# changes at NJT--any thoughts or background info?



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 11, 2018)

Our new governor has appointed Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti as the new Transportation Commissioner.

He is also cleaning house at NJT. Santoro is leaving as executive director, but no announcement so far of who will replace him. Plus some other high-level people are being asked to ride into the commuter sunset, but names haven't been released yet.

Anyone who follows NJ stuff know more about this than the papers (and I) do?

Any thoughts on the new Transportation Commissioner?

Any idea who might be in line for NJT exec. director?

Inquiring (or just plain nosy




) minds want to know!

Thanks in advance for any information updates or thoughts.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 11, 2018)

I know that the Comissioner is strictly a highway person; and she did a gawdawful job as Turnpike Comissioner under Corzine.

To be honest NJTs upper management needs to be generally ashcanned. Especially the people in charge of bus procurement.


----------



## Bob Dylan (Jan 11, 2018)

Chris Christie needs a job, and he has expierence with bridges and traffic between Jersey and New York!


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 11, 2018)

Aaagghh! Don't give him any ideas!


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 11, 2018)

New Jersey needs Chris Christie to have a job like we need a hole in the head. A cement overcoat would be more fitting. Or fitted.


----------



## jis (Jan 11, 2018)

Wasn’t Christie taking the job of Trump’s Burger Delivery Boy at one time? [emoji12]

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 11, 2018)

Green Maned Lion said:


> I know that the Comissioner is strictly a highway person; and she did a gawdawful job as Turnpike Comissioner under Corzine.


That doesn't sound good.



Bob Dylan said:


> Chris Christie needs a job, and he has expierence with bridges and traffic between Jersey and New York!





jis said:


> Wasn’t Christie taking the job of Trump’s Burger Delivery Boy at one time? [emoji12]
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


Perhaps he'll take a job as a beach tag checker down the Shore for the summer (and he might get to sit in a beach chair while checking badges).


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 12, 2018)

No names (officially) released yet except for Santoro, but local news says about 20 high-level NJT employees have been asked to resign, especially people Christie had given those jobs to--no surprise there. What happens if the new gov. cleans house and doesn't immediately replace anyone? (NJT might run better?



)


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 12, 2018)

That might be true.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 14, 2018)

But it isnt. Most of the people are not political hacks. I know a bunch of them personally and they are, with one exception, among the better people there. This is something of a puzzlement and also a disaster.


----------



## WoodyinNYC (Jan 16, 2018)

Bob Dylan said:


> Chris Christie needs a job, and he has experience with bridges and traffic between Jersey and New York!


I didn't keep track of what happened to whom after Superstorm Sandy. After they looked at the flood maps and said, "Lots of space down here to park the trains," I'd have sacked them all, from Christie right down thru the management ranks at Jersey Transit. They made NY look good.

For day in, day out, I'll give the MTA a solid B. I mean, terrible in a thousand ways, but it runs 24/365 and carries millions and millions. For Superstorm Sandy, I'd grade the MTA with an A-. They could have done better, sure, but they deserve a better grade for performance in the crisis. No NY trains drowned.

I don't know Jersey Transit well enuff to give a regular day in, day out grade. But in the crisis they earned a solid F. Take it back, no human fatalities. So for its Superstorm Sandy crisis performance, NJT earned a D-.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 16, 2018)

They usually do worse.


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 18, 2018)

Talking of worse, I have a good example of the sort of thing that needs fixing at NJT.

I was on my way home the other day. I got to PJC just as the train pulled in--I thought how rare is that? And got to TRE and the light rail was there with a perfect connection! I was looking forward to one of the smoothest NJT trips ever, when:

We got out of TRE, and very soon (before the next station), the train came to a sudden and rough stop. It turned out that the brakes weren't working properly. We then sat in the train for an hour and a half while they tried to figure out what was wrong with the brakes and fix them, while three other trains (which we could have been transferred to--they were all half empty) went right by us. We (the passengers) all thought of doing this immediately.

