NJ TRANSIT Expected To Unveil Contingency Plans Soon As Possible Strike Looms
ALLENDALE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) - NJ TRANSIT workers may go on strike in just 11 days, so many are wondering what contingency plans are being made.
The plan would include more buses, extra park-and-rides, ferry service and increased PATH trains, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported. Those additions would only accommodate about a third of NJ TRANSIT's ridership, however.
Ridership has doubled since the last NJ TRANSIT strike in 1983, Schuck reported. About 110,000 passengers take NJ TRANSIT into Manhattan every day.
Commuters are worried about the possible chaos.
"You don't know whether you're going to have a way to get to work," one commuter told Schuck. "It's concerning. It's a big concern."
"If there is a strike, I think it will be really bad for the state," another commuter said. "One hundred thousand people trying to get across the bridges? It's not going to work. It'll be a disaster."
The worker's union told CBS2's Jessica Schneider Tuesday the two sides are as far apart as they have ever been.
"What's the contingency? If they do walk off the job, how are they going to keep all these people moving to and from work?" asked commuter Dan Martin.
Contingency plans could be revealed by Thursday, 1010 WINS reported.
The unions have authorized a walkout just after midnight on March 13 if there is no contract deal. Both sides are meeting with National Mediation Board Friday in Washington, D.C.
