The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has awarded grants to California’s North County Transit District (NCTD; $9.8 million), the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and Amtrak ($144 million), and New Jersey Transit ($18.3 million) under the FY 2020 Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair program.
The New Jersey Transit Board of Directors has approved a $2.6 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2021 and a five-year capital plan.
New green, yellow and red color-coded icons on New Jersey Transit’s mobile app indicate, respectively, light, medium and heavy ridership conditions on the agency’s trains and buses. NJT said it has launched this new feature in a pilot program “that allows rail and bus customers to see how full their ride is before they step on board, making a better-informed personal decision that optimizes their comfort level as they return to the system.”
New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) is the first public transportation agency in the nation to be awarded ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification for its corporate and customer data security efforts.
New Jersey Transit has exercised an option worth approximately $70.5 million with Bombardier for eight ALP45-DPA dual-powered (electric-diesel) locomotives. The acquisition is based on a contract awarded in 2008 for 26 initial ALP-45DPs, with an option to purchase up to 63 additional units. In July 2009, NJT purchased nine more ALP-45DPs, increasing the fleet 35 units. In December 2017, 17 upgraded ALP-45DPAs were ordered, upping fleet size to 52. This latest option, the first unit of which is expected to arrive in first-quarter 2022, will bring the NJT fleet to 60 units when delivery is completed.
This installment in Railway Age’s Rail Group On Air Podcast series with the Commuter Rail Coalition features New Jersey Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett, who discusses NJT’s approach to ridership recovery
The manual ticket puncher has been a railroad conductor’s stock-in-trade tool for generations. On legacy systems like New Jersey Transit, which traces its roots to fallen flags like the Pennsylvania Railroad and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, paper tickets are still in use, though they are fast being replaced with mobile phone apps. NJT has now begun a program to equip conductors with high-tech handheld mobile devices that scan and validate both paper and electronic tickets and passes.
Following completion of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)’s requirement to perform 384 error-free test runs between Denville and Summit, NJ Transit has advanced its Positive Train Control (PTC) program into the Extended Revenue Service Demonstration (ERSD) phase.
Governor Phil Murphy and NJ Transit CEO and President Kevin Corbett unveiled NJ Transit’s 10-year strategic plan entitled—NJT2030: A 10-Year Strategic Plan—and a complementary 5-Year Capital Plan. Together, these plans aim to provide the vision for NJ Transit to build the future of transportation in New Jersey and, with it, “drive a 21st century economy in an accountable, transparent and environmentally-sustainable way.”
NJ Transit has been awarded $1.4 billion in federal aid through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.