opinion

Opinion: NJ Transit needs fundamental reform

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board reported that NJ Transit’s failure to properly test its engineers for fatigue-inducing Sleep Apnea was a direct cause of the Hoboken derailment that killed Fabiola Bittar de Kroon, a 34-year-old lawyer with a 1-year-old daughter, and injured more than 100 passengers.

The NTSB also directed NJ Transit to install potentially life-saving positive train control or a similar system to stop runaway trains at Hoboken Station. NJ Transit had inexplicably applied for and received an exemption from federal rules requiring the installation of automatic speed control technology at Hoboken Terminal – its second-busiest station.

The NTSB findings, issued more than 16 months after the fatal derailment, came as no surprise to the more than 450,000 New Jerseyans who rely on NJ Transit every weekday or to members of the special Senate-Assembly committee that held months of hearings on problems at the embattled agency that is the largest statewide rail and bus operator in the nation.

Over the past decade, NJ Transit went from one of the finest mass transit operations in the nation to an agency plagued by insufficient and unreliable funding, increased breakdowns and delays, and unprecedented train cancellations. It is increasingly unlikely that NJ Transit will meet the Dec. 31, federal deadline for the installation of positive train control.

NJ Transit has suffered an exodus of top management and engineers to transit agencies in other states, and inadequate supervision by its board. It has mishandled sexual and racial discrimination cases, and mismanagement by Gov. Chris Christie’s patronage appointees has sapped staff morale.

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Furthermore, Christie made the worst policy decision of any New Jersey governor when he canceled the ARC Tunnel project in 2010. The ARC project, which was scheduled to be near completion now, would have doubled trans-Hudson rail capacity and provided one-seat rides for rail commuters on every rail line. It would have reduced breakdowns and delays by building new rail tunnels, constructing a new Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River and upgrading the Northeast Corridor track between Newark and Secaucus. Today, more than seven years later, federal funding for the new Gateway rail tunnel project is nowhere in sight.

NJ Transit needs a total overhaul by a new management team. Governor Murphy has taken the first steps in that direction. He ordered a thorough audit of NJ Transit’s management, finance and operations. He also nominated Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, a respected former New Jersey Turnpike Authority executive, as Transportation Commissioner and recommended Kevin Corbett, who has managed large-scale transportation projects, to be NJ Transit’s new executive director.

But it isn’t just a question of new management.

NJ Transit needs to be one of our top priorities for increased funding in Governor Murphy’s first budget if we are going to provide the safe, reliable service that commuters have a right to expect. And regardless of what NJ Transit’s new management is able to accomplish, we need to enact fundamental legislative reform to guarantee that NJ Transit never again slides into the state of dysfunction and downward spiral that has gripped the agency for the last several years.

Under Christie, NJ Transit raised fares 35 percent while providing worse service, which inevitably drove down ridership. In fact, NJ Transit relies on farebox revenues for over 50 percent of its budget – more than almost any other mass transit agency in the country.

NJ Transit diverts more than $550 million a year that should be going into needed capital projects to make up for continuing shortfalls in its operating budget, and depends on another $300 million in New Jersey Turnpike Authority toll revenues and other funds diverted from clean energy programs.

It will take years to put NJ Transit’s budget in order, but it is clear we will need to add between $80 million and $100 million for rail and bus operations in next year’s budget just to continue service and avert another fare hike.

We also need to enact comprehensive reform legislation to make NJ Transit more accountable to its riders and to the taxpayers.

I have introduced legislation with Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Morris, co-chair of the joint Senate-Assembly committee, and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, to expand the NJ Transit Board of Trustees by including New Jersey rail and bus riders, as well as mass transit policy experts recommended by regional transportation planning agencies.

Our legislation sets out strict requirements for public hearings both in the afternoon and evening on any fare increases or important schedule changes, and requires at least two board members to attend each hearing.

The legislation also establishes strong whistleblower protections to enable NJ Transit employees to come forward without fear to report on safety concerns or mismanagement, and tough ethics guidelines for board members and employees.

It requires multi-year budget and ridership projections to improve long-term planning, requires regular audits, and provides for strict legislative oversight of NJ Transit by requiring the appearance of top officials before legislative committees – whether future governors want them to appear or not.

We must take this opportunity to reform NJ Transit not only for those who ride its trains and buses today, but for the millions who will rely on the agency to provide safe, reliable transportation in future years.

Senator Bob Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, represents the 38th Legislative District in the state Senate. He chairs the Senate Transportation Committee and co-chaired a special Senate-Assembly committee that held joint hearings on NJ Transit issues in the wake of the fatal Hoboken derailment.