NJ Transit to test WiFi in Port Authority bus terminal
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on November 13, 2014 at 7:55 AM, updated November 13, 2014 at 7:58 AM
NJ Transit officials want to bring some of the communications of the future to the aging Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Commuters will be asked to test drive part of it, a WiFi system designed to help them get travel information faster in a bus terminal with less than optimal cellphone reception now.
To make that happen, NJ Transit and the Port Authority have formed a Customer Information and Technology group, said Dennis Martin, NJ Transit general manger of bus operations.
A WiFi network inside the terminal would allow commuters to access NJ Transit’s “My Tix” app, which allows riders to buy tickets using their smart phone. My Tix is being tested on Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia NJ Transit bus routes, Martin said. Riders have complained about waiting in line to use ticket vending machines in the terminal.
“The next thing is the Wi-FI and we’re talking about launching a beta site and encouraging customers to test it,” said Veronique Hakim, NJ Transit executive director. “We’ll notify them when begins.”
That WiFi network is different than the existing WiFi service offered through the Optimum network in select NJ Transit stations and terminals, said Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman.
NJ Transit continues customer service improvements
By David Matthau November 10, 2014 12:05 AM
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New Jersey Transit, the third largest transit system in the U.S., is continuing its efforts to improve customer service by seeking feedback from its rail and bus customers.
NJ Transit trains (Annette Petriccione, Townsquare Media NJ)
In 2011, the agency launched its Scorecard initiative, which includes an online customer survey that gives riders the chance to rate NJ Transit’s overall performance in several areas including communication, rail and bus comfort, parking lot safety and customer service.
Customers are also able to offer suggestions for improvement, which NJ Transit said it uses to make meaningful management decisions.
“Soliciting customer feedback and getting customer satisfaction is now a top priority at NJ Transit. We encourage people to reach out to us with emails and through customer satisfaction surveys. If there’s something that we’re missing, we want to hear from our customers,” said William Smith, a spokesperson for NJ Transit.
One of the improvements made thanks to the customer service surveys is more accessibility to Wi-Fi. “A program has been launched to offer Wi-Fi at many train stations across the state. Currently there are 40 rail stations that are on-air, and by the end of the year, another 30 stations will be added to the network,” Smith said.
Read More: NJ Transit continues customer service improvements | https://nj1015.com/nj-transit-continues-customer-service-improvements/?trackback=tsmclip
What is truly astonishing is the total lack of knowledge of the plight of N/NJ commuters by politicians and the total ignorance of the near “shit hole conditions” of the Port Authority bus terminal over the last 40 years . These same people namely State Sen. Loretta Weinberg who were also stumped by traffic jams on the GWB.
JUNE 3, 2014, 8:18 AM BY KAREN RO– USE STAFF WRITER NORTHJERSEY.COM
Over the years, they have vented to family, co-workers and seat-mates about the arduous evening commute out of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan that seemed to be getting worse. And on social media, they discovered there were others just like them – fellow NJ Transit commuters on the verge of revolt over hourlong waits with seemingly little explanation from on-site representatives at the terminal.
Now those bus commuters have gotten the attention of NJ Transit officials – and state legislators. State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson will hold a public hearing on Port Authority Bus Terminal conditions on June 11 at the Richard Rodda Community Center, 250 Colonial Court, Teaneck.
The hearing is from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“We wanted to make sure in a most public way that NJ Transit and the Port Authority are well aware of the problems,” Weinberg said. “We’ve been hearing from our constituents.” She said they want to put pressure on the agency to alleviate the poor conditions at the terminal, where customers can be forced to stand for more than an hour at a gate awaiting their buses.
Customers have no place to sit and say there is no one providing updates or explanations as to why their buses are late or when they will arrive.
“It is a disaster,” Weinberg said. “Can you imagine having to commute to New York and you get finished with a day’s work and you have to go through that?”
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/sympathetic-ear-for-bus-commuters-1.1027986#sthash.7FalZKBI.dpuf
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.
