Commuters are used to being told to suffer in the short term, while waiting for long term solutions to their daily problems, such as New York

But several quick fix ideas suggested by commuter advocates and riders could address some of the issues that riders say range from the annoying to the dangerous.



The running of the riders: The dash of commuters after a track number has been announced for their train makes Spain's running of the bulls look like a fun run. Announcing track locations at least 10 minutes before departure time could give alleviate that, said David Peter Alan, Lackawanna Commuter Coalition chairman. The Long Island Rail Road, which shares Penn Station, already does this, he said.

"The last minute announcements create dangerous situations with hundreds of people desperately trying to get down a couple of stairways with only a few minutes to go before the train leaves," said commuter Stacy Sass McAnulty.

The disclaimer: Penn Station is the busiest train station in North America and ridership is growing, which will eat up any short term gains, said Richard Arena, Association for Public Transportation president.

Up the down escalator: This is a big frustration for commuters, when everyone on the platform is going up, but the escalator is going down. It adds to the time it takes to get to street level, but commuters said it's dangerous is when two trains load of people empty on to one platform.

"It's an operational issue. Amtrak should have people there to flip the escalator (direction) as needed," Alan said. "They should know when trains arrive, and flip them so they go up."

Clear tracks faster: The Long Island Rail Road can clear a train from a track faster than NJ Transit or Amtrak, Alan said, which opens it up for another train to unload or load passengers. He suggested they follow the LIRR example.



"One train delayed for 10 minutes can fill up the entire NJ Transit waiting area, which makes for a lot of fun when trains do get called," said commuter Dan Isaacs.

Remove the obstacles: Passengers have to squeeze into spaces between trains and walls and navigate other obstacles on the platform, which adds to the congestion, Alan said. Except for the necessary support pillars, Alan suggested getting rid of the unnecessary stuff, including replacing some escalators, with stairways, which take up less space.



Use Moynihan Station: Conversion of the existing Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue to a station is being financed by New York State and Amtrak and will help NJ Transit commuters by moving Amtrak riders out of Penn Station. Why stop there? The first phase extended Penn Station platforms under Moynihan. Alan said NJ Transit trains could unload there too, giving commuters more exits to get out of the station, he said.

Moynihan's first phase will help, but is a short term solution at best, Arena said. Adding tracks and platforms under the station is the long term solutions thats needed, he said.



Bonus idea: Bring back off-peak fares: Encouraging riders to travel outside rush hour for a discount is a reason commuter railroads offer off-peak fares, which NJ Transit ended in 2010. Bad idea, said Alan, who mentioned that other commuter railroads use them to manage travel patterns.

"If they restore off-peak fares, it will divert occasional riders on to off-peak trains to free-up capacity during peak times," Alan said. "It won't cost a dime in infrastructure."



Fare incentives could be used to encourage commuters to travel to Hoboken and take PATH trains or ferries to New York, he said.

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



