Gov. Murphy Touts Heightened Investments in NJ TRANSIT

SECAUCUS, NJ—At a press conference here on Thursday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy highlighted increased investment in NJ TRANSIT and a commitment to bring attention to turn around operations of the transit agency after what he termed was nearly a decade of neglect.

The governor was joined at the press conference by New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti and NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kevin Corbett. Among the improvements cited at the press event were increased funding, engineer recruitment and attention to customer experience that have already resulted in restoring reliability through a reduction in cancellations and improvement in on-time performance.

“After years of mismanagement, our administration’s first budget included a historic increase in funding for NJ TRANSIT, enabling the agency to begin a rebuilding process to restore safety and reliability for commuters,” said Gov. Murphy. “Over the course of the past 18 months, NJ TRANSIT has hired its first Customer Advocate and Chief Customer Experience Officer, recruited hundreds of new bus drivers and train engineers, and met federal deadlines to install Positive Train Control, among many other improvements.

He added, “Now, with the largest investment in NJ TRANSIT in state history, this progress will continue so that NJ TRANSIT will once again be the world-class mass transit agency that New Jersey commuters so richly deserve.”

The governor included a $150-million increase in funding in the FY2020 state budget proposal. Other improvements of note include:

• A $31-million joint investment between Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT to improve railroad infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor (NEC), running from the Portal Bridge all the way to Trenton, with work having already begun on improvements at Newark Penn Station.

• The recruitment of 500 new bus drivers and more than 100 train engineers to tackle the shortage that began during the previous administration.

• A renewed commitment to effective communication with customers.

• The first quarter of 2019 saw an overall 47% decrease in cancellations versus the first quarter of last year.

• Over the last three months, on-time performance has consistently improved over the previous year: March 2019 – 93.4% vs. March 2018 88.2%; April 2019 93.8% vs. April 2018 at 92.7%; May 2019 93.2% vs. May 2018 at 91.7%

• The creation and appointment of NJ TRANSIT’s first Customer Advocate and Chief Customer Experience Officer.

“In a state as densely-populated as New Jersey, NJ TRANSIT plays a vital role in keeping New Jersey’s economy strong and its residents moving,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chair Gutierrez-Scaccetti. “The investments we are making in recruitment, funding, and customer service reflect our unyielding commitment to providing safe, reliable, convenient and cost-effective transit service for all New Jerseyans.”

“We have taken major steps to rebuild the foundation of NJ TRANSIT with critical investments to modernize our train and bus fleets along with record setting levels of recruiting, training and hiring,” said NJ TRANSIT’s Corbett. “But this is only the beginning. We will continue to maximize our resources to improve the customer experience and deliver the services customers depend on.”