Association of Railroad Passengers NEWSLETTER PLUS! November 2011 Published Bi-Monthly PO Box 68, Chatham, N.J. 07928-0068 www.NJ-ARP.org FEATURED IN THIS EDITION OF NJ-ARP NEWSLETTER PLUS! 1) In the battle of the Superheros, NJ-ARP’s intrepid Vice President Jack May takes on Batman and NJ Transit, masquerading as the Gotham Transit Authority (see Pages 2, 3, 5, and 6). Highlights of his battle were published by both the Star-Ledger and the Asbury Park Press. 2) Elsewhere, NJ-ARP ART Award-winning Representative Joe Versaggi battles arch nemesis PANY/NJ as he asks them why PATH has no emergency reciprocity with New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (see Page 4). 3) In a similar vein, NJ-ARP Director and Publications Manager Les Wolff asks why NJ Transit treats its Lines like they were operating in a foreign country with a different currency when it comes to an integrated fare structure for rail-LRT intermodal travel (see below). 4) Some great news from Rose Heck (see Page 4). There may fi nally be some “B” in HBLRT. The long-awaited (3 years??) DEIS for the Northern Valley extension is expected in January. 5) Our web links directory this month (see Page 5) has articles dealing with subjects as diverse as the removal of garbage cans from New York’s subway stations to securing the right-of-way from Poughkeepsie to Schenectady. Memo to NJ Transit: Light Rail Lines ARE Part of Your Network As users of all three NJT Light Rail Lines (Hudson-Bergen, Newark, and RiverLINE), we fail to understand why it is not possible to buy through-tickets from one of NJT’s rail stations to an NJT light rail station (and reverse). NJT needs to reprogram its TVMs to add the “Rail + Light Rail” ticket option. For example: A rail ticket purchased from a TVM at Ramsey Route 17 going to Newark is printed with Route 17, Secaucus, and Newark on it. Why can’t the TVM be programmed to add the additional $1.50 (full fare) or 70¢ (underground fare) for the and print the ticket RT 17-SEC-NWK + LRT. Same thing is applicable for passengers transferring to HBLRT at Hoboken or RiverLINE at Trenton. Why should it be necessary for customers to have to make multiple purchases for a continuous one-way trip? The HBLRT add-on would cost an additional $2.10; the RiverLINE an additional $1.50. As both rail and light rail tickets are the same width, the only additional requirement for passengers would be to make sure they remember to insert their ticket in the LRT station validator before boarding the light rail vehicle. NJ-ARP Annual Report Now Available On Line As NJ-ARP President Al Papp said as he began his President’s Message quoting Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. That is an apt description for what has been a tumultuous year in the annals of transportation in New Jersey – and NJ-ARP’s 30-year history. Al’s message as well as reports from many of our Directors and Representatives can be found in this 26-page report that is available on NJ-ARP’s Web site at http://www.nj-arp.org/annrpt_11.pdf

Coming in the December NJ-ARP NEWSLETTER REPORT...... a full report on NJ-ARP’s annual meeting in Bordentown on November 12th plus much, much more. NJ-ARP NEWSLETTER PLUS! Editors: Lester W. Wolff and Douglas John Bowen • Production: Lester W. Wolff Additional reporting and photos for this issue by Jack May NJ-ARP NEWSLETTER PLUS! is for NJ-ARP Patron and Sustaining Members Only. We’ve tried hard to make NEWSLETTER PLUS! full of information, and to make it worth the extra money our members donate for NJ-ARP ’s political activities. Additional membership benefi ts are listed in our membership brochure which is available upon request by telephoning us at 201-798-6137, ext. 2, or by writing us at P.O. Box 68, Chatham, N.J. 07928-0068. Additionally, members comments and suggestions are always welcome either by telephone or in writing. www.NJ-ARP.org Reprinted from The Star-Ledger, Wednesday, November 9, 2011 ‘Dark Knight’ fi lming at light rail station turned Newark into Gotham, commutes into disasters