Woman Calling NJ TRANSIT Customer Service Reaches Dating Line Instead
April 24, 2014 2:47 PM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A woman who intended to dial a NJ TRANSIT help line instead reached a very different kind of hotline. She called a hotline number posted on a customer information poster at the rest area, but instead heard a sex chat line message.
As WCBS 880′s Levon Putney reported, the woman was at the Vince Lombardi rest area on Wednesday morning when a self-serve kiosk at the park-and-ride ate her credit card.
She called a hotline number posted on a customer information poster at the rest area, but instead heard a sex chat line message.
“Welcome to America’s hottest talk line. Ladies, to talk to interesting and exciting guys free, press one now. Guys, hot ladies are waiting to talk to you, press two to connect free now,” the recording on the other end said.
“We regret the customer’s experience. It was an old sign that should have been removed long ago. It was brought to our attention, we addressed it immediately,” NJ TRANSIT spokesperson Nancy Snyder told Putney.
The transit agency surrendered the number in question in 2008. The phone company apparently reassigned it.
New NJ Transit chief may be looking to shake up agency’s leadership
TUESDAY MARCH 4, 2014, 8:53 PM
BY KAREN RO– USE
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Just days into her new job, NJ Transit’s new executive director may be shaking up the agency’s leadership, even while inviting rank-and-file employees to share their ideas for making the troubled organization work better.
“There are no ‘sacred cows,’” Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim said in a special message that went out to employees on Monday, her first full week into the job. “I want to know what works and what doesn’t – and in a constructive fashion, we can build a better, more efficient and more results-driven organization.”
Sources close to the agency said that employees welcomed her greeting, and that Hakim was already taking steps to change the organization, including asking Kevin O’Connor, vice president of the agency’s rail division, and Joyce Gallagher, the head of the bus division, to step down.
NJ Transit spokesman John Durso Jr. did not return a phone call seeking comment. Transportation Commissioner Jim Simpson on Monday said he could not comment on any leadership changes, but that Gallagher and O’Connor were still working at the agency.
NJ Transit scrambling to protect its logos after trademarks lapsed in error
Thursday January 30, 2014, 12:00 AM
BY KAREN RO– USE
STAFF WRITER
The Record
NJ Transit is hurrying to register seven trademarks — including its well-known orange, magenta and blue bands — with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because it failed to renew the marks before a 2012 deadline and a six-month grace period expired.
An official at the trademark office confirmed last week that one of NJ Transit’s most recognizable trademark slogans, “NJ TRANSIT The Way To Go,” accompanied by black and white bars, bands and lines, is among the marks canceled after lapsing for more than a year.
“They are applying [for a new registration], but nothing is registered,” spokesman Paul Fucito said.
This is not the first paperwork lapse at NJ Transit: Three years ago, the agency’s website, NJTransit.com, was shut down by its Web hosting company because the agency failed to pay its domain name fee. And while this instance is not as noticeable to the public and is not likely to result in the agency losing its logos, it shows a lack of attention to detail at the agency, experts said.
NJ Transit’s problems continue days before Super Bowl XLVIII
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 Last updated: Wednesday January 29, 2014, 6:45 PM
BY KAREN RO– USE
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Wednesday’s drama wasn’t part of NJ Transit’s playbook.
Just days before Super Bowl, the agency tasked with transporting thousands of ticket-holding fans to the Super Bowl saw two trains break down, stranding more than 800 passengers, and problems with its website.
Train problems began at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday when a New York-bound train carrying 27 passengers stopped under the Hudson River as the result of a downed overhead wire and a loss of power, said NJ Transit Spokeswoman Nancy Snyder. The passengers were trapped in the tube for several hours as temperatures dropped.
