NEWARK, NJ — The nation's third-largest transit system has welcomed several new board members as it continues to face commuter ire over delays and cancellations and struggles to complete a federally required safety system by year-end.

New Jersey Transit held its monthly board meeting Wednesday night.

The new members include a former state senator whose appointment to the board has been held up because he also serves on a state public utilities board.

The meeting came as commuters at Penn Station dealt with lengthy delays because of a power issue.

Bob Gordon attended Wednesday night's meeting as a non-voting member and said he expects the matter to be resolved soon.

NJ Transit's board hasn't had a full complement of members for several years, and recent legislation ordered it to be expanded from eight to 13 members.

“NJ Transit regularly monitors ridership to match service with customer demand by maximizing our use of limited resources,” said an agency spokesperson in a prepared statement.

Since Jan. 2018, more than 700 new bus operators have been added. Riders are taking about 2,000 more passenger trips each weekday. Seven classes of train engineers have graduated this year.

NJ Transit refreshed its website and more improvements are on the way. The mobile app has a new look. The agency says since the redesign of the app, its rating has climbed from a 1.8 to 4.7 out of 5 stars in the App store.

The Gateway Project to add two tunnels will greatly expand capacity and service. The states of New York and New Jersey have pledged funding. But federal money has not been allocated.

Marvin Scott and contributed to this report.