Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

  • Transit Use Hits Record

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    Use of public transit in the United States hit a new high in 2013, marking the greatest use since 1956, according to a report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and reported in The New York Times by Jon Hurdle (March 10).  The report covers trips by buses, trains, and subways; 10.65 billion individual…

    Read more

  • NJT Management Shakeup Rumored

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    A week after NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein retired and was replaced by Veronique Hakim, rumors circulated about a “clean sweep” that would further shake up the agency’s  top management.  According to reporting by Mike Frassinelli in the Star-Ledger (March 5), the directors of NJT’s rail and bus operations are also about to be…

    Read more

  • NJT Names New Executive Director

    –

    Donald Winship

    –

    Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim replaced James W. Weinstein as New Jersey Transit’s Executive Director on March 1. She was hired at a special meeting of the NJT Board on Feb. 24, although neither she nor Weinstein were present.  Commissioner James S. Simpson praised her, and advocates hoped for positive changes at NJT.  They included this writer,…

    Read more

  • A Hoboken Cure for the Midtown Woes

    –

    Donald Winship

    –

    Opinion Does it seem like almost every other day that there is a delay on trains to New York? Based on data from NJ Transit’s e-mail alerts, there have been delays, more often than every third day, reported to this rider, whose home station is Mount Tabor, on the M&E Line west of Morristown! In the 92 days from…

    Read more

  • Raritan-New York Direct Service Begins

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    No matter that there are only 5 trains a day each way.  No matter that they are only in mid-weekday hours, not at rush hours or on weekends.  No matter that the first train arrived packed with dignitaries, but at least 6 minutes late, no faster than the previous service.

    Read more

  • All NY Commuter Lines Overtaxed

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    Having a hard job finding a seat on  your train to Manhattan?  You’re not alone; all of the railroads serving the metropolitan area are having trouble coping with increasing ridership, according to an article on radio station WNYC’s Transportation Nation website by Jim O’Grady, and also reported on the air on February 25.  Ridership on…

    Read more

  • Panel to Investigate NJT Super Bowl Performance

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    New Jersey Transit’s performance on Super Bowl Sunday remains controversial, after it took hours longer than expected for thousands of fans to be transported after the game.  NJT has congratulated itself on handling far more customers than expected, but that hasn’t placated riders who couldn’t leave the stadium station for hours after the final play. …

    Read more

  • Bus Riders’ Plight Terrible: Opinion

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    Bus riders on NJ Transit get the short end of the stick, according to Alfred P. Doblin, editorial page editor of The Record newspaper.  After 3 years of riding NJT buses to his job, Doblin should know.  In the evenings at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, he writes, horrendous lines snake through the terminal as…

    Read more

  • Train Delays Top Priority for NJT: Riders

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    Even as Veronique Hakim waited to be appointed NJ Transit’s new Executive Director, users of the state’s vast public transit system had some early advice for her, according to Larry Higgs, reporting in the Asbury Park Press and other Gannett newspapers: make the trains run on time, and stop the delays that have plagued riders…

    Read more

  • Assembly Hearing on Super Bowl Cancelled

    –

    John Bobsin

    –

    A hearing in Trenton on NJ Transit’s controversial performance on Super Bowl Sunday has been cancelled, reportedly  because NJ Transit, the National Football League, and MetLife Stadium refused to cooperate, according to statements by Assembly Transportation Committee chair Assemblyman John Wisniewski and reported by Karen Rouse in The Record newspaper (February 21).  The hearing had…

    Read more

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Tags

Amtrak ARC bicycles budget bus buses Chris Christie conference Delays equipment fares From the Chair From the Railgram Gladstone history Hoboken Jim Simpson Jim Weinstein Joseph Clift LIRR Midtown Direct Montclair-Boonton Morris & Essex MTA Newark NJT board NJ Transit NJ Transit Board Northeast Corridor North Jersey Coast Line NY Penn Station Pascack Valley Line PATH Penn Station First Plan Raritan Valley RUN Safety SCDRTAC Secaucus Junction Super Bowl Superstorm Sandy transparency Transportation Trust Fund tunnels weather