With a 15% NJ Transit fare increase scheduled to take effect Monday, commuters interviewed and who weighed in on social media were almost unanimous: The agency’s service is not worth a fare increase.
If it sounds harsh, consider the judgment of Lamel Clark of Rahway, who as an ex-New Yorker has been riding subways and buses “since the fare was 80 cents” and has commuted on NJ Transit for six years. He called it worse than the 4, 6, 3 and L (subway) trains, when interviewed in Penn Station New York.
“It’s like those Russian dolls, where you keep opening the doll heads and there’s another one in there,” he said while waiting for his Northeast Corridor line train. “That’s New Jersey Transit, you never know how many Russian dolls you’ve got to go through before you finally get home.”
Clark and other commuters were interviewed on June 13, less than a week before the scorching hot weather exasperated meltdowns of both Amtrak and NJ transit equipment and trains during the week of June 17 to June 21. On June 13, a track fire on nearby PATH tracks in Newark caused delays to NJ Transit trains to and from New York Penn Station.
NJ Transit customer service representatives in the station could only tell frustrated passengers about the delay and had no information about the cause that a check of PATH alerts had revealed.
‘It’s consistently bad’
Clark detailed his ordeal getting home on the evening of May 23 after a signal wire contacted an electric line on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and knocked out power and rail service. That turned his commute into a three-and-a-half-hour trip, he said.
“I ended up going to the Port Authority and taking the bus… After working all day, the last thing I want is a three-and-a-half-hour commute when I already had an hour-and-half commute to the city,” he said. “It’s consistently bad — it’s so bad I have a dedicated group chat with a few friends of mine that take it and they say go find another way home. And that’s commonplace.”
When asked if he thought service would improve after fares increased, Clark laughed out loud.
“I’m 48 years old, I’ve been in this city since I put 80 cents in the bus. Nothing is going to improve,” he said. “The trains are old, the seats are uncomfortable, the technical term is sh*t show. You get what you get.”
On Friday, 21 commuters told NJ Transit board members on the agency’s customer service and operations committee similar complaints about delays, suspensions and a lack of timely communication. A few said they feared losing their jobs because of train problems that their New York co-workers don’t experience.
Board member Shanti Narra, who’s also a Coach USA bus commuter, asked NJ Transit staff to investigate how to address the complaints.
“It’s clear we have to find some improvement,” she said. “We had 21 speakers and that’s more than we ever have. It’s representative of how much frustration there is.”
Realistic expectations
Most commuters have fairly realistic expectations — they’d like to be transported to and from work without trips resembling an Indiana Jones-style expedition. When there are problems, they’d like to get the bad news ASAP so they can use a plan B, as one woman told the board.
“I think the service has gotten worse, the reliability of trains has gotten worse, parking has gotten worse, so I’d say, no, it’s not worth it,” said Michael DeCheser of West Orange, who rides the Morris & Essex line.
One problem is when an NJ Transit train is listed on the video display board in Penn Station with a “standby” or “delayed” status message, and then it disappears from the screen. That happened to a Morris & Essex and a Montclair Boonton line train on June 13 during the evening rush.
“Last week (June 3 to June 7) I was watching the board and it said the train was coming in 25 minutes. It came in 25 minutes and didn’t stop — it passed through Secaucus,” said DeCheser, who added he was in Secaucus because of train troubles. “A lot of times what is posting on the board is not accurate. It’s stuff I think can be easily remedied.”
There is some hope for a better wait for DeCheser. Brick Church, the station he rides from, is scheduled for a $3.1 million waiting room renovation and $83 million in work to build high-level platforms, elevators and other accessibility projects.
Crowded trains and more breakdowns
In the last two years since COVID, DeCheser said conditions are getting worse.
“The trains are more crowded; they’re breaking down more often. There are catenary wire issues,” he said. “Stuff like that is creating more stressful conditions.”
While calling the service “fairly dependable,” Greg Winters of Berkeley Heights said it’s not worth 15% more.
