental impact statement has been released, but no funding has been identified.

Lackawanna Cut-Off

In May 2001, the State of New Jersey acquired the right-of-way of the Lackawanna Cut-Off. Constructed by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad between 1908 and 1911, this provided a direct route with minimal curves and grades between Slateford Junction, two miles (3.25 km) below the Delaware Water Gap, and the crest of the watershed at Lake Hopatcong (Port Morris Junction), the connection with NJT's Montclair-Boonton Line. This would restore long-distance service that the Erie Lackawanna last provided with the Lake Cities in 1970.

At the time of the Cut-Off's construction, the DL&W had extensive experience with concrete construction, but not on the scale that would be employed on the Cut-Off. All structures, including stations, bridges, interlocking towers and two large viaducts and thousands of fence posts, were made of concrete. Despite the lack of maintenance on these structures over the past four decades (and in some cases much longer), most are still in operational or near-operational condition. A 2009 study by NJT estimated that bringing the line back into operation to Scranton, PA would cost approximately $551 million, although service may be extended in several interim phases before reaching Scranton.

In 2011, the retracking of the Cut-Off from Port Morris to Andover, a distance of 7.3 miles (11.8 km), began. The project was delayed by a lack of environmental permits to clear the roadbed between Lake Lackawanna and Andover. Based on current projections from NJ Transit, the restart of construction, including extensive work on Roseville Tunnel, will occur in mid- to late-2016. The re-opening of service to Andover is projected to occur in October 2018. The proposed rehabilitation west of Andover, which has not yet been funded, would provide commuter rail service between Hoboken Terminal and New York's Penn Station, and would serve the growing exurban communities in Monroe County, Pennsylvania and the Poconos, as well as northern Warren County and southern Sussex County in New Jersey. In October 2015, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requested that a preliminary engineering study be performed in order to update the cost figures on the previous study. Funding for this study is currently being sought.

Glassboro–Camden Line

The Glassboro–Camden Line is a 18-mile (28.97 km) diesel multiple unit (DMU) light rail system planned for southwestern part of New Jersey in the United States. At its northern end in Camden it will connect with the River LINE with which its infrastructure and vehicles will be compatible. At the northern terminus, the Walter Rand Transportation Center, paid transfers will be possible to the PATCO Speedline.

West Trenton

The West Trenton Line is a proposed service connecting West Trenton Station with Newark Penn Station, connecting with the Raritan Valley Line at Bridgewater. As of 2004, NJT's estimate of the cost was $197 million. To date, no funding has been secured. Service ran on the line prior to 1983.

West Shore Commuter Rail Line

While the Northern Branch has proceeded to the EIS Stage, The West Shore Route is still proposed and has been included in NJ Transit's portion of the federally-designated Metropolitan Planning Organization North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for Fiscal years 2016-2019. The route holds perhaps the greatest promise in all of New Jersey since it travels through the heart of NJ Transit Bus Operations' Midtown "commutershed", with four bus routes (165, 167, 168 & 177) running well beyond capacity. The right-of-way has space for four tracks from Croxton Yard northwards to Dumont. Issues in starting commuter rail service are:

With these considerable construction issues, as well as no available space in New York Penn Station for West Shore Line trains, this proposal was put on hold until capacity into New York is increased.

The leadership of the municipalities along the route have been organizing for decades to get service running again and have been rezoning the areas around the former train stations ever since being told by NJ Transit that the number of projected riders is too low to justify investment.

Passaic-Bergen Rail Line

The Passaic-Bergen Passenger Rail Project would reintroduce passenger service on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway right-of-way between Hawthorne and Hackensack using new Diesel Multiple Unit rail cars.

Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM)

The Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM) line is a proposed south and central New Jersey commuter rail route to New Brunswick, Newark and New York's Penn Station. This would restore service previously provided by the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The line was originally proposed by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders in March 1980. It would run on a 40.1-mile rail corridor and would provide diesel commuter rail service from Monmouth Junction (South Brunswick), where the Jamesburg Branch partially joins the Northeast Corridor (NEC), south to Lakehurst in the interior of northern Ocean County. As of 2006, the line was opposed by Jamesburg and Monroe Township.

From Monmouth Junction the line would continue southeast to Jamesburg, Monroe, Englishtown, Manalapan, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell and Farmingdale. A new rail connection would be required in Farmingdale. It would proceed southward from Farmingdale to Lakehurst, passing through Howell, Lakewood, Jackson, Toms River Township, and Lakehurst/Manchester. Trains would also operate on the NEC between Monmouth Junction and Newark. Passengers for New York would transfer at Newark. Eight new stations and a train storage yard would be constructed.

In mid-February 2008, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine withdrew the Monmouth Junction alignment from the MOM Plan. Corzine opted to endorse the two remaining alternate alignments (via Red Bank or Matawan-Freehold, the latter which is currently part of the Henry Hudson Rail Trail). NJT is still planning to study all the routes as to not delay action further on the EIS, and says all three routes are still up for evaluation, although it will take the Governor's comments into consideration.

In late May 2009 representatives of the three counties agreed to back one potential route from Ocean County to Red Bank, instead of to Monmouth Junction, ending years of stalemate. Under that compromise, the line’s southern terminus would be in Lakehurst, and it would run through Lakewood along existing freight tracks to join the North Jersey Coast Line in Red Bank. It also includes the possibility of a spur between Freehold and Farmingdale.

In August 2010, NJT received $534,375 in Federal Funds to investigate the possibilities of a MOM line. Since that time there has been no further advancement of the project. The inertia is partially attributed to the cancellation of the Access to the Region's Core project.

Lehigh Valley

In November 2008, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), along with both Lehigh and Northampton counties, commissioned a study to explore extending the Raritan Valley Line to the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which would potentially include stops in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. This would resume passenger service previously provided jointly by the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey. These cities were last served in 1967.

Access to the Region's Core

NJT intended to construct a new two-track Hudson River tunnel adjacent to the two single-track Northeast Corridor tunnels built in the early 20th century by the Pennsylvania Railroad. NJT referred to the project as Access to the Region's Core, which would have used dual-power locomotives and a new rail junction at Secaucus, allowing for a one-train ride between the Port Jervis, Main, Bergen County, Pascack Valley, and Raritan Valley lines and New York Penn Station. The Lehigh and the West Trenton extension plans would require added capacity and the ARC project would provide that capacity.

The project broke ground in June 2009. Both the Federal Transit Administration and the Port Authority made public commitments of $3 billion to the project. However, the project was suspended on October 7, 2010 due to concerns that the State of New Jersey would be solely responsible for projected $5 billion in overruns. On October 27, 2010, Governor Chris Christie made a final decision to cancel the project. Amtrak later unveiled the Gateway Project, which addresses some of the issues ARC was meant to resolve.

Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link

Planned to connect Downtown Newark and Elizabeth via Newark Liberty International Airport, NJT is no longer pursuing the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link. The airport has a monorail link to NJT's Northeast Corridor Line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, both of which run to both Newark and Elizabeth.

Incidents