Commuters will enjoy free rides on NJ Transit from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, following a summer of problems for the popular passenger rail.
The “fare holiday” covers NJ Transit trains, buses and light rail service in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Anyone who purchased an August monthly pass will get 25% off a September monthly pass.
“Understanding that our commuters have faced many disruptions this summer, we are providing a one-week fare holiday for NJ Transit riders,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement Thursday. “We also encourage New Jerseyans to take advantage of this opportunity, and we continue to be thankful to the many New Jerseyans who depend on public transit.”
NJ Transit has angered riders in all three states with inconsistent arrivals and departures all summer, combined with a poorly timed 15% fare hike on July 1. The company has largely blamed Amtrak for the issues, because the national operator owns the majority of train tracks in the northeast corridor.
Though NJ Transit occasionally runs promotions or discounts, an all-inclusive free week is essentially unheard of.
“It won’t cure everyone’s lack of patience, but it’s a small way to thank our hundreds of thousands of customers for their patience,” Murphy said Thursday on “Good Day New York.”
NJ Transit’s trouble began with a mid-June heat wave, which combined with a downed overhead wire to snarl rail traffic into and out Penn Station. Just days later, a power outage on rail lines along the northeast corridor disrupted Amtrak and NJ Transit service throughout the tri-state area.
Though NJ Transit has an average on-time percentage of 80%, that dropped to 69% in June, according to system statistics.
But the problems persisted even after the fare hike. Trouble struck again the middle of July, with cancellations and lengthy delays wreaking havoc on several commutes. One day got so bad that the mayor of South Orange wrote an “excuse note” for New Jersey commuters late to work.
NJ Transit said it has been working with Amtrak throughout the summer to improve service and repair overhead wires, track signals and substations.
