file photo Boyd Loving
Reader says: Let’s take a lesson from NJ Transit and install GPS tracking devices on all Village of Ridgewood owned vehicles.
NJ Transit disciplines 10 workers after using GPS to root out fraud, waste and abuse
MAY 5, 2014, 10:07 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014, 10:49 PM
BY KAREN RO– USE
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Ten NJ Transit employees have been disciplined — including three who were fired and one who was suspended for 30 days — after the agency installed GPS tracking devices in its vehicles as part of a $500,000 program to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse.
NJ Transit is among a growing number of public and private entities turning to GPS — the Global Positioning System, a technology that relies on satellite and radio signals – to track vehicles and employee productivity and behavior. The agency outfitted 480 vehicles with the technology. The New Jersey Department of Transportation more than two years ago installed GPS on its maintenance fleet to keep tabs on where vehicles are located, as well as when drivers are speeding or parked for too long. And Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop announced last year that the city would install GPS in public works vehicles to increase accountability and save fuel.
“This was a proactive, cost-savings initiative taken by NJ Transit,” said NJ Transit spokesman John Durso Jr., who confirmed the disciplinary actions after an inquiry from The Record.
Durso said that in the roughly six months since GPS was installed, the agency has already seen a dramatic drop in usage of its fleet, which includes such vehicles as the Toyota Prius, Ford Focus, Jeep Liberty and Dodge Stratus.
“This includes a 40 percent drop in hours used, and a 31 percent drop in gallons of fuel used,” Durso said.
He said the fleet logged 108,655 hours from January to March of 2013, compared with 68,069 hours for the same three-month period in 2014. Fuel usage, meanwhile, dropped from 9,314 gallons to 7,099 for the period.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-transit-disciplines-10-workers-after-using-gps-to-root-out-fraud-waste-and-abuse-1.1009385#sthash.49XmcXKx.dpuf
