NJ Transit-The Daily Ledger

New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the state of New York and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, connecting to major commercial and employment centers both within the state and in its two adjacent major cities, New York City and Philadelphia. In , the system had a ridership of .

Covering a service area of , NJT is the largest statewide public transit system and the third-largest provider of bus, rail, and light rail transit by ridership in the United States.

NJ Transit

NJT also acts as a purchasing agency for many private operators in the state; in particular, buses to serve routes not served by the transit agency.

NJ Transit

History

NJT was founded on July 17, 1979, an offspring of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), mandated by the state government to address many then-pressing transportation problems. It came into being with the passage of the Public Transportation Act of 1979 to "acquire, operate, and contract for transportation service in the public interest." NJT originally acquired and managed a number of private bus services, one of the largest being those operated by the state's largest electric company, Public Service Electric and Gas Company. It gradually acquired most of the state's bus services. In northern New Jersey, many of the bus routes are arranged in a web. In southern New Jersey, most routes are arranged in a "spoke-and-hub" fashion, with routes emanating from Trenton, Camden, and Atlantic City. In addition to routes run by NJT, it funds and provides buses for most of the state's private operators providing fixed route or commuter service, such as Coach USA, DeCamp, Lakeland, and Academy.

NJ Transit

In 1983, NJT assumed operation of all commuter rail service in New Jersey from Conrail, which had been formed in 1976 through the merging of a number of financially troubled railroads. Conrail had operated two extensive commuter railroad networks in northern New Jersey under contract to NJDOT; in turn, these lines were the successors of numerous commuter routes dating from the mid-19th century. NJT now operates every passenger and commuter rail line in the state except for Amtrak; the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), which is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the PATCO Speedline, which is owned by the Delaware River Port Authority; two SEPTA Regional Rail lines, the West Trenton Line and the Trenton Line; and a handful of tourist trains in the southern and northwestern parts of New Jersey. Since inception, rail ridership has quadrupled.

In the 1990s the rail system expanded, with new Midtown Direct service to New York City and new equipment. On October 21, 2001, it opened a new station at Newark Liberty International Airport. On December 15, 2003, it opened the Secaucus Junction transfer station, connecting its two commuter networks in northern New Jersey for the first time. The new station allowed passengers on trains to Hoboken Terminal to transfer to trains to New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, saving an estimated 15 minutes over connecting with PATH trains at Hoboken. On October 31, 2005, NJT took over Clocker (NY–Philadelphia) service from Amtrak. Four new trains were added to the schedule, but cut back to Trenton.

During Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the rail operations center of NJ Transit was flooded by of water and an emergency generator submerged. Floodwater damaged at least 65 locomotive engines and 257 rail cars.

Governance

The Governor of New Jersey appoints a seven-member Board of Directors, four members from the general public and three State officials. The Governor has veto power on decisions made by the board.

Current operations

NJT's operations are divided into three classes: bus, rail, and light rail, operated by three legal businesses: NJ Transit Bus Operations, Inc, for buses and Newark Light Rail, subsidiary NJ Transit Mercer, Inc. for buses around Trenton and Monmouth County, and NJ Transit Rail Operations, Inc., for commuter rail.

Bus

NJT operates 267 bus routes using 2,356 buses (leasing out the remainder to private operators) and the Newark Light Rail with 20 light rail vehicles (with numerous other line runs being funded by NJT).