By: MIKE FRASSINELLI for transportation to and from work 20 minutes, took 44 instead. He said and school,” May, a member of the once they reached the Orange Street NEWARK — Jack May’s plot to have New Jersey Association of Railroad Station, Newark-bound light-rail riders a timely light-rail trip was foiled by the Passengers, told NJ Transit’s board of were herded into buses and driven caped crusader when Batman caused his directors today at their monthly meeting along congested streets to Newark Penn usual 20-minute ride from Bloomfi eld in Newark. Station. to Newark to take more than twice as long. Jim Weinstein, NJ Transit’s executive Newark Light Rail provides about 20,000 director, defended the agency’s decision trips a day. Pow! to turn over the light rail station to Batman A passenger waiting with May on last Thursday and the same bat station “I cannot help wondering how many Friday was certain she was going to be on Friday. people were late for work and may docked a day’s pay for being late to her have been docked pay as a result,” May housecleaning job. “It was an opportunity to generate said. revenue for the state,” Weinstein said. “I Sock! think that it’s an opportunity to showcase Were it not for a good Samaritan gesture The fi lming last week of the Batman the state. Was there some inconvenience by May, an upset Brooklyn woman who fl ick “The Dark Knight Rises” at the associated with that? Obviously there missed her connecting bus would have underground Station on was ... but I think overall we made the arrived to her housecleaning job in Upper the Newark Light Rail inconvenienced right decision, and we’d do it again.” Montclair after the house was locked, passengers on their way to jobs, classes causing her to lose a day’s pay. and other venues, May said. NJ Transit was paid $310,000 for use of the station, an agency spokeswoman May said he accompanied the woman to “My gut reaction to this was to consider said. the Grove Street Station in Bloomfi eld, it an outrageous affront to New Jersey where his vehicle was parked, and drove taxpayers who depend on NJ Transit May’s trip Friday, which usually takes her to her job.

NJ-ARP Questions for NJT regarding impact on riders and fi nancial supporters of New Jersey Transit of fi lming Batman 1. Financial. 1a. Was New Jersey Transit paid to shut down the Newark Light Rail Line? 1b. If so, who paid NJT and how much did the agency receive? 1c. What was the total amount of money spent by New Jersey Transit on this project? 1d. What was the total amount of money received to offset these costs? 1e. What was the total amount of fi nancial gain or loss for New Jersey Transit? 1f. Please split the amounts into the following categories or equivalents for both cost and revenue Capital: Paving and other infrastructure changes Buses: Cost of fuel used to shuttle passengers between Orange St. and downtown Personnel: Salaries of bus drivers and NJT people to handle passengers Misc.: Returning signage at stations, cleaning property, etc. Logistical: Cost of management time to arrange this 2. Decision Making: 2a: Was any effort made to persuade the producers to have the fi lming accomplished in a manner limiting the impact on the ridership of Newark’s line, perhaps on the weekend or in the midnight hours? 2b. If so, what was actually done and why didn’t NJT insist service to its passengers was of prime importance? 2c. Who put pressure on NJ Transit to allow the fi lming to occur on these two weekdays? 3. Communications: Passengers tend to ignore placards posted in stations and on cars because they appear so often and many do not concern them, dealing with weekend operations and platform changes. Were recorded public address announcements made during the previous week on the light rail cars, warning that travel times would be increased signifi cantly and indicating that passengers should adjust their schedules? If so, were they bilingual and repeated often (like the recorded fare announcements) so passengers would become aware of them and avoid the trauma of arriving at their destinations late? 4. Operations: The light rail line was operated like two separate single-track railroads from just beyond Bloomfi eld Avenue to Orange Street. From the congestion observed resulting from the confl icting movements, we believe the passengers, who were already having their rides lengthened due to the bus transfer, could have been saved valuable minutes had the LRVs operated normally to Orange Street. After being emptied there, they could have been deadheaded to the crossover just before Norfolk Street, where they would have reversed. This would have provided for a much smoother operation, especially during the rush hours. Could you tell us if that was considered, and if so, why it was rejected?

