NJDOT Chief Wants to Work on Reliability

This article was published in the Asbury Park Press. It is quoted here as a matter of interest, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Lackawanna Coalition.

If it takes a village to raise a child, maybe it takes a transportation commissioner riding the trains to make them run on time?

New Jersey Transportation Commissioner James Simpson, fresh from a Northeast Corridor Line ride to Wednesday’s NJ Transit board meeting, ordered the agency to do a study of what it would take to bring the corridor’s state of good repair to the same level as the rail lines NJ Transit owns and to meet with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Amtrak President Joseph Broadman to find a way to make those upgrades happen.

About 80% of NJ Transit’s commuters either use the corridor or, in the case of North Jersey Coast, Morris & Essex, and Raritan Valley Line riders, have their trains use the corridor for the sprint to and from New York, officials said.

Simpson said he got a taste of the commuting life when he took the train to Wednesday’s NJ Transit board meeting and left 30 to 40 minutes earlier to ensure he’d make the 9 a.m. meeting.

This article was formerly available at http://www.app.com/article/20120314/NJNEWS/303140056/NJDOT-chief-wants-work-reliability