NJ TRANSIT Faces Tough Questions Following Spike In Delays, Cancellations
SUMMIT, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- NJ TRANSIT riders facing delays and cancellations are pleading for officials to stop their commuting nightmare.
And now lawmakers are also calling for action.
NJ TRANSIT commuters were once again left Tuesday to wait and wonder if they would get to work on time. A total of seven trains were cancelled during morning's rush hour.
"This summer they just keep cancelling trains and there is no plan," Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz said. "Number one problem: not telling riders."
Last summer was expected to be the "summer of hell" but it seems 2018 has taken the title. Commuter anxiety is at an all-time high -- not knowing if your train will be cancelled when you reach the platform.
"I mean it is just frustrating," Sheriff Ahned of Franklin, New Jersey. "The pricing has continue to go up, but the quality of service has not."
On average, 20 trains a day were cancelled the first three days of last week and again on Monday.
"I mean it would help to tell us what the problems are, but it just leave us in the dark." a commuter tells CBS2's Meg Baker.
Lawmakers are calling for a hearing down in Trenton, saying NJ TRANSIT needs to explain how the agency plans to fix this mess.
"Our constituents deserve an answer deserve to be able to get to work on time home reasonable manner," Munoz said.
NJ TRANSIT has blamed a number of the "annulments," as they call them -- mostly on engineers' unplanned absences -- as well as federally mandated positive train control implementation.
"How are they scheduling summer vacations, how are they scheduling scheduled time off coordinate -- we are not getting answers on any of this," said Munoz.
CBS2 has asked Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and Kevin Corbett, NJ TRANSIT executive director, to sit down with us. We have consistently been told they are not available. And so commuters have consistently been left squishing onto overcrowded hot trains without any real answers.
We also reached out to Democratic Assemblymen Dan Benson, chairman of the Transportation Committee. It is up to him to call a hearing with NJ TRANSIT. We have not heard back yet.
And no word on when Governor Phil Murphy's audit of the transit agency will be completed. That is now 100 days past due.
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