NEWSLETTER PLUS November 2011, Page 2 NJ-ARP VP Jack May’s Testimony to NJ Transit re Batman Filming At fi rst glance the closing of the Newark Light Rail system between Orange Street and Penn Station for two days, Thursday, November 3 and Friday, November 4, would indicate a patent disregard by NJ Transit of the rights of its passengers to the best possible ride to their jobs, classes and other venues. But more facts are needed before NJT can be condemned for that. Perhaps there was a good reason to shut down this important element of New Jersey’s transportation network on two weekdays. NJT’s press release indicated that the reason for the suspension of rail service was that a private company wanted to shoot a portion of a fi lm at the in . As a result NJT customers, responsible for 20,000 rapid transit trips per day, would have their lives disrupted. Instead of a fast, grade-separated ride, passengers were forced to transfer to buses at Orange Street throughout the entire day. An area adjacent to the Orange Street station was paved to allow the buses to turn around and safely load the passengers who were ordered to alight from their Light Rail trains. My gut reaction to this was to consider it an outrageous affront to New Jersey taxpayers who depend on New Jersey Transit for transportation to and from work and school, but I wanted to fi rst see if my concern was justifi ed. I arrived at Grove Street just after 7:30 in the morning of Friday, November 4, and after paying my fare and parking charges, reached the platform at 7:45. I noticed that paper announcements of the service plans for the two weekdays were posted both at the stations and on the vehicles. We departed at 7:49 and arrived at station at 7:54 and began to load additional passengers. My train was held there for a few minutes and fi nally departed at 7:58. We stopped at Davenport and Bloomfi eld Avenues for more passengers and then at a crossover to wait for an outbound car to pass. Finally underway again, we crossed to the outbound track and continued our inbound journey, stopping at the outbound platform at Park Avenue for more passengers. While starting our crawl in the opposite direction from normal traffi c we passed another outbound car – one that was waiting on the inbound track for our train to clear. My light rail vehicle, with 131 passengers crammed aboard, arrived at Orange Street at 8:08. This was a larger number than my experiences on days that I travel at roughly the same time to these Board meetings. There were plenty of NJT personnel at Orange Street herding the passengers aboard the three buses that were waiting for their cargo. The buses soon departed, one after another for the ride along congested streets to Penn Station. My bus left at 8:11 and arrived at the railroad terminal in downtown Newark at 8:33. The NJT personnel transferred the passengers in an effi cient manner. NJT’s Newark Light Rail timetable indicates that trains take 20 minutes to make the run. My trip took 44 minutes, more than twice as long as normal. Discounting the wait at Branch Brook Park, the timetable shows 12 minutes for the run from there to Penn Station, while my trip took 27 minutes, 15 minutes longer than provided in the schedule. I cannot help wondering how many people were late for work and may have been docked pay as a result. I walked from Penn Station to Military Park, and after observing the exterior portion of the movie set, which included temporary modifi cations to the City Subway’s entrance/exit kiosks, boarded my outbound bus at 8:56. No LRV was waiting at the transfer station upon its arrival on the other side of Orange Street. A policeman waited for all the passengers to alight and gather on the sidewalk before stopping traffi c on the busy thoroughfare, making it safe to cross. While waiting for the train and then aboard it, a lady named Alex complained she had missed her 8:59 a.m. connecting Route 28 bus and therefore would not arrive at her housecleaning job in the northern section of Upper Montclair until after 10 a.m., which was when her employer leaves her home and locks the doors. She was sure that she would not be able to get in and therefore lose a day’s pay. She works there on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and lives in Brooklyn, riding the New York subway and PATH to Newark and then the Newark Light Rail and 28 bus to the house to be cleaned. She was totally unaware that the inner portion of the Newark City Subway would be closed, which would result in long delays to her commute and missed connections. She was clearly upset. I wonder how many other passengers underwent the same distress. I volunteered to drive her to her job if she would ride with me to Grove Street, and we reached Montclair Heights little after 9:45, in time – to her great relief. These are all the facts that NJ-ARP has at this time, so we are presenting you with a series of questions that we would like answered, to further our understanding of the situation. Among them are queries regarding the fi nancial aspects of the decision to close the inner portion of the Light Rail system, including the amount of money expended, for items such as paving the area adjacent to Orange Street station and obtaining the buses, as well as for the additional fuel consumed, and wages of the personnel needed to drive the buses and provide support to the passengers. This, we hope was offset by revenue received by New Jersey Transit from the movie producers. We hope the net was positive for NJ Transit. In addition we are asking if this closure had to be done, why were two weekdays chosen? Statistics indicate there are over 20,000 trips taken on the Newark Light Rail each weekday, with considerably less on Saturdays and Sundays. Why were the journeys of so many passengers disrupted when fi lming could have been accomplished at night or on a weekend, when many less riders would have been impacted? Demographics indicate that these passengers are generally low-income workers and come from a mixed group of racial minorities. I believe the lady I took to Upper Montclair was Haitian. At the last Board meeting, Mr. Weinstein emphasized NJT’s work on improving communications. Were manual or recorded announcements made to passengers aboard the Light Rail Vehicles on the 7 days preceding the event, informing them of how many minutes would be added to travel times, so that they would understand the necessity of beginning their morning trips earlier if they didn’t want to be late for work and incur the wrath of their employers? If so, were they provided in both English and Spanish?

We wonder whether NJT would opt to discontinue rail service on two weekday mornings at Short Hills and Summit, and operate shuttle buses if some corporation wanted to make a movie on the M&E lines?