“My line seems to have a lot of problems right now, I’m waiting on standby. I was looking at the alerts and it’s like, what’s happening with that train?” he said in Penn Station. “It’s probably going to come and go past 5:52 (p.m.) and then I’ll still be waiting.”
The 5:52 p.m. M&E train disappeared from the video screen. Winters said he only has two direct Gladstone Branch peak period trains to choose from.
“If I miss that one, it’s an hour… I’d love to have more availability on the Gladstone branch,” he said. “His alternative is to take another M&E train and transfer to a Gladstone train, which “opens up the door for more problems.”
“Usually the problems happen during the rush hour. It’s my biggest frustration,” Winters said. “I’m trying to get home and it’s always an Amtrak problem.”
On Thursday, Gov. Phil Murphy, Amtrak and NJ Transit announced a joint effort for short-term and long-term improvements to the Northeast Corridor infrastructures and trains to handle the delay and service suspension problems.
Dirty trains, communication issues
“It is not worth 15% more. If you’re paying more, the cleanliness of the trains would have to go up, the accuracy… as we’ve been standing here, it’s not on time,” said Jon Jacobsen of Warren, who commutes between Penn Station and Summit. “Everything has disappeared (from the video screen). I don’t know where it is.”
For the extra money, Jacobsen said he’d like timely alerts. He’s been commuting for six months after moving here from Denmark, where he said the rail commuting experience is vastly better and has more transparent information.
“Going in, it’s okay, going home is the tricky part,” he said.
There is no alternative transportation to the train from where he lives.
“The alternative is getting a car and getting up really early,” he said. “I’ve been considering it.”
Jill Grayson of Montclair watched her Montclair-Boonton line train disappear from the video screen as she stood in the “pit” in the Penn Station Seventh Avenue concourse.
“For 15% more, be on time,” she said. “I’ve taken Metro North and this is the worst, I’ve been doing this for three years, and Metro North is the best.”
Her complaints cover both the weekday service and the weekend, when trains run only every two hours from Bay Street Montclair.
“Every week there is a problem or multiple problems, or on the weekends it doesn’t show up, so they really have nerve asking for more,” she said. “Half the week it always gets stuck or you’re sitting or delayed from (Penn Station) NY.”
Old trains and sending single-level cars with jerky rides that result in crowding and people standing in the aisle are also complaints she had.
Northeast Corridor commuter Jim LaRegina of Woodbridge has taken to reporting other commuters’ tweets on X showing clouded train windows, broken seats, people standing and other issues, asking the question — worth 15% more?
“I report others’ tweets in the vain hope that the more NJ Transit shortcomings are publicized, maybe they will finally be shamed into addressing at least some,” he said. I’m against the NJ Transit fare increase... on top of what we already pay for lousy New Jersey Transit performance.”
He takes an 803 Metropark Loop bus operated by Coach USA, under contract for NJ Transit, to Metropark and had poor grades for both. No-show buses are his major complaint with that service, which he has written to Gov. Murphy and NJ Transit officials about. Trips are still being missed and the NJ Transit app says “no data available or scheduled to depart,” he said.
“I travel on New Jersey Transit trains and buses, which I grade D and F, respectively,” LaRegina said. “The late arrivals, cancellations, and beat-up trains and buses show as little consideration as the terrible scheduling.”
He contends the agency needs to offer more service, saying you should not have to wait more than 30 minutes for a train or bus, and that customer service should be available during the commuter rush periods .
“Phone New Jersey Transit customer service, you say? They stop answering calls at 5 o’clock in afternoon, just as evening rush hour starts, and don’t pick up again until 8:30 in the morning, just as the morning rush ends,” he said.
Perhaps one Penn Station commuter had the most succinct reply to the question of whether the agency deserves a fare hike.
“Hell no, because it sucks,” said Walter Tyrell, a Montclair Boonton line commuter. “It’s never on time, it’s always delayed, there is always something happening.”
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X @CommutingLarry
