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COVID takes a toll on transit, with more and more canceled trains and buses this week

• Published: Dec. 30, 2021, 7:51 p.m.
• Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As COVID-19 cases hit new records in the state , more positive test results are affecting transit systems in New Jersey and New York with more more canceled trains, buses and subways as more transit employees test positive for the virus.

Between Monday morning and Thursday afternoon, a lack of a driver forced NJ Transit to cancel 27 buses in northern New Jersey and 70 more buses between 3 p.m. and 4:50 p.m. Thursday. In South Jersey, 22 buses were canceled between 12 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.,Thursday.

Operator availability also sidelined 19 Hudson-Bergen light rail trains Thursday. Unaffected are the Newark and RiverLine light rail systems.

Rail service fared better with four canceled trains due to crew issues Thursday afternoon.

But it’s been a tough week for regional transit systems as the coronavirus spike is affecting transit workers the same way it’s hit state Motor Vehicle Commission agency staffing, forcing some agencies to close.

Bus route 504, the 5:26 PM departure from Maryland Ave at Magellan Ave to Ventnor Plaza and the 6:20 PM departure from Ventnor Plaza to Maryland Ave at Magellan Ave, will not operate due to operator availability. — South Jersey Buses (@NJTRANSIT_SBUS) December 28, 2021

“The recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the state, region and country has also impacted NJ Transit, as we’re seeing a similar increase in positive cases and quarantines among our workforce,” said Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman. “Of the nearly 12,000 employees we currently have approximately 500 current COVID positive cases.”

That number climbed from 85 employees who had test positive as of Dec. 9 and from 32 in November, officials said. A question about what percent of the workforce is vaccinated wasn’t answered.

Driving those numbers have been record numbers of positive coronavirus numbers reported statewide. On Thursday state health officials reported another 27,975 confirmed cases of COVID-19 , breaking a daily records that have been set several times in the past two weeks. The state has exceeded a previous record six times since Dec. 22.

MBPJ train #1126, the 5:46 PM departure from Suffern, is cancelled due to crew availability. Please take train #1128, the 6:23 PM departure from Suffern. — Main-Bergen County Line (@NJTRANSIT_MBPJ) December 30, 2021

Despite that spike, NJ Transit is still operating 97% of full weekday scheduled rail service, Smith said.

“While we recognize the impact that just one cancellation has on our customers depending on that train, the cancellations are a fraction of the approximately 700 scheduled weekday trains,” he said.

Bus service is still operating approximately 94% of its full weekday scheduled bus service, he said.

“The recent surge has not had an impact on the Newark Light Rail and River Line so far, and while the HBLR (Hudson-Bergen) has seen some impacts in the last week, we’ve still been consistently operating between 94% - 95% of the full regular weekday schedule,” Smith said.

Passengers commenting about the cancellations weren’t as forgiving, especially if the cancelation resulted in a long wait for the next train or bus, or if several were canceled in a row. Some complained about use expensive options to get home, such as rideshare services.

@NJTRANSIT The 440 train to Hoboken was abruptly canceled with no warning but still showed updates on the app. Cost me $50 to get home from work; any comments???? — Nathaniel Crawford (@DET2NYC) December 30, 2021

NJ Transit officials encouraged riders to download the agency’s app and to sign up for email and text alerts and to check them before traveling.

‘In instances where the availability of crews and operators impacts service, we are communicating through all of our available channels including email and text alerts, push notifications on the mobile app, our website and line specific Twitter feeds,” Smith said.

NJ Transit wasn’t the only one affected by COVID crews shortages.

NYC Transit suspended service on the W, B and Z subway lines Thursday morning, citing crew availability due to COVID as the reason. Service on the southbound 2 subway line also was reduced, according to MTA alerts on Twitter.

MTA NYC Transit officials apologized for the less frequent service that occurred this week.

This Monday through Thursday, trains will run less frequently than usual. Like everyone in New York, we've been affected by the COVID surge. We’re taking proactive steps to provide the best, most consistent service we can. That means you may wait a little longer for your train. pic.twitter.com/l0GM9LvHKU — NYCT Subway. Wear a Mask. (@NYCTSubway) December 26, 2021

While PATH officials didn’t respond to questions in time for publication, a review of alerts showed service issues were due to other reasons such as signal problem on the Journal Square-33rd Street line on Monday.

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Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected] .

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NJ TRANSIT Mobile App 4+

New jersey transit corporation.

