tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841162557758485192024-12-18T22:17:06.419-05:00Observations on the people, scenery, and other realities of NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor lineMorganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-14951188431539067382010-08-04T17:11:00.004-04:002010-08-04T17:59:57.893-04:00

It's been a long time. Frankly, the whole fare hike business did me in; I was drained and tired of being obnoxious. Fortunately, I was able to persuade my employer to allow me to work at home two days a week to offset the considerable impact of the fare increase. You cannot imagine how that arrangement has enhanced the quality of my life. It effectively puts $52 a week back into my pocket, not to

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-15719510608411854042010-04-16T11:34:00.006-04:002010-04-16T12:07:31.884-04:00

Did you serious riders/readers have an opportunity to read Deb's comments on my recent post? Thanks for that, Deb - I think you nailed it. Indeed - last night's delays and lack of communication about train status were a PR nightmare for NJ Transit, although I assume that with budget and service cuts, this is only a preview of what's to come: more lines and equipment down, fewer individuals to

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-63447781948153623272010-04-15T12:34:00.002-04:002010-04-15T12:37:16.614-04:00

This link was forwarded by NJ Transit in an e-mail that did not offer a reply option. I am sick to my stomach.

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-70392334064401316322010-04-15T08:33:00.000-04:002010-04-15T08:38:46.888-04:00

Today, of course I am in the car with the conductor I chased down after yesterday's free ride. He didn't cop an attitude with me, so he gets points. I should also point out he checked my pass before we even left Jersey Avenue.

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-75305753367543943182010-04-14T12:54:00.007-04:002010-04-14T16:14:17.689-04:00

Carmine, Whatever action was being taken to address my last complaint apparently did not stick. This morning on the NEC 8:17, I rode from Jersey Avenue all the way past Newark Penn Station before tickets were collected. I actually stopped a conductor when we got off the train to ask him why no one looked at my ticket until after Newark. He didn't know. Of course, he didn't know. And he didn't

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-52111282766640115752010-03-29T16:53:00.004-04:002010-03-29T18:08:01.437-04:00

Yippee! I received a reply to my Friday afternoon telephone inquiry seeking to find out why no one bothered to collect fares on a rush hour train last week. Dear Morgan, We are replying to your feedback of 3/26/2010 regarding subject: Collection of fares. I hear and appreciate your frustration and concerns. NJ TRANSIT is aware of reports regarding incidents where train fares and tickets have not

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-69902193690165695022010-03-26T11:53:00.004-04:002010-03-26T12:35:10.103-04:00

In typical but ever-so-frustrating fashion, NJ Transit is deferring complaints to an online form. So basically, I had a live human being on the phone who told me she could not accept my complaint. Now, hear me when I tell you the lady on the phone was very nice and professional to the extent that call-center operators can be. I mean to say that generally, folks in call centers have very little

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-79900289074445030962010-03-25T20:06:00.008-04:002010-03-26T12:40:21.327-04:00

WTF, NJ Transit? This is the agency that is preparing its ridership for 20 - 30 percent fare hikes this summer. The agency that needs the extra revenue just to survive. And yet, today on the 5:54 - the crowded 5:54 - not one single ticket was collected. A reversal of fortune, perhaps? A cache of transit checks has been discovered in a basement file cabinet and the agency's financial woes are now

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-22877024450859927672010-03-25T07:35:00.006-04:002010-03-26T12:38:37.112-04:00

People with an aversion to physical contact with other human beings should not - nay - cannot ride a train. In particular, they cannot ride a rush hour train. And if you do not wish to come into contact with extraneous limbs brushing, then do what you can to keep your own body within the limits of your own seat and floor space. If you would prefer our knees don't knock, do not sit with your

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-52471410979456511372010-03-11T17:49:00.006-05:002010-03-12T08:58:59.660-05:00

The commute into New York is a feast for the senses and by "feast," I mean an all-out assault. Generally, I'm immune to the tang of the fuel, and the day-later aroma of partially metabolized garlic, curry, scotch and Bud Light escaping in the perspiration of my fellow riders. Today, however, my very psyche was KO'd when someone on the train had a very terrible accident. I don't know who; I didn't

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-50237441643702683802010-03-08T20:59:00.009-05:002010-03-08T21:45:01.876-05:00

I can't help but wonder how much revenue flies out the NJ Transit window from uncollected fares from riders between New York Penn and Newark Penn. Those folks riding to Secaucus and Newark have it made. I would say that on at least two of five rides weekly out of New York, conductors don't get around to collecting tickets until we are past Newark. I'm not suggesting those riders don't want to pay

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-54119983747398753392010-03-07T16:38:00.007-05:002010-03-07T17:15:32.378-05:00

To be clear, I am not anti-NJ Transit. However, the impending service hikes are so extreme, they signal something inherently wrong with the management of the organization. You know my regular rants about delays, poor maintenance and inconsistent customer service. NJ Transit offers far-from-optimal service as is -- what in the world will life be like with fewer conductors, fewer trains, reduced