The detailed questions for Mr. Weinstein are on a single sheet of paper, and we will distribute them to him and the Board in a few moments. The people inconvenienced and hurt by this action are not just numbers, but fl esh and blood who are deserving of your respect. The answers to these questions will help determine whether New Jersey Transit is operated for the benefi t of politicians and private companies, or for its loyal riders and the New Jersey taxpayers who subsidize it. Thank you for your attention.

NEWSLETTER PLUS November 2011, Page 3 NJ-ARP Rep Joe Versaggi asks PATH: ‘Why No Reciprocity?’ On Friday, November 10, NJ-ARP Rep Joe Versaggi was travelling into New York City on PATH’s 33rd St. line. His e-mail to PATH tells the story. “After being told of 15 minute delays from Newark, we arrived at Christopher St at 11:30 a.m., waited 15 minutes, then were told ‘service is suspended – take the subway’. ENROUTE passengers are entitled to transportation, yet you [PATH] have NO cross-honoring arrangement with the MTA. The MTA clerk at 7th Ave and Christopher St. knew nothing of this. There is cross-honoring with NJT when disruptions occur in New Jersey. There is no excuse why this cannot take place with the MTA. You are to inform the MTA immediately of such outages and institute cross-honoring. I am tired of encountering transit bureaucracies that do not cooperate. I did not appreciate paying an extra $2.25 fare for the remaining portion of my trip. Joe, in an e-mail to other NJ-ARP Reps and Directors stated that “a mob invaded the #1 line station [at Christopher St]. When he complained to the booth clerk, the clerk said “go fi nd a cop”. So much for MTA’s cooperation. PATH did respond to Joe’s e-mail with a more or less formatted response. It read: “Thank you for your note. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and PATH appreciate your patronage of the PATH system. *Unfortunately PATH does not have a cross honoring relationship with New York City Transit due to cumbersome accounting and staffi ng requirements place on PATH by NYCT. Your note has been forwarded to our external relations department for their information. Please let us know if you have further questions or comments about travelling on PATH. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.” The only thing missing was “Your business is very important to us...” Considering that PATH has managed to work out arrangements for accepting MTA Metrocards in PATH turnstiles (*with some exceptions), NJ-ARP agrees with Joe that the time has come for these two agencies to work out some sort of reciprocity agreement to cross honor fare media or allow passengers free access when an outage occurs. (* It would also be nice if PATH turnstiles had the capability to deduct the fare from an MTA EZPay. Senior Metrocard. The same holds true for the PANY/NJ’s Air Train between JFK and Howard Beach or Jamaica.) Joe Versaggi named 2011 ART Award Winner At our annual meeting in Bordentown on Nov. 12, NJ-ARP bestowed this years ART (Advocate for Rail Transit) Award to long-time member Joe Versaggi. Joe, while working in the background, has proven to be a valuable source of information on rail equipment and service patterns. He has also tracked our legislators to see how pro (or anti) rail they are, and has been handling membership renewals and tracking for over a decade. He is one of the leading voices at NJ-ARP in prodding NJ Transit for better intermodal connections and restoration of off-peak fares. And, as illustrated above, he has no problem picking up a pen to write to various media or directly to an agency when an issue with NJT, PANY/NJ, MTA or an ill-informed legislator needs to be addressed. Congratulations Joe, for this honor! HBLRT Northern Valley DEIS (Finally!!!) to be Released NJ-ARP Light Rail Panel Chair, Rose Heck issued a report read by NJ-ARP Vice President Jack May at our annual meeting on Nov. 12.. She notifi ed us that NJT advised the NJ-ARP Light Rail Panel that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the HBLRT Northern Valley extension has been approved by the FTA and is being prepared for printing, publishing and distribution. The estimated date of publication is January 6, 2012. She further advised that the extension has the full support of Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and the entire Bergen County Freeholder Board. This is of major importance to us. We have contacted the Freeholder Board Liaison, Freeholder Chairman Pro Tem John Mitchell who will work closely with us, and have kept the County Administrator informed of our progress to date. As Chair of the NJ-ARP Light Rail Panel, Rose spoke at the October NJT Board Meeting. She was very fi rm in our stand that we certainly support the HBLRT extension on Route 440 in Hudson County and the extension of the RiverLINE to Gloucester County. We were insistent that NJT fulfi ll their long standing promise of the original plan for light rail coming into Bergen County. HBLRT should have been up and running in 2004 in Bergen, but because of concessions the date was extended to 2007 and here we are in 2011 with little or no progress being made. Conversations with NJT Executive Director Jim Weinstein after that meeting were productive, ending with the promise that attention would be given to the matter. We again noted that we understood the fi nancial diffi culties, but noted we were in complete support of the building the extension in stages, stating how important it was for HBLRT to get to Ridgefi eld, where their redevelopment plans for the area have been on hold for years waiting for the Light Rail. We again stressed the importance of extending HBLRT from Tonnelle Avenue into Ridgefi eld, where great economic growth would occur and certainly help move the entire project along. We have since received several phone communications from John Leon to keep us abreast of NJT’s progress. Though slow in coming, it appears as if all is moving forward for the Northern Extension. That in and of itself warrants the NJ-ARP Light Rail Panel [Rose Heck, Jack May, Phil Craig and Frank Miklos] to go into action mode and prepare people for the public hearings on the DEIS. We have maintained our contacts in Ridgefi eld and will alert them as to the progress being made.