After an hour and a half, they told us that they couldn't fix the problem so were transferring us to another train after all. They then got the northbound train to stop, and we transferred to that to take us back to TRE and start again from there. However, the drop from the train to the ground was pretty steep, but there was no step stool (even Amtrak, in spite of its muddle headedness sometimes, knows to put down that yellow step stool).

I did not want to jump down that far and take a chance on twisting an ankle or worse, so I ended up sitting down on the floor of the first train so I could be closer to the ground, jumping down, then turning around and sitting on the floor of the new train and pulling myself up.

After that experience, it seems to me that NJT does okay (not well, but okay) when things are normal. However, anything out of the ordinary throws them completely. Apparently they are not allowed to use common sense.

There was one nice surprise: I always think of NJT commuters as grumpy, but everyone was still in good humor by the end, and we had actually formed new friendships! When we got on the new train, the automatic tape said, "Thank you for riding the RiverLine," and we all burst out laughing.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 18, 2018)

I once sat across a table from former (then current) executive director Jim Weinstein and asked him, "Have you considered setting up your busses and trains so that they connect and complement each other?"

I was expecting him to be offended by the question. My tone was a bit acidic, and my comments in that meeting (there were about 20 other people there from the LC) had been direct and pointed and certainly not friendly. So I wasn't expecting a totally friendly response. But what he did respond with, you could have knocked me over with a feather- a completely dumbfounded look came over his face, and he said, I swear to god, "Huh?"

That is NJ Transit in a nutshell.


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 26, 2018)

Further update--our new governor has ordered a full-scale audit of New Jersey Transit, saying it "must be boiled down to its essentials and put back together again."

We'll see what happens, but I like that approach, at least for NJT. Be interesting to see what they find.


----------



## Thirdrail7 (Jan 26, 2018)

I wonder if that means that he'll have people that actually understand railroading and public transportation looking at it or will it be more people with personal vehicles and plans performing budget cutting.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 27, 2018)

NJT was deeply infiltrated by PB and Christie goons. But I cant imagine Murphy not wanting to continue the generally lucrative relationship with PB or Bombardier. The people he has installed seem unqualified to me, but we will see.


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 27, 2018)

Sorry, I'm not sure what PB stands for?

The audit will take a few months, I believe, so we will have to be patient.


----------



## jis (Jan 27, 2018)

Mystic River Dragon said:


> Sorry, I'm not sure what PB stands for?


Parsons Brinckerhoff?

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 27, 2018)

What else would it stand for?


----------



## Ryan (Jan 27, 2018)

Green Maned Lion said:


> What else would it stand for?


----------



## AmtrakBlue (Jan 28, 2018)

Green Maned Lion said:


> What else would it stand for?





Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Jan 30, 2018)

Thanks, jis. I'm sure your answer is correct, but I like AmtrakBlue's better!





And now for an update: New Jersey's Governor Murphy (still sounds odd saying that!) has nominated Kevin S. Corbett to be the executive director of NJT. He seems to have transportation and infrastructure experience. However, he is a graduate of Georgetown University and was a fellow at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, which is a more intellectual choice than i expected.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Or anyone know of him? (I checked Wikipedia, but he's not there.) I think it's an interesting change and am looking forward to seeing what happens.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 31, 2018)

Ill call my lawyer; Ill know all the bad things about him this evening.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Jan 31, 2018)

Hes a capital guy with no transit management experience (bad). He is also a former commuter (good).


----------



## daybeers (Feb 4, 2018)

Big news from Thursday: http://nj1015.com/heres-what-nj-is-starting-to-do-to-overhaul-nj-transit/ I think it's good news. What are your thoughts?


----------



## Thirdrail7 (Feb 4, 2018)

When I see comments like this:



> The changes would also create two new passenger advisory committees, one for North Jersey and one for South Jersey. Assemblyman Greg McGuckin, R-Ocean, said the *bill should ensure the committees are not stacked with people from a handful of counties.*
> 
> *“That’s always been a concern of mine, representing my district, the Shore area and our limited access to public transportation. It seems to me each county should have a representative,” McGuckin said.*



I think there's going to be trouble. I also believe this is the kind of statement that will lead to more patronage, competing visions and a lack of focus. These issues are not just a NJT problem. It is an industry problem.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (Feb 5, 2018)

I dont like it either; I bet the reps wont be representative of riders imterests, either. This is why I gave up on this stuff.


