Category: Customer Experience
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NJT denies waging war on the indigent, but the railroad has replaced benches outside its Newark Penn Station entrance with unappetizing concrete blocks. NJT officials deny any discrimination in the $435,000 “improvement” project, which added greenery, “pedestrian upgrades”, flower beds, and improved lighting—but replaced comfortable benches seating 12 with plain concrete blocks, which seat 36—if…
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What do customers born after 1980 (the “millennial generation”) need from public transit? To find out, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been studying this new generation of riders, according to reporting by Matt Flegenheimer in The New York Times (July 23). For one thing, they take efficient transit for granted: they have no experience…
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One problem faced by NJT rail riders is finding clean restrooms before, during, and after their journeys. Few stations have toilet facilities at all, outside of major terminals; those that do are often closed outside of commuting hours; and toilets on-board trains are legendary places to be avoided if at all possible. Even some major…
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The New Jersey Transit Board voted at its meeting on June 12th to partner with Cablevision to install and offer WiFi service at stations and on trains. The system should be completed sometime in 2016. Cablevision will charge customers for use of the system, except that it will be included in the service that it…
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A proposed law to reduce NJ Transit fares for some Bergen County riders was released on June 10 by the State Assembly Transportation Committee. The bill would rescind a fare increase, effective March 1, that affected certain stations on the Main, Bergen, and Pascack Valley Lines. NJ Transit said that fare increases on those lines were…
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While energy experts worry that world production of oil has already peaked—”peak oil”—a different phenomenon may eventually require less oil in the U.S.: younger Americans are driving less, according to reporting by John Schwartz in The New York Times (May 14). The main source is a report by the U.S. advocacy group U.S. PIRG; author…
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In the ticket vending machines used by NJ Transit, as in those used in most transit systems, if you buy a $1 ticket with a $20 bill, you’ll be greeted by a cascade of 19 one-dollar coins: your change. No matter that the coins are not in general circulation and bring frowns at the counter…
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According to various media sources, the “cliff deal” tax bill passed by Congress this week increases the tax benefit available to transit commuters to $240 per month, up from $125 per month in 2012. A higher benefit has always been available for commuter parking, but in 2012 the previous parity between parking and transit was…
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During the recent Hurricane Sandy emergency, New York transit agencies increasingly relied on social media such as Facebook,Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube to keep customers informed. How well did they succeed? Some did quite well, others not so well, according to reporting by Ray Rivera in The New York Times (December 15). The Long Island Rail Road…
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While NJ Transit rail service has been returning slowly after the massive damage of Hurricane Sandy, riders’ frustration has been mounting, and not just over the lack of service, writes Mike Frassinelli in the Star-Ledger (November 13). The riders are also angered by what is perceived as a lack of communication from NJ Transit about…
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