• #68 in Travel
• 4.8 • 215.3K Ratings

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Description.

Using the NJ TRANSIT Mobile App, it’s easier than ever to travel throughout New Jersey to New York and Philadelphia. NJ TRANSIT information is conveniently available to you. Buy and display passes or tickets securely and get transit options on your mobile device. •MyTix® mobile ticketing •My Transit Alert notifications; real time rail and bus arrival/departure information •Trip planning for rail, bus and light rail service Features: • MyTix – Buy and display your pass or ticket securely on your mobile device • MyTransit Wallet: Cash in App – store cash value to buy tickets and passes • Rider Tools – Manage My Transit alerts for push notifications, check service advisories and plan trips. • My Transit Alerts – Receive push notifications of NJ TRANSIT Rail, Bus & Light Rail travel alerts • Trip Planner – Receive suggested options for travel to your destination • Schedules – Make travel plans using quick station-to-station schedule for rail, bus & light rail • DepartureVision® – Get real-time train status for your selected station • MyBus® – View bus arrivals for your stop • Contact Us – Provide feedback on your travel experience

Version 2024.1.0i

New Rail Ticket Layout Bus Departure Gate Info Rider Tools Enhancements Bug Fixes

Ratings and Reviews

215.3K Ratings

No one helps

What is going to take to help when one of you riders has a problem, I’m new to buying anything I was always scare, and sure enough I bought a pass of 30 days, because I got a one month job in NYC, so to make it worth it saving money I bought a pass, well apparently I bought the wrong pass, I try using it for the first time on Tuesday of this week because that was when the job start it, I got an Intrastate instead of a interstate, so the driver made me aware of it I had no idea, that same day I went to custumer service in port authority Ny, and they gave me a number to call and no one help they were supposed to call me back and no one did I sent 2 messages through the app and nothing, so now I’m here writing this message to plead for someone to help me or guide of what to do, my savings are not savings any more because I’m paying out of my pocket and I can’t use the up, I need a refund to buy the right pass

Buy paper tix until this app is fixed

App was fine before in early summer when I used it, as of Aug 25th 2023 is very glitchy, wouldn’t process my (easy) ticket I normally get and a friend traveling with me ended up accidentally buying 6 (!) of the same tickets because the app kept telling them the purchase didn’t go through and to try again. They did actually go through, even after refreshing things the app didn’t send a pop up notice the purchase was successful, and NJ Transit didn’t send a receipt promptly via email saying so. Being on a train platform or on a train running into ticket/app problems creates high stress and headaches for conductors who end up hearing valid excuses why you can’t show your ticket, or that you were just overcharged trying to buy 1 but ended up with 6. Apparently NJ Transit doesn’t like giving refunds (what a scam) so my friends forced to try to use the extra tix to a location she doesn’t often go. NJ has a millions of tech IT people who can capably fix app bugs I’m sure.. NJ Transit management needs to hire better tech developers to keep these problems from happening-do more test runs before releasing a new update. Amateurs should not be running an app that a half million people or so need for train commuting. Please stay on top of tech issues and fix asap! Or just go back to paper tickets til app bugs are sorted out.

New version looks nice but WONKY and nonsensical.

The new version of the app looks nice and modern. But it’s very annoying that my monthly pass pops up instantly when clicking “my tickets” because i actually have other tickets! Also it displays horizontally, which is annoying because I never asked it to rotate. If the ticket wants to display horizontally to distinguish a monthly from a single use, fine, but the functions should still remain at the bottom because I’m not holding my phone sideways, I’m holding it vertically. It’s very frustrating when trying to close the monthly pass to continue using the app or display another ticket. Also, the new version’s “schedule” feature got rid of displaying if a route has transfers on the results screen. I almost stayed on a train that had a transfer to get to where I was going because you have to CLICK the route to see wether or not you need to transfer to a different line or not. The old version said wether or not a route had transfers or not up front. It’s very misleading because I want to avoid trains with transfers if I can, and people who are new to NJ transit will for sure stay on a train instead of transfer if they don’t click to expand the route info because they’re under the impression there are no transfers if It doesn’t say so up front. Please bring that feature back. Everything else is fine I guess.

App Privacy

The developer, NEW JERSEY TRANSIT CORPORATION , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

• Financial Info
• Contact Info
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• Identifiers

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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NJ Transit Northeast Corridor service resumes after overhead wire issue

Monday's overhead wire issues near Metuchen continued to impact New Jersey Transit service on Tuesday as repair work continued.

