At its meeting on Monday evening, the Lackawanna Coalition announced preliminary plans to increase our outreach to our communities; the counties and municipalities along the Morris & Essex, Montclair-Boonton, and Gladstone Lines. We will not focus exclusively on community participation, however, because we would like to welcome anyone who is interested in helping us with our efforts to improve our transit.
Our purview goes beyond our main lines of concern, and includes connecting transit in a number of places. We are concerned with all trains on NJ Transit that go to Hoboken or Newark, from the Pascack Valley Line to the North Jersey Coast Line. We are also interested in connectivity with local bus services and community transportation, and we advocate for connecting schedules and fare integration, so riders can have a better mobility experience. We are also interested in PATH and the New York subways, since our members and constituents also use those services.
We have established a Montclair-Boonton Line Task Force, which will advocate for specific improvements in service on that line, particularly enhancements to week-end service, which should run every hour. Rachel Herman, a Coalition member and student at Montclair State University, will chair that task force, and we invite anyone from along that line to join us and become involved that that group’s efforts. We are also expanding efforts by our Gladstone Branch Task Force to advocate for structural and schedule improvements along that line.
We are also increasing our outreach to elected officials along our lines. Elaine Becker, former Mayor of Millburn and senior member of the Coalition, is helping to spearhead that effort. In addition, we are preparing to increase our legislative efforts in Trenton and Washington.
We invite YOU to come to a Coallition meeting. They take place on the fourth Monday of the month at 7:00 at Millburn Town Hall, 375 Millburn Avenue. Our meetings begin with a presentation about transit or transit advocacy. Our meetings are educational, and we believe you will find them interesting. If you are only familiar with transit from your particular train, we can teach you what you need to know.
We hope to see you at a meeting soon!
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