Three members of the Ampere Alliance appeared at the Lackawanna Coalition meeting on February 27 and described their efforts to persuade New Jersey Transit to restore service at the Ampere Station, for the first time after it was discontinued almost 32 years ago.
Continue Reading Residents of the Ampere Neighborhood Want Their Station BackEssex County Transportation Plan 2045 Comes to Lackawanna Coalition
On October 24, David Antonio, Director of Planning for Essex County, came to the Lackawanna Coalition meeting to present Essex County’s “Essex 2045” transportation project. The project is to create a plan for all aspects of transportation in Essex County and to have a vision for what Essex Country transportation will be like in the next 20 years. A grant for this project came from North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. The previous plan was the Essex County Comprehensive Plan of June 2013.
Input on improving public transportation was, of course, the reason for Mr. Antonio’s invitation. Gathering of public input comes through a web-based application via survey questions and a mapping tool. A major point of the presentation was pedestrian safety. Bloomfield Avenue is one of the busiest and most dangerous streets in New Jersey. Although upgraded infrastructure has been installed on Bloomfield Avenue in recent years, more work needs to be done to ensure pedestrian safety.
Continue Reading Essex County Transportation Plan 2045 Comes to Lackawanna CoalitionBreakdown at Radburn
Today, I had a ticket to an New Jersey Symphony 1:30 p.m. concert at NJPAC in Newark. I always try to go by train, and usually would take the Pascack Valley Line. But midday service on the Pascack Valley Line is currently being bustituted, so I decided to drive to Radburn and take the Bergen County Line instead.
Train #1166 arrived three minutes late at 11:37 a.m. It was pushed by Engine 4028 and included cars 6017, 6759, 6573, 6762 and 6501.
Continue Reading Breakdown at RadburnA Trip to the Symphony: NJPAC
This past Saturday night, I had a ticket for a performance of the New Jersey Symphony at NJPAC in Newark. The concert started at 8:00 p.m., and I decided to take NJ Transit to the concert.
My Pascack Valley Line train was scheduled to leave the Anderson Street station in Hackensack at 6:56 p.m. (Interestingly, I would be taking Train #2122 on 1/22/22!) I left my home in Teaneck at 6:47 p.m. and arrived at the station six minutes later, at 6:53 p.m. On weekends, you can park in the station parking lot right across the tracks from the station, and I did so. As I was crossing the tracks to the station, I could hear the bells from a distant grade crossing, and my train pulled into the station at 6:55 p.m. It consisted of four Comet V cars, of which only one was open to passengers. That car, though, was adequate to accommodate the 35 or so passengers on the train.
NJT Cuts Bus Service; Coalition Objects
New Jersey Transit eliminated 4 bus lines running in Newark and Bloomfield, while cutting service on other lines in the area. The cuts will take effect on September 1st. The agency decided to save one of the routes slated for elimination; the #78, which provides service between Penn Station and Broad Street Station in Newark and Secaucus, primarily during peak commuting hours. At the same time, service on two other lines will be enhanced.
The Coalition objected to the manner in which notice of the cuts was given, because the official notice mentioned “optimization” of bus services, with mention of line eliminations relegated to the bottom of the document. The Coalition also objected to service cuts at a time when NJT is spending hundreds of millions of dollars for high-priced dual-mode locomotives, as well as 100 multilevel railcars that will not be needed to operate planned levels of rail service.
More Cuts in Newark Light Rail Service
New Jersey Transit again reduced service on the Newark Light Rail LIne between Penn Station and Broad Street Station on Labor Day week-end. Weekday service outside of peak hours now runs only every 30 minutes, increasing waiting times for transfer between Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton Line trains and the light rail to Penn Station. Weekday service had operated every 15 minutes until this past spring, when it was reduced to every 25 minutes. Cars now run every 20 minutes on Saturdays and every 25 on Sundays.