As of Tuesday morning, Northeast Corridor service resumed in both directions between Trenton and Rahway, but with some delays.

Those wire issues caused major disruptions to NJ Transit and Amtrak rail service on the Northeast Corridor during the height of the evening commute on Monday.

By Tuesday afternoon, NJ Transit and Amtrak both said they were operating regular service.

On Monday evening, Northeast Corridor rail service was suspended in both directions between New York and Trenton for several hours .

Service resumed during the evening commute, but was subject to up to two-hour delays.

Amtrak warned commuters that all trains traveling between New Brunswick and New York Penn Station would experience delays of at least three hours.

Video showed passengers exiting the disabled train between cars.

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Legislators press for answers on NJ Transit budget problems, turnpike widening

8-minute read.

New Jersey legislators peppered the state’s top transportation leaders with questions about NJ Transit’s budget problems, a controversial project to widen the New Jersey Turnpike, questionable decisions over tolls during this year’s budget hearings and how pedestrian fatalities are being addressed.

These hearings are held annually in the months after the governor announces his budget priorities in February and before the state spending plan has to be approved July 1.

Here is how NJ Transit CEO and President Kevin Corbett and Francis O’Connor, acting commissioner of the Transportation Department, handled more than five hours of questioning over two days in both legislative chambers. O’Connor has been on the job for only two months and answered questions about a number of issues and controversies that predated his time at the department.

NJ Transit budget problems

NJ Transit’s budget crisis, spending practices and recent decisions to plug its deficits, namely the controversial decision to raise NJ Transit’s fares 15% this July and institute an annual 3% increase after that, were among the most-discussed topics.

Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-Somerset, questioned why the agency moved ahead with fare increases instead of waiting to see how the state budget negotiations played out, especially since Gov. Phil Murphy proposed a new corporate transportation tax that could plug NJ Transit’s most immediate deficit and largely fill the gap anticipated in fiscal year 2026.

“I have a fiduciary responsibility, effective July 1, I have to make payroll,” Corbett said. “We have notice we have to give to unions so many days in advance if I’m going to be laying people off — there’s a whole process.”

Asked by multiple legislators what the outcome will be if the new corporate tax is not passed, Corbett said it will affect the agency’s ability to expand, plan long-term projects and improve service with new equipment.

“A lot of our projects are long-lead-time capital projects, equipment purchases," Corbett said.

"I’d like to look at expanding service more for South Jersey or wherever. We touched on Hudson-Bergen Light Rail,” Corbett said, mentioning the light rail system that has not reached Bergen County because of a lack of financial commitment from the state. “Those are all billion-dollar price-tag tickets that take years but benefit the economy for decades. But that takes real money.”

Story continues after video .

Absent additional state aid, draconian measures could be lurking, since the Murphy administration asked the Transportation Department to hire a consultant to identify reductions of 20% , or $600 million, in NJ Transit’s operating budget. The analysis will also develop strategies and recommendations to “meet needs, including service, cost and alternatives,” according to a request for proposals.

O’Connor offered little detail about the status of that work, except to say that it started in January. He didn’t elaborate when asked about the scope of the contract, whose details remain largely unknown. The contract has yet to be produced more than two months after NorthJersey.com filed a public information request for it.

Corbett added that the point of the study is twofold.

“If we don’t get funding, that’s the doomsday scenario, but they’re also looking at what are other best practices,” Corbett said, likening the study to a “independent appraisal.”

Assemblyman Brian Rumpf, R-Ocean, peppered Corbett with questions about the disputed decision to move the agency’s headquarters to the most expensive option presented by NJ Transit’s hired real estate consultant, Savills, which highlighted cheaper spaces or staying at the current building. To fix up the current headquarters in Newark, which the agency owns, would cost $58 million in “base building replacements” — repairs such as updating elevators and heating systems.

Corbett reiterated that using capital dollars to renovate its building instead of on other needs didn’t make sense. Yet the agency is spending $20 million from its capital budget to fix up the new headquarters space, also in Newark, plus $34 million from the operating budget, a total of $54 million that has grown from the original $40 million estimate.

Corbett acknowledged that agency officials didn’t go with the lowest bid when deciding on the location, but said they chose a site that could “accommodate our needs,” adding that in competitions like this “there’s going to be one winner and several losers.”

