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Commuters line up at ticket vending machines in Penn Station New York on Monday evening despite a call for commuters to protest last month's service problems by refusing to show their May monthly tickets on trains. (Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

The first day of a social media organized protest against NJ Transit's weeks of dismal performance called No Pay May seemed to be stuck in the station Monday evening.



Commuters, who were encouraged to show April's monthly ticket instead of May's, seemed to be largely unaware of the protest, but had strong opinions about a month of delays surrounding two derailments, a train in a Hudson River tunnel and Amtrak track repairs.



Two out of seven people interviewed in Penn Station New York Monday evening were aware of the NoPayMay protest. Few who posted on social media said they participated.





I paid and so no commotion of people not paying. Better ways to protest then trying to steal a ride. Work from home and don't pay or drive. — njshawn (@njshawn) May 1, 2017





Technically, under the letter of the law, commuters who refused to pay their fare could face theft of service charges, but officials said no one was charged Monday evening.

"There were no incidents," said Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman.

Commuter Michael Mazitelli said he showed an April monthly pass to the conductor on a Main Line train "who then proceeded to give up on checking passes." He also wasn't challenged on Northeast Corridor train he rode between New York and Secaucus.

"I'm not sure if No Pay May had a big effect,' he said, adding that such a protest might be difficult to do for commuters who have to transfer between New York and Bergen trains at Secaucus Junction because they need a valid ticket to go through turnstiles in that station.

I gave a knowingly nod to my conductor and he continued on. — Chris Groves (@arkitect75) May 1, 2017

Matt Visconti was among the regular commuters interviewed at Penn Station who said he heard of the protest. While some commuters called for some form of refund for April fares because of the delays and overcrowding, Visconti said he didn't expect anything beyond cross honoring of train tickets on buses, ferries and PATH that NJ Transit offered during days following the derailments.

"Beyond that I'm being realistic, I don't expect anything beyond cross honoring," he said. "I just want to get to work on time."

Commuter Darius Dehad of Glen Ridge was aware of No Pay May, but said the decision was made for him when the conductor on his Montclair-Boonton line train didn't check tickets Monday morning.



Others felt the effort raised awareness of problems NJ Transit commuters experience, despite Gov. Chris Christie's statement that he hadn't heard of overcrowding on trains.

"I bought my May monthly, but I thought about it," said Brian Mclaughlin, who rides the Morris & Essex line between New York and Summit. "I'll give them my ticket in 45 minutes because that's the usual delay."

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

