New Jersey Transit - History

History

NJT was founded on July 17, 1979, an offspring of the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), mandated by the state government to address the many transportation issues. It came into being with the passage of the Public Transportation Act of 1979 to "acquire, operate and contract for transportation service in the public interest." NJT originally acquired and managed a number of private bus services. Conrail (or Consolidated Rail Corporation) had been formed in 1976 through the merging of a number of financially troubled railroads, and operated commuter railroad service under contract from the NJDOT.

In 1983, NJT assumed operation of all commuter rail service in New Jersey from Conrail. It now operates every passenger and commuter rail line in the state except for Amtrak; the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), which is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the PATCO Speedline, which is owned by the Delaware River Port Authority; two SEPTA Regional Rail lines, the West Trenton Line and the Trenton Line; and a handful of tourist trains in the southern and northwestern parts of New Jersey. Since inception, rail ridership has quadrupled.

NJT also runs most of the state's bus lines. In northern New Jersey, many of the bus routes are arranged in a web. In southern New Jersey, most routes are arranged in a "spoke-and-hub" fashion, with routes emanating from Trenton, Camden, and Atlantic City. In addition to routes run by NJT, it subsidizes and provides buses for most of the state's private operators providing fixed route or commuter service, such as Coach USA, DeCamp, Lakeland, and Academy.

In the 1990s the rail system expanded, with new Midtown Direct service to New York City and new equipment. On October 21, 2001 it opened a new station at Newark Liberty International Airport. On December 15, 2003, it opened the Secaucus Junction transfer station, connecting two major portions of the system, allowing passengers on trains to Hoboken Terminal to transfer to trains to Midtown Manhattan, saving an estimated 15 minutes over connecting with PATH trains at Hoboken. On October 31, 2005, NJT took over Clocker (NY-Philadelphia) service from Amtrak. Four new trains were added to the schedule, but cut back to Trenton.

During Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the rail operations center of New Jersey Transit was flooded by 8 feet (2.4 m) of water, and an emergency generator was submerged. Floodwater damaged at least 65 locomotive engines and 257 rail cars. It was expected to be weeks before the resumption of service.