PATH officials unveiled a sweeping $1 billion three-year plan Thursday to bring relief to overcrowding and delays that frustrate commuters during the busiest travel times of the day.

Plans call for using a new signal system that was installed in 2018 to increase rush hour train frequency to a train every three minutes instead of four, to increase capacity by 10% in September and reaching a 40% increase for the Newark-World Trade Center line by the fourth quarter of 2022. Other lines would see a 20% capacity increase by that date.

“We will add capacity during rush hour by September 2019," said Clarelle DeGraffe, PATH general manager. “All riders will experience a 10% increase on the World Trade Center and 33rd Street line (by that date).”

That will allow PATH to move 18,000 more people, she said. PATH officials also will expand the Grove Street and Exchange Place stations in Jersey City to accommodate nine-car trains that will move more people and ease station overcrowding. Future plans call for funding 10-car train operation as ridership dictates, she said.

PATH has set ridership records. In one day, last Wednesday, it moved 304,000 people, she said.

That $80 million plan will extend the Grove Street station platform past walls on the Marin Street entrance. Exchange Place station can handle 10-car trains, but the plan will add exits and crossovers between the two platforms.

Commuters now complain the system is so crowded, they have to let several trains go by before they can squeeze on. Riders also expressed concerns that station platforms are dangerously overcrowded during the commuting rush.

The changes don’t mean rush riders will get a seat, but they will see some breathing room on trains, DeGraffe said.

Officials also plan to step up track and signal maintenance and inspections, and use data to preemptively fix issues that could cause delays, replace 40 switch motors at critical locations and fix water infiltration issues.

PATH will also implement a plan to handle station platform overcrowding, which may result in limiting the number passengers admitted, if police and officials decide it is reaching a dangerous condition. Riders will be alerted by text and email advisories before they get to the station and if crowding continues, they would be advised to use options such as NJ Transit bus and light rail.

A program to better respond to sick passengers will be implemented along with a public information campaign to encourage riders who are feeling ill to stay on station platforms to get help faster and reduce train delays, she said.

More Port Authority Police K-9 dogs and officers will be deployed during rush hour to quickly respond to unattended bags and suspicious packages.

To reduce the familiar “car equipment” delays, PATH is buying 72 new rail cars and will systematically overhaul the existing fleet, which is 10 years old.

PATH also is negotiating with New York’s MTA to replace the current fare cards with the new OMNY system now being tested in New York subways, she said. That means riders won’t need separate fare cards for PATH and the city subways, she said.

PATH is taking a page from NJ Transit’s book and hiring a paid customer advocate to yield complaints. Additional “platform controllers” will be hired to monitor and respond to problems.

Most of the issues being addressed by the plan were brought up in customer surveys, in addition to growing ridership and population growth in Hudson County municipalities served by PATH, DeGraffe said.

Riders also will start to get better information from PATH alerts in addition to updates about the causes of and resolution of ongoing problems causing delays, she said.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.