----------



## jis (Feb 5, 2018)

They have carefully avoided doing the right thing, which is to hive it off as an arm length from the halls of power, semi-private corporation with an independent Board of Directors. Afterall the NJ Legislature does not want to actually have anything work while removing their own patronage engine. It is mostly NJ style BS at present IMHO. Possibly just my exceedingly pessimistic opinion though, based on my exceedingly low opinion of the NJ legislature. Christie is at present a convenient scapegoat while the legislature scrambles to figure out ways to appear as if they are doing something while preserving all of their privileges. Afterall they are the ones that created this mess over the last three decades, with occasional help from particularly stupid Governors.


----------



## jis (Feb 26, 2018)

New Jersey Transit’s Hidden Danger: Bad Brakes, Bare Wires, Rotten Partshttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-21/nj-transit-s-hidden-danger-bad-brakes-bare-wires-rotten-parts

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Feb 27, 2018)

Thank you, jis. That is the article I was trying to post in another thread but couldn't get the link to work.


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Mar 13, 2018)

Governor Murphy just announced he is tripling spending on NJT and infrastructure.

New taxes to pay for it, but seems to be (except for a bit more in sales tax) taxes on stuff like ride shares, home share sites, and legal marijuana--not taxes on essentials for most people. Plus a millionaire's tax.

He'll probably get a fight, but we'll see what happens.

If anyone can link to a news article on this, that would be great--I'm not having much luck linking to things lately.


----------



## Bob Dylan (Mar 13, 2018)

Tax increases are are usually a sure way to end ones Political Career!

No-one wants to pay for Government services but they sure want them!

There is No Free Lunch!


----------



## Thirdrail7 (Mar 13, 2018)

Mystic River Dragon said:


> If anyone can link to a news article on this, that would be great--I'm not having much luck linking to things lately.




Murphy proposes $242M more for NJ Transit. Will it avoid a fare hike?



> By Larry Higgs
> 
> [email protected],
> 
> ...


This is a far cry from the budgets of the mid 2000s but it is a start.


----------



## Thirdrail7 (Aug 14, 2019)

Well, some things remain the same. However, I agree with the "you get what you pay for" premise. When you do things on the cheap, it shows. As long as they are held accountable to go along with their pay. 

Murphy defends the big raises for NJ Transit executives
https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/08/murphy-defends-the-big-raises-for-nj-transit-executives.html



> The governor said the raises were doled out after “a pretty exhaustive audit," which, among other things, recommended cutting some executive positions and giving others fatter paychecks to attract the best people for the jobs.
> 
> 
> “Paying the right amount to get the right talent is something that makes sense,” Murphy said at an unrelated event in Murray Hill.
> ...


----------



## Mystic River Dragon (Aug 15, 2019)

I find the raise for the person in charge of "customer experience" particularly ironic.

It doesn't say he's getting a raise for giving the customer a "good" experience, though!


----------



## jis (Aug 15, 2019)

Thirdrail7 said:


> Well, some things remain the same. However, I agree with the "you get what you pay for" premise. When you do things on the cheap, it shows. As long as they are held accountable to go along with their pay.
> 
> Murphy defends the big raises for NJ Transit executives
> https://www.nj.com/politics/2019/08/murphy-defends-the-big-raises-for-nj-transit-executives.html


Now we just have to see what "right talent" they manage to attract and put in place. So far they have a miserable record at every level of NJT (and incidentally the state transportation bureaucracy, starting with the know nothing Commissioner).


----------



## Bob Dylan (Aug 15, 2019)

Of course the Jersey Governors are the Biggest Thiefs of all and the Buck stops on their Desk!


----------