The building chosen, 2 Gateway, is owned by political donors of Murphy who were in touch with transit officials more than a year before the request for bids was issued about moving the headquarters to Gateway, seeking information about boardroom space and other specs, according to emails and documents obtained by NorthJersey.com .

Eliana Pintor Marin, D-Essex, the Assembly budget chair, voiced skepticism about NJ Transit’s overall fiscal future.

“None of us are saying that the CBT is the answer to this. I think you’re still going to have issues. The CBT is a very volatile tax,” Pintor Marin said, referring to the corporate transportation tax. “My concern is it’s not going to reach the level we all think it might reach and then you’re going to have still a problem year-to-year for the next couple of years.”

Pedestrian fatalities

Several legislators wanted to know what is being done to make pedestrian and cyclist safety a priority on New Jersey roads given the rapid increase in vehicle strikes over the last few years.

Zwicker shared a personal story about a friend who died in September after being struck by a vehicle while she rode her bike on Route 571 in Millstone.

Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, D-Mercer, said there have been four deaths on Route 129 so far this year, already exceeding the three deaths reported on that road in total last year.

O’Connor’s response — repeated when other legislators brought up this topic — was that “one thing we can’t control is driver behavior,” and that the Transportation Department is trying to increase education and outreach about road safety.

“How do we get them to slow down? How do we get them to obey? We are looking at ways to try to protect the pedestrians and the bicycles and the paths, and we will continue to do that, and we will continue to do our outreach on that,” O’Connor said, noting that a friend of his died in a recent vehicle crash on Route 1.

There was no mention that the state is prioritizing traffic-calming improvements, the internationally proven approach that uses myriad strategies to reduce driver speeds and improve safety, including street and landscape design.

He did not mention Hoboken or Jersey City, which have invested in these techniques and drastically reduced pedestrian fatalities. Hoboken hasn’t had a pedestrian or cyclist death in seven years.

O'Connor also didn't mention Vision Zero, an international initiative to eliminate all traffic fatalities. A bill that would have created the first state Vision Zero framework in the country — including a high-injury network database to identify zones where pedestrians and cyclists are most at risk — was pulled from a final voting session in January after outcry.

The version that was to be voted on had been amended in a way that “gutted most of the teeth” out of a bill that began as a national example, activists said.

New Jersey Turnpike highway widening

The controversial plan to widen the New Jersey Turnpike in Jersey City near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel for $10.7 billion did not go unnoticed during the hearings.

Assemblywoman Ellen Park, D-Bergen, asked O’Connor whether the highway widening would lead to “more cars on the road due to the expansion.”

O’Connor, whose role as commissioner includes chairing the Turnpike Authority board, responded: “I don’t see an abundance of more cars going down with that.”

However, the environmental impact statement the Turnpike Authority released in November predicts that the expansion could increase traffic by more than a third when compared with 2021 traffic figures. The turnpike’s analysis and details were first revealed by Streetsblog .

The turnpike expects that 20,593 vehicles will travel on the expanded stretch of the highway during peak hours daily by 2050, a 32% increase from the 15,595 vehicles that traveled there in 2021. By comparison, if no expansion takes place, traffic is expected to increase only 8%.

Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, asked how the cost for the project skyrocketed to $10.7 billion after initial estimates put it at $4.7 billion.

“I think the original estimate they used was based on old numbers,” O’Connor said, adding that he doesn’t think the mistake was repeated in other projects.

O’Scanlon said, “It seems like a hell of a lot of money to be spending on a very small, well, significant and wide portion of roadway, but per vehicle mile, per roadway mile, seems like a pretty high number.”

In response, O’Connor explained that this section of highway is original, from the 1950s, and that building “an elevated highway over water and land is more expensive.”

Toll increases

Some legislators were interested in hearing more about what went into Murphy’s decision to veto an increase in turnpike and Garden State Parkway tolls, weeks before the election and under political pressure to do so, only to reinstate them months later.

Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, R-Morris, pushed O’Connor on why the governor wasn’t aware of this beforehand and wanted more “post-election rationale” for going ahead with the increase.

“The governor asked to go look back and make sure that index was needed and make sure ... their books were in order, in the sense of looking at the operations and all their spending,” O’Connor said. “The 3% funds their $1 billion capital program.”

What wasn’t mentioned is that the turnpike is raising more revenue than is needed to cover debt service for its capital program.

“Toll revenues need to grow by 1% annually in order to cover debt service, which is reasonable, especially considering 3% annual toll rate increases,” according to Fitch.