11/20/2019

Rail News: Railroading People

Photo – STV Inc.



New Jersey Transit yesterday increased weekday peak period service on the Newark light-rail Broad Street extension to allow trains to operate every 10 minutes.

The service increase follows positive customer feedback on a trial of the enhanced service conducted this past summer during Amtrak trackwork at Penn Station in New York City, NJ Transit officials said in a press release.

During the trial, the agency implemented 10-minute headways between Broad Street and Newark Penn Station during peak hours in conjunction with service adjustments to the Morris & Essex and Montclair-Boonton lines between June and September.

The 10-minute headways on the line will now operate from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and from 3:30 to 8:00 p.m. each weekday.

Meanwhile, the agency earlier this week named Carmen Taveras its first chief of real estate, economic development and transit-oriented development (TOD).

Taveras will oversee efforts to increase non-farebox revenue and monetize assets throughout New Jersey, including assessing and developing recommendations for TOD opportunities.

The position was created in response to New Jersey Senate Bill S2333 signed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in November 2018. The bill required the agency to establish an office of real estate, economic development and TOD.

Taveras has more than 20 years of real estate experience, managing real estate portfolios and land development across U.S. markets.