New Jersey Transit

New Jersey Transit

NJT services samples rail bus and light rail.jpg
New Jersey Transit (NJT) provides bus service throughout New Jersey, commuter rail service in North and Central Jersey and along the Route 30 corridor, and light rail service in Hudson and Essex Counties, and in the Delaware Valley.
Info
Locale New Jersey (statewide)
Transit type Commuter rail, tram, tram-train, bus
Number of lines 11 (commuter rail)
3 (light rail)
247 (bus)
Number of stations 162 (rail)
60 (light rail)
27 (bus terminals)
18,000+ (bus stops)[1][2]
Daily ridership 940,877 (weekday)
392,613 (Saturday)
216,375 (Sunday)[3]
(2007 figures, all modes)
Operation
Began operation 1979
Operator(s) Commuter rail: NJ Transit
Bus: See bus article
Light Rail: See light rail article
Number of vehicles 2,477 (bus)
1,078 (commuter rail)
93 (light rail)
[3]
(2007 figures)
Technical
System length 536 miles (863 km) (rail); 107 miles (172 km) (light rail)[2]

The New Jersey Transit Corporation (usually shortened to New Jersey Transit, NJ Transit or NJT) is a statewide public transportation system serving the state of New Jersey, United States, and Orange and Rockland counties in New York. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, notably connecting to major commercial and employment centers both within the state and in the adjacent cities of New York, Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.

Covering a service area of 5,325 square miles (13,790 km2) , NJ Transit is the nation's largest public transit system by service area[2] and the nation's third largest provider of bus, rail and light rail transit by ridership[4], linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.

New Jersey Transit also acts as a purchasing agency for many private operators in New Jersey, with numerous private operators receiving equipment from New Jersey Transit (primarily buses) for route service within the state not controlled by New Jersey Transit.

Contents

History

NJ Transit, founded in 1979, was an offspring of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), mandated by the state government to address the many transportation issues that had developed at the time. NJ Transit 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." NJ Transit originally acquired and managed a number of private bus services. Conrail (or Consolidated Rail Corporation) 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.

In 1983, NJ Transit assumed operation of all commuter rail service in New Jersey from Conrail. 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 Hi-Speedline, which is owned by the Delaware River Port Authority; and a handful of tourist trains in the southern and northwestern parts of New Jersey. New Jersey Transit also runs most of the state's bus lines. 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 New Jersey Transit, NJ Transit also subsidizes and provides buses for most of the state's private operators, such as Coach USA, DeCamp, Lakeland, and Academy, providing fixed route or commuter service. Since inception, rail ridership has quadrupled.

In the 1990s, the 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, NJ Transit opened the Secaucus Junction transfer station, connecting two major portions of the system, allowing passengers on Hoboken-bound trains to switch trains to get to Midtown Manhattan more conveniently. The transfer saves passengers headed into Midtown Manhattan an estimated 15 minutes of travel time. On October 31, 2005, NJT took over Clocker (NY-Philadelphia) service from Amtrak. Four new trains were added to the schedule, but service was cut back to Trenton.

Current operations

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

Bus

Main article: New Jersey Transit Bus Operations

New Jersey Transit operates service on 247 bus routes and the Newark Light Rail using 2,477 buses[3] (leasing out the remainder to private operators) and 20 light rail vehicles (with numerous other line runs being subsidized by New Jersey Transit),[1] The complete bus fleet, including buses purchased by New Jersey Transit for other New Jersey operators above the 2,477, can be viewed here.

Light Rail

Main article: Light rail in New Jersey

New Jersey Transit operates three separate light rail lines:

Rail

Main article: New Jersey Transit rail operations

NJ Transit has 11 commuter rail lines:

NJ Transit operates over 100 diesel locomotives, of which 11 are leased from Metro-North Railroad, and 61 electric locomotives. Its fleet consists of over 650 push-pull cars, of which 65 are leased from Metro-North, and 6 are leased from SEPTA, and 230 electric multiple unit cars.[2]

Police Department

Main article: New Jersey Transit Police Department

The New Jersey Transit Police Department (NJTPD) is a transit police force for the New Jersey Transit Corporation in the state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with state wide jurisdiction with the primary focus on policing the numerous bus depots, rail and light-rail stations throughout New Jersey.

Future

Trans Hudson Express Tunnel

NJ Transit is preparing to construct a new two-track Hudson River tunnel adjacent to the two existing single-track Northeast Corridor tunnels (built in the early 20th century by the Pennsylvania Railroad). NJ Transit is billing this project as THE Tunnel or Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel, which will use Dual-Mode Locomotives and allow for the first time a 1-seat ride between the Port Jervis, Main, Bergen County, Pascack Valley, and Raritan Valley lines and Penn Station New York. Governor Jon Corzine has announced that groundwork may begin in 2009 with the tunnels finished in 2016[5]. Engineering has recently commenced on this tunnel, following recent approval of $2 billion of funding by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey[6].

Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link

Construction has been completed on a section of the Newark-Elizabeth Rail Link, a light rail project in 3 stages that will eventually link the downtowns of Newark and Elizabeth via the Newark Light Rail and the proposed Union County Light Rail. The first stage of construction, which links Newark Broad Street and Newark Penn Station via the Newark Light Rail, opened in July 2006. The remaining two stages of this project were removed from the list of NJ Transit's capital improvement projects on May 10, 2006, making it unlikely that they will be constructed.[7]

Passaic-Bergen Rail Line

Main article: Passaic-Bergen Rail Line

The Passaic-Bergen Passenger Rail Project is a project being conducted by New Jersey Transit to reintroduce passenger service on the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway. As of September 2008, plans call for service to run between Hawthorne and Hackensack using newly built Diesel Multiple Unit rail cars. [8] [9]

Lackawanna Cutoff

Main article: Lackawanna Cut-Off

In May 2001, New Jersey Transit purchased the property of the Lackawanna Cutoff. This line, constructed by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad between 1908 and 1911 provided a direct, level-graded route between the Delaware River (Slateford, Pennsylvania), two miles (3.25 km) below the Delaware Water Gap, to the crest of the watershed at Lake Hopatcong (Port Morris, New Jersey). The DL&W had a penchant for extensive concrete construction, and as a result, most of the structures, including stations, bridges, and vast viaducts are still in operational or near-operational condition, despite the abandonment by Conrail in 1979. A 2004 study conducted by New Jersey Transit estimates that bringing the line back into operation would cost approximately $350 million. The proposed rehabilitation project, which still lacks funding, if completed, would provide commuter rail service between Scranton, Pennsylvania and Hoboken Terminal on the Hudson River waterfront in New Jersey (with connecting service to trains serving New York's Penn Station). Service to Midtown Manhattan would be made available to the growing exurban communities in Monroe County in the Poconos, and in upper Warren County and lower Sussex County.[10]

NYC-Atlantic City service

Main article: ACES (New Jersey Transit)

On June 20, 2006, the board of New Jersey Transit approved a three-year trial of express train service between New York Penn Station and Atlantic City Rail Terminal. The estimated travel time will be 2½ hours with a few stops along the way and is part of the casinos' multi-million dollar investments in Atlantic City. Most of the funding for the new transit line will be provided by Harrah's Entertainment (owners of the Showboat, Ballys Park Place, Harrah's Atlantic City and Caesars Atlantic City) and the Borgata. The tentative start date for the service is fall 2008.[11] The Atlantic City-New York train trip would take about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Although fares have not been announced yet, early estimates suggest riders would pay about $100, a rate competitive with one-way ticket prices for Amtrak's high-speed Acela service between New York and Philadelphia.[12]

Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM)

The Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex (MOM)[13] line is a proposed south and central New Jersey commuter rail route offering those county's residents access to New Brunswick, Newark and New York's Penn Station. The line was originally proposed by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders in March 1980. This route 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), to Lakehurst. As of 2006, the line was opposed by Jamesburg and Monroe Township [14].

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 on this line would also operate on the NEC between Monmouth Junction and Newark. Passengers destined 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 2 remaining alternate alignments (Red Bank Alignment and the Matawan Alignment). NJ Transit is still planning to go forward with the study of all the routes as to not delay action further on the EIS, and says all three routes are still up for evaluation, although they will take the Governor's comments into consideration.

Northern Branch

Main article: Northern Branch (NJ Transit)

The Northern Branch is being developed as part of a plan to bring commuter rail service to eastern Bergen County. Initial plans were for this to be a light rail system, but NJ Transit is exploring options to use diesel multiple unit vehicles on the line instead.[15]

Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania

In November 2008, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC), along with both Lehigh and Northamptom counties, commissioned a study to explore the merits of expanding the New Jersey Transit line to the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which would potentially include stops in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 NJT Press Release with key facts about the agency at the bottom of the page
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 NJTransit Facts at a Glance for FY 2006
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 NTD filings for New Jersey Transit
  4. ↑ Vantuono, William C. "New Jersey's innovators: New Jersey Transit's billion-dollar capital budget is focused on creating a unified, statewide network of commuter and light rail lines. New technologies are a key part of that strategy", Railway Age, April 2004. Accessed August 22, 2007. "In late 2003, 20 years after portions of the Pennsylvania, Erie-Lackawanna, Jersey Central, and Lehigh Valley railroads or their successors were combined to form the nation's third-largest commuter rail system, Secaucus Junction opened."
  5. ↑ GOVERNOR CORZINE MAKES CAPITAL COMMITMENT FOR NEW TRANS-HUDSON COMMUTER RAIL TUNNEL: Applauds united support from New Jersey and New York senators, press release, dated May 10, 2006
  6. ↑ ENGINEERING BEGINS ON TRANS-HUDSON EXPRESS (THE) TUNNEL: NJ TRANSIT Board awards $82.5M contract, New Jersey Transit press release, dated August 1 2006
  7. ↑ New Jersey Transit: Newark City Subway (NCS) Extension to Newark Broad Street Station, accessed June 4, 2006
  8. ↑ http://www.njtransit.com/tm/tm_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=PressReleaseTo&PRESS_RELEASE_ID=2313
  9. ↑ http://www.northjersey.com/news/northernnj/28684864.html
  10. ↑ NJ Transit – New Jersey-Pennsylvania Lackawanna Cut-off Passenger Rail Restoration Project Draft Environmental Assessment
  11. ↑ NJ TRANSIT BOARD APPROVES NEW YORK – ATLANTIC CITY EXPRESS RAIL SERVICE press release, accessed June 20, 2006
  12. ↑ N.Y.-Atlantic City casino train service running behind
  13. ↑ NJ TRANSIT Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for MOM
  14. ↑ [1]
  15. ↑ http://www.northernbranchcorridor.com/
  16. ↑ "County eyes N.J. rail extension to area," The Morning Call, November 7, 2008.

External links

New Jersey Transit Corporation
Divisions
NJ Transit Bus Operations, Inc. (and NJ Transit Mercer, Inc.) • NJ Transit Rail Operations, Inc.
 NJT services samples rail bus and light rail.jpg
Other articles
Light rail in New Jersey
Enforcement
New Jersey Transit Police Department
Fleet
Bus • Rail
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