The Murphy administration’s ongoing efforts to fix NJ TRANSIT will get a specific and public accounting every month beginning in November, and it could be good news for an agency that could use some.
Gov. Phil Murphy today signed an executive order requiring NJ TRANSIT to release monthly rail performance metrics focusing on train cancellations and their causes. At a press conference at the Bay Street Train Station in Montclair, Murphy said NJ TRANSIT’s performance has been improving, but still has a long way to go.
“We know we’re not there yet,” he said.
According to his Transportation Commissioner, however, “there” may not be that far away.
“I think you’re going to see at the beginning of next year things ramp up and start to see real tangible improvement,” said Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, who also serves as chairwoman of NJ TRANSIT’s board.
Whatever the performance, the public will be able to measure and compare it to past performance under the new requirements issued today.
“The step we’re taking today requiring performance metrics to be released monthly will give rail commuters the information they need to make informed decisions and provide accountability to the public in real time,” Murphy said.
The key performance metrics contained in the monthly releases will include the total number of cancellations each month and a listing of the specific types of cancellations, on-time rail performance and mean distance between failures of each NJ TRANSIT line, and other information deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Transportation.
NJ TRANSIT will provide the public with a uniform progress report beginning with data from October 2019, to be released in November 2019. The release will also include historical month-by-month information dating back to January 2017.
