New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy decided to offer a week of free public transportation to passengers due to frequent service disruptions during the summer. From August 26 to September 2, all passengers in transit through New Jersey will be able to ride public transportation for free as a token of appreciation. The move comes at a time of ongoing challenges for New Jersey’s transit system, and the governor hopes to ease the inconvenience for riders and demonstrate the government’s commitment to fixing the problem.
Over the past few months, NJ Transit has suffered multiple service problems, including overhead power lines and signal system failures, high-temperature train outages, and a 15 percent fare increase that took effect July 1. These problems have caused great inconvenience to passengers who rely on public transportation and have aroused the high attention of Governor Murphy. Murphy said he knows this has been a difficult summer for NJ Transit and the administration will do its best to correct the problems.
To apologize and thank passengers for their understanding and support, Governor Murphy announced that from August 26 to September 2, all transportation fares will be waived. This free ride week is not only a thank you to the loyal passengers, but also a concrete measure taken by the government to ease the pressure on passengers during the difficult summer conditions.
For passengers who have already purchased the August pass, they will automatically receive a 25% discount on the September pass through the mobile app, ticket vending machine or ticket window. In a statement, Murphy said, “Given the many transportation disruptions our riders have faced this summer, we are offering a one-week fare discount to NJ Transit riders. We are working closely with Amtrak to investigate and resolve the issues that occurred this summer, particularly the service disruption on the Northeast Corridor (NEC). We hope this fare concession period will bring some relief to our passengers.”
The governor also noted that many of the service disruptions were centered on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC), which is also one of the busiest rail lines in the United States. In response to these issues, Governor Murphy has met with the leadership of NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak and immediately implemented a series of short-term improvements. NJ TRANSIT has increased inspections of platform equipment, while Amtrak has stepped up inspections and repairs of overhead wires, track signaling systems and substations along the NEC. These collaborative efforts have resulted in a significant reduction in infrastructure-related accidents.
To further address Amtrak’s infrastructure issues, a number of long-term measures have also been taken, including increasing resources to enhance testing of substation transformers and evaluating the time window for expanding repair and upgrade work. Nj Transit is also working with Amtrak to seek federal and state cooperative grants to accelerate the replacement of overhead contact lines, substations, and transmission and signal lines in support of the overall capital renewal program.
In a statement, Murphy said, “We recognize the impact these service issues have had on riders over the past several months and remain committed to improving the travel experience for transit customers.” We also encourage New Jerseyans to take advantage of this opportunity, and we will continue to thank the many New Jerseyans who rely on mass transit.”
In addition, NJ TRANSIT acknowledged that the River LINE light rail service has not met its performance standards in recent weeks. This week, NJ TRANSIT implemented a supplemental bus program to temporarily improve service reliability and predictability for weekday riders. At the same time, the governor’s office also asked NJ TRANSIT’s contract operators to expedite necessary repairs and upgrades to light rail vehicles to restore reliable weekday light rail service as soon as possible.
Officials stressed that while the issues won’t be completely resolved immediately, riders can enjoy the opportunity to commute for free in the meantime. This is not only an acknowledgement of the problem, but also an olive branch extended by the state government to commuters to ease the inconvenience caused by the service disruption.
The governor’s office also noted that future improvements will continue to be made to ensure that the New Jersey transit system can provide more reliable service.
