New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 5 (2018)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
An Order Mandating that the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation Engage and Direct an Independent, Comprehensive Strategic, Financial, and Operational Assessment of NJ Transit
Issued: January 22, 2018.
Effective: January 22, 2018.
WHEREAS, one of New Jersey's greatest competitive advantages compared to other states is its proximity to major metropolitan markets, including New York City; and
WHEREAS, nearly half a million commuters who live and work in New Jersey rely on the New Jersey Transit Corporation ("NJ Transit") for transportation to and from their jobs every day, making NJ Transit a vital lifeline for the State's economy; and
WHEREAS, it is critical to the overall success of New Jersey's economy that NJ Transit provide our State with a world-class organization that can deliver transportation resources to meet the current and future needs of our regional workforce; and
WHEREAS, in previous decades, NJ Transit was widely considered a national model of commuter rail; and
WHEREAS, the State's operating subsidy in support of NJ Transit has decreased drastically over the last eight years, having dwindled from $ 348 million in Fiscal Year 2009 to $ 141 million in the current budget, and hitting a low of $ 33 million in Fiscal Year 2016; and
WHEREAS, NJ Transit has correspondingly increased commuter fares, raising its fares an average of 36 percent since 2009, including a 25 percent increase in 2010 that was the largest in NJ Transit history; and
WHEREAS, NJ Transit also has transferred over $ 7 billion from its capital budget to support operations since 1990, with $ 3.4 billion of such transfers occurring in the past eight years; and
WHEREAS, these capital-to-operating transfers have reduced, eliminated, or postponed the implementation of much-needed capital upgrades; and
WHEREAS, this irresponsible lack of investment has occurred at the same time as our needs for rail infrastructure have increased, as the two North River tunnels under the Hudson River that provide NJ Transit and Amtrak access to Manhattan are over a century old and suffered well-documented and extensive damage during Superstorm Sandy; and
WHEREAS, the implications of these infrastructure needs became far more dire after the cancellation of the Access to the Region's Core tunnel; and
WHEREAS, NJ Transit experienced the most accidents last year of any of the ten largest U.S. commuter railroads from 2011 to 2016; and
WHEREAS, some of these accidents have resulted in injuries and deaths, including the crash at Hoboken Terminal on September 29, 2016; and
WHEREAS, NJ Transit also led the nation in mechanical breakdowns in 2015, with over 50 percent more breakdowns than the second-highest ranking railroad; and
WHEREAS, NJ Transit is subject to a federally-mandated December 31, 2018 deadline for installing Positive Train Control technology, which is a valuable addition to the safety resources available to rail operations; and
WHEREAS, as of the end of September 2017, NJ Transit had reportedly equipped less than 6 percent of its trains with the necessary technology, and had yet to operate the technology on any mile of track on any of its lines; and
WHEREAS, NJ Transit's failures to meet its own milestones for the installation of Positive Train Control led the Federal Railroad Administration to recommend earlier this month that NJ Transit pay monetary penalties of $ 12,000; and
WHEREAS, Amtrak's derailments last spring illustrated the need for significant track repairs at Penn Station; and
WHEREAS, these repairs led to what was widely called the "summer of Hell" for commuters, where riders of the Morris-Essex line were diverted to Hoboken and faced with significantly longer commutes; and
WHEREAS, even after the summer of Hell ended, morning peak trains to Penn Station were on time only about three-quarters of the time in the month of September; and
WHEREAS, New Jerseyans should not have to constantly worry about whether they can make it to their jobs on time because of train delays or whether their personal safety will be imperiled while traveling on NJ Transit; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The Commissioner of Transportation, who also serves as Chair of the NJ Transit Board, shall engage and direct one or more independent consultants to conduct a comprehensive strategic, financial and operational assessment of NJ Transit that will provide insights and recommendations for defining and implementing a new target operating model to create a world-class transportation corporation. The review shall include, but not be limited to:
a. A review of NJ Transit's current sources of funding, and an evaluation of whether the sources are adequate to meet both NJ Transit's current operating needs and necessary capital upgrades;
b. A review of the leadership structure at NJ Transit, including whether changes should be made to the board, the executive staff, and the line divisions to improve the decision-making process and establish best practices for corporate governance;
c. An overview of personnel hiring and protocols, including a focus on whether NJ Transit is attracting the talent it needs and how to establish and accomplish those goals for the future;
d. An analysis of NJ Transit's current relationship with Amtrak, including a thorough examination of how issues at Penn Station are being handled and an update on the status of NJ Transit's payments to Amtrak;
e. Recommