Your morning journey could get out of the rails, literally.
NJ Transit engineers threaten a strike from Friday, May 16, and if they do, that could stop the whole rail system. This includes not only the railway lines of NJ Transit which transport hundreds of thousands of daily shuttle, but also the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley de Metro-North lines west of the Hudson. Potential stop? Total. No trains. Anywhere.
The reason: pay. Engineers, represented by the brotherhood of locomotive engineers and trains, rejected a provisional agreement in April And require compensation closer to $ 190,000 per year, a figure in the transit so said to bankrupt the system unless prices jump 34% or business transit taxes increase by 37%. The agency offered a counter that would bring average wages to $ 170,000 by 2029, but no agreement has been concluded for the moment.
If the strike occurs, NJ Transit urges cyclists to stay at home unless travel is essential. The emergency plan is an additional bus patchwork, fleet and ride shuttles and improved service on selected routes. It is a valiant effort, but it only covers about 20% of the current railway leveling, so expect long lines, limited seats and parking lots that fill up faster than you can say “Montclair-Boonton line”.
The new pop -up bus roads from four park and raid hubs – Secaucus junction, Woodbridge Center Mall, Hamilton Rail Station and PNC Bank Arts – will operate peak hours on weekdays to NYC or key path stations. Regular NJ transit buses and the tram will continue to ride, and rail tickets will be transferred, but only on the NJ transit lines.
Meanwhile, Metro-North prepares his own backup: honor West-of-Hudson tickets on other routes, adding a capacity on the Hudson line and opening an alternative parking.
For the moment, shuttlers cross the fingers that negotiations are successful. “A strike is not good for employees, and it is certainly not good for the 350,000 customers who depend on us every day,” said NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri, in a declaration.
But if May 16 arrives without agreement, take your best podcast and accumulate for a waste.
