A Reply to Deb's Comments

Did you serious riders/readers have an opportunity to read Deb's comments on my recent post? Thanks for that, Deb - I think you nailed it. Indeed - last night's delays and lack of communication about train status were a PR nightmare for NJ Transit, although I assume that with budget and service cuts, this is only a preview of what's to come: more lines and equipment down, fewer individuals to service and maintain them, fewer trains overall and more irate riders.

Gonna be a hootnanny!

Listen, as for the hearing, I give you a TON of credit for going. I know your remarks were measured, accurate and well delivered. But you also had to know going into it that NJ Transit was just going through the motions, right? I mean, the "leak" of a memo projecting a 30% increase was likely designed to shock us into accepting a 25% increase (by their hillbilly calculations) was a gift.

If they were really people-focused and heard the valid concerns their riders, they would not have only offered a break to bus and light rail riders, they would have rolled back the hike on train fares as well, wouldn't you think?

So, although I am generally not a conspiracy theorist, (and have limited tolerance for those who are,)as a PR hack myself, I do appreciate masterful manipulation of the masses. And that, my friends, is what happened. Because even though we are all threatening to drive or quit our jobs or hire rickshaws - honestly now - most of us are still going to line up on April 20 to get our May passes just like steer queue up right before they end up on a McBun.

Am I right?

Read it and Weep

This link was forwarded by NJ Transit in an e-mail that did not offer a reply option. I am sick to my stomach.

The Morning After

Today, of course I am in the car with the conductor I chased down after yesterday's free ride. He didn't cop an attitude with me, so he gets points. I should also point out he checked my pass before we even left Jersey Avenue.

Riding The NJ Transit Gravy Train

Carmine,

Whatever action was being taken to address my last complaint apparently did not stick. This morning on the NEC 8:17, I rode from Jersey Avenue all the way past Newark Penn Station before tickets were collected. I actually stopped a conductor when we got off the train to ask him why no one looked at my ticket until after Newark. He didn't know. Of course, he didn't know. And he didn't want to talk about it either.

So NOW what are you going to do?

How can you allow train after train to ferry people for free on such a regular basis? Why in the world do you not have a strategy in place to collect fares from each and every passenger AS THEY BOARD?

It's really just too easy for you to reach into my pocket. I don't like it and I really don't think that you are even really trying.

So, how do you like that? On the very day NJ Transit voted to increase fares, another trainload of rush hour commuters rode from Jersey Avenue past Newark Penn Station for free, free, free.

When we arrived at New York Penn - late, by the way - I confronted a conductor to ask which car the card game is in so I can join him tomorrow morning. He got that deer in the headlights look and I watched the cogs come to life and begin to turn the wheels in his head while he figured out this was heading nowhere good, and that he should am-scray before I got wise and checked his breast pocket where his name is embroidered. (Embroidered!) Needless to say, I was so transfixed by watching him figuring out how to deal with me, I actually did forget to grab his name. (He was one of those people who process with their whole being; his physical bearing changed as he took hold of himself. I was really fascinated by that and it did pull me off my game just a little.) Not that it matters. I wouldn't really want to single out one guy when he's not the only one futzing around.

Being a train conductor is not a job I would want necessarily, but you have to agree it's a pretty decent gig. You have a union behind you that negotiates your way out of doing unpleasant things like - say - wresting puking Ranger fans from their seats, or mopping up the hotdog-popcorn-Budweiser-Jägermeister vomit that winds and sloshes on the floor under the seats to where my tan suede loafer-clad feet happened to be planted unsuspectingly. Collecting fares and sticking to a schedule also seem to be tasks the union smartly assigned to the "Optional" category.

Well, I'm pretty well resigned to the fact that my commute will be jacked to $400+ a month and I will be the beneficiary of even fewer amenities and pleasantries on NJ Transit. So with that said, I better get back to work because I am going to need this job to pay for the privilege of getting here late and irritated five days a week.