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-68064308230667724742010-03-05T17:36:00.003-05:002010-03-06T14:30:21.149-05:00

It hasn't helped my attitude that my dinner date this evening just called to announce he had a late lunch and is still on the LIE when he was supposed to be home hours ago, but I'm having a lousy ride. It's a given that I'm going to share a seat but there's a nice way to do it, and there is a piss-me-off way to do it. I prefer you do it the nice way. You see, I have not spent my life, my day or

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-73532345353254250512010-03-04T21:54:00.007-05:002010-03-04T22:29:24.460-05:00

Overheard in front of the departures board at 5:47:"He told me to take it at 6:13. Here's a 6:13. It doesn't say where to go?""You have to wait until closer to the time, then they tell you. That's how the shit works.""Why does it say Trenton? We're not going to Trenton. We're going to Edison.""I think they're in the same town. Or near it or something? They're like...I don't know.""Um. Yeah."

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-86184979729497961682010-02-25T08:15:00.003-05:002010-02-25T11:06:45.647-05:00

I realize you are a senior citizen and set in your ways, but the stench of stale cigarettes coming off you is going to kill me. Can't you see how I am clinging to the edge of my seat contorting my upper body away from you in a futile effort to refill my lungs with fresh air? Second only to stale urine (another all too frequent commuter encounter,) nicotine and tar-infused wool -- er, wet wool --

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-14765700724416206792010-02-22T08:28:00.005-05:002010-02-22T14:47:19.931-05:00

Hey, New Brunswick Parking Authority, the Jersey Avenue lot is a sheet of ice which makes it extremely difficult to manuever around the pedestrians who are similarly rushing to catch the 7:55 at 7:53. Leave it to me to decide not to wear my wellies this morning, so once I actually parked, I had to run on the ice in heels. Wheeeeeeee! And falling was not an option because of a weensy road rage

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-26204521403731008252010-02-17T08:05:00.003-05:002010-02-22T17:19:01.494-05:00

The NJT board meets today to discuss a proposal to cut service and hike fares 20 to 30 percent. I know this because I am listening to the radio news on my iPod as we are at a dead stop outside of Secaucus. Regular readers know that my ride into the city every morning routinely comes to a dead stop and it's always one of two problems - overhead wires or a disabled Amtrak. Today it's Amtrak. I

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-60989558952099729852010-02-16T18:50:00.006-05:002010-02-16T19:24:42.004-05:00

The commute is a machine, and frankly, I think it zaps our individual consciousness at least for the period when we are actually in transit. There is an element of savagery and selfishness; for the most part, it is understood that this is an segment of society that - for the rush hour - does not consistently observe common courtesies or social standards for things like personal space. People RUN,

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-8307923659373761882010-02-12T18:10:00.005-05:002010-02-13T09:02:05.638-05:00

It's as if the commuting gods were welcoming me back to the train. Having missed the past two days of good material because of the blizzard, I returned to Jersey Ave, braced for a parking clusterfrick. But what I got was the best parking spot EVER. A coup of the highest order! This spot is generally the domain of of the most accomplished and experienced commuters. It calls for a celebration

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-21355879968958159132010-02-08T22:13:00.004-05:002010-02-08T22:49:09.481-05:00

The BlackBerry is out until Thursday and that is going to fudge up my attempts to post on my fledgling blog. Armenian Bettie Page at work insists that the new BlackBerry has to be ordered online and synced in-house and that takes days; the much more reasonable alternative of just walking down the street to the T-Mobile store and waiving my warranty to get a new BB (from its stock of nearly 1,000

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-46333363373645274422010-02-08T06:40:00.002-05:002010-02-08T06:49:24.769-05:00

My BlackBerry died last night and that is going to constitute problems since that little device - paired with my iPod - is an essential component of my commute. It's already fouled me up as a major interview that was supposed to go off in Cairo at 6 AM this morning EST fell apart and I could not intervene. All the hustle to get online and try to communicate with my Cairo folks via prehistoric

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-91437983526511016092010-02-07T13:27:00.005-05:002010-02-07T17:39:49.320-05:00

Nothing doing today, but I am gearing up to get an early train tomorrow. I remember our last significant snowstorm (more than a couple of inches, but not exactly a catastrophic event) prompted delays even days after the snow... I know I managed to clear my car and my driveway and make it down Route One to catch the train on time--how is it that that same snow was enough to interrupt a bloody

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-184116255775848519.post-40684391174150663672010-02-07T12:12:00.001-05:002010-02-07T16:44:15.605-05:00

Thanks for joining me on my daily commute. Commuted Sentence is my homage to NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor line, and often, to the New Brunswick Parking Authority and its Jersey Avenue park and ride facility. I'll be posting commentary and observations on the people, scenery, and overheard conversations that make the commute the best or worst part of my day. You can also look forward to regular

Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00889894314572605896noreply@blogger.com0