NEWSLETTER PLUS November 2011, Page 4 Recent articles of interest for NJ-ARP Members DATE SOURCE SUBJECT WEB LINK 10-04 Planet Princeton Suit fi led against Princeton University & NJT http://planetprinceton.com/2011/save-the-dinky-residents-sue-princeton-university-and-nj-transit-to-stop-dinky-station-move/ 10-18 Jersey Journal $4.6M grant to NJT for Secaucus Jct. bus station http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2011/10/nj_transit_gets_46m_grant_for.html 10-18 Albany Times Union Amtrak leasing Poughkeepsie-Schenectady ROW http://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Amtrak-leasing-track-corridor-2223867.php 10-20 Gloucester County Times Camden-Glassboro Line to run in 7 years http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2011/10/drpas_nash_expect_passenger_tr.html 10-25 New York Post Rats! No food! http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/trash_canned_by_mta_ITqZ8F8k0NZErSjQISXTcJ 10-26 New York Post Bloomberg wants 7 to Secaucus as legacy project. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/mayor_aboard_subway_to_nj_iA2sZ3IMDdLKJYx7XCxGSI 10-31 Bergen Record Editorial 7 to Secaucus Plus http://www.northjersey.com/columnists/doblin/doblin_103111.html 11-01 New Jersey Transit New state-wide rail map issued http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pd 11-07 Trenton Times ARC Tunnel could still see light of day http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2011/11/amick_arc_rail_tunnel_could_st.html 11-14 rtands.com Full Port Jervis line set to re-open November 28 http://www.rtands.com/newsfl ash/full-service-on-port-jervis-line-returns-4731.html 11-16 theatlanticcities.com MTA “Select Bus” M15 success spawns new M34 service http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2011/11/how-manhattan-sped-its-buses-without-rapid-transit/505/ ‘Gotham City’ Scenes – November 4, 2011

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Signs notifying passengers of disruptions did not indicate how much longer their trips would be. It is not known whether announcements were made on the Light Rail cars in the week before to warn passengers of the planned clo- sure, Note that the Broad Street branch was also discontinued, with substitute buses running only during peak hours.

The kiosk of Military Park station on the north side of at Park Place. Paper signs for actors and extras di- recting them to the set of Batman were attached to the posts.

BELOW RIGHT: The rear of the kiosk showing cameras and other paraphernalia used to shoot scenes in the Batman movie. Note the indicators of the routes (1, G and R) stopping at the sta- tion. In their format and two of the colors, they match those used by New York City’s subway system.

NEWSLETTER PLUS November 2011, Page 5 More ‘Gotham City’ Scenes – November 4, 2011

ABOVE AND RIGHT: Gotham’s subway map was designed to mimic the current map. Will it be added to the next edition of Mark Ovenden’s book, Transit Maps of the World? Like New York, Gotham also has an Airtrain. The yellow line at the top of the map indicates that the GIA (Gotham International Airport?) is not directly served by trains from the city center. Apparently passengers have to change to a line similar to JFK airport’s automated or Newark Liberty’s monorail.

NJ-ARP Photos on Page 5 and Page 6 by Jack May

ABOVE: Is this a phalanx of Newark’s fi nest reacting to word of a railfan photographer in the area? Not at all. It’s a group of Gotham’s police offi cers heading for the movie set inside the Military Park station.

LEFT: The sign at the Military Park subway entrance on the north side of Raymond Boulevard was modifi ed to its original Broad Street name and to indicate the subway is part of the fi ctitious Gotham City Transit system (GTA) and the station is served by the 2, A, J, R and Z trains.

NEWSLETTER PLUS November 2011, Page 6