Lackawanna Coalition

advocating for rail passengers since 1979

Tag: Jim Simpson

  • NJT Names New Executive Director

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    Donald Winship

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    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,…

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  • Report from the Chair: Jan./Feb. 2014

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    David Peter Alan

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    Everybody knows that New York’s Penn Station (NYP) is crowded with commuters during peak-commuting hours, and we have a way to reduce demand for those scarce seats that will not require any capital investment. We call on New Jersey Transit to restore reduced “off-peak” rail fares, and to implement fare policies that will make it…

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  • Commish: NJT Head Needs Help

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    John Bobsin

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    According to New Jersey State Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson, NJ Transit is probably the most complex transportation company in the country; “It’s more complex than United Airlines—it’s United Airlines on steel wheels and rubber tires”, according to reporting by Mike Frassinelli in the Star-Ledger  (Jan. 30).  Therefore, says Simpson, NJT Executive Director Jim Weinstein needs…

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  • Coalition Says Information Flow Lacking

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    John Bobsin

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    Although most rail transit services in the Northeast have been restored after Superstorm Sandy, in New Jersey most NJT commuter rail services remain severely curtailed or totally suspended.  As the outage nears its third week, many users of the service find little information available as to when it might resume, or even what is being…

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  • NJT Debates Electric-Car Options

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    John Bobsin

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    NJ Transit has invested heavily in new passenger equipment in recent years; customers note the “multilevel” (double-deck) equipment in service on most lines, but the railroad has also purchased new diesel and electric locomotives, and most recently a fleet of “dual-mode” locomotives has begun arriving—these units can operate both as ordinary diesels or as electric…

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  • Talking Crossing Gates to be Tested

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    John Bobsin

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    After 3 teenagers were killed by trains in 2 incidents on successive days in October 2011, NJ Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson convened a task force of experts to find ways to improve grade-crossing safety. (Two of the youths died not at a grade crossing, but while trespassing on a railroad trestle, on a line that…

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  • Study Highlights Transit-Oriented Development

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    John Bobsin

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    Once upon a time, trolley lines built amusement parks at the end of their lines to encourage ridership.  The modern-day equivalent may be the “Transit Village”: development at transit hubs, where transit users can live, work, or shop just steps from their train or bus.  A report due out on September 24 by New Jersey…

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  • “Gateway” Project Gains Traction

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    John Bobsin

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    Increasingly, transportation experts and politicians are getting behind a new trans-Hudson rail tunnel plan, the so-called Gateway project, according to Steve Strunsky, reporting in the Star-Ledger (June 14). The catchier “Gateway” name isn’t the only advantage over the now-defunct Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project, derided as “the stop in Macy’s basement”.  Like ARC,…

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  • NJT Adjusts Bikes-on-Trains Policy

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    Donald Winship

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    This article is from Railway Age, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Lackawanna Coalition Calling it a “newly relaxed Bike Aboard Policy,” New Jersey Transit Monday said it will allow bicycles to board at all of its train stations effective July 1. But while the policy includes all stations, access is still…

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  • Bicycle Policy Under Review

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    John Bobsin

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    More than two years ago, NJ Transit changed its policy on the use of trains by bicyclists, publishing (in timetables) rules that restricted boarding or leaving trains with bicycles to stations with high-level platforms: it’s more difficult and perhaps less safe to do this at stations with low-level platforms, which requires the cyclist to carry…

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