NJ TRANSIT PILOTS REAL-TIME SERVICE INFORMATION FOR BUS CUSTOMERS
MyBus Now pilot program begins on Mercer County-area bus routes on December 13
December 13, 2012
NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT today announced the launch of MyBus Now, the agency’s first real-time service information system for bus customers, which will kick off December 13 as a pilot program on 16 Mercer County-area bus routes.
“The launch of the MyBus Now pilot program marks an important step toward systemwide implementation of this vital customer information tool,” said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director James Weinstein. “With access to real-time bus location and arrival information literally at their fingertips, bus customers will be able to make informed decisions about their travel, even while on the go.”
MyBus Now will use “smart bus” technology to provide customers with access to real-time bus arrival estimates to a specific bus stop within a 30-minute window. Customers will be able to access the information in three ways: from a desktop computer through njtransit.com, from a web-enabled smartphone through the mobile version of njtransit.com, and via SMS-text messaging directly to their cell phones.
Starting Thursday, December 13, customers of bus routes that operate out of NJ TRANSIT’s Hamilton Garage will be able to use MyBus Now to access real-time service information. The 16 bus routes, which serve communities in Mercer County and parts of Somerset and Middlesex counties, include:
No. 600 Trenton-Plainsboro (U.S. 1 Corridor)
No. 601 The College of New Jersey-Trenton-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 602 Pennington-Trenton
No. 603 Mercer Mall-Hamilton Square-Yardville-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 604 East Trenton-Trenton Transit Center
No. 605 Montgomery Township-Princeton-Quaker Bridge Mall
No. 606 Princeton-Mercerville-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 607 Ewing-Trenton-Independence Plaza
No. 608 Hamilton-West Trenton
No. 609 Ewing-Quaker Bridge Mall
No. 610 Trenton-Princeton Seasonal Service
No. 611 Trenton-River View Plaza Circulator
No. 612 Lawrence-West Windsor
No. 613 Mercer Mall-Hamilton Square-Yardville-Hamilton Marketplace
No. 619 Ewing-Quaker Bridge Mall-Mercer County College
No. 655 Princeton-Plainsboro
NJ TRANSIT selected Hamilton Garage for the pilot program because the relatively small size of its operations and the fact that none of its bus routes intersect with other garages provide an ideal testing environment. The pilot will enable NJ TRANSIT to address any issues with the system prior to a full systemwide rollout in spring 2013.
NJ TRANSIT is currently taking delivery of 1,145 new buses that are already equipped with smart bus technology provided by Clever Devices LTD. In addition, NJ TRANSIT has procured additional smart bus platforms to retrofit the remaining buses in the agency’s fleet, including those on routes operated by private carriers under contract to NJ TRANSIT.
The Clever Devices platform offers many operational and customer benefits, including automatic bus stop announcements, vehicle condition monitoring, passenger counting and real-time location reporting. The data provided through this technology will allow for greater efficiency in terms of scheduling, planning and maintenance of the NJ TRANSIT bus network.
MyBus Now builds on NJ TRANSIT’s “MyBus” system, which launched in October 2010. Based on a system of bus stop ID numbers—unique five-digit numbers NJ TRANSIT has assigned to each of its bus routes—MyBus enables customers who have cell phones with SMS (text messaging) capabilities to receive bus schedule information for a specific stop directly to their cell phones. Customers can optain their bus stop ID online at njtransit.com, or from MyBus signs posted at bus stops statewide.
During the 8/9/06 Village Council Public Meeting, Mayor David T. Pfund
announced that Council members have now decided NOT to endorse any of the
design proposals submitted by NJ Transit for a proposed ADA compliant
renovation of Ridgewood’s train station.
In his public statement, Mayor Pfund cited the following concerns relative
to the three potential design schemes: 1) emergency access to the westbound
platform, 2) the proposed station’s proximity to existing senior citizen
housing, 3) potential changes in motor vehicle traffic patterns in the
vicinity of Ridge Road, and 4) increased walking distances for commuters.
So, it would seem as though we’re back to square one again. Only time will
tell if NJ Transit gets annoyed enough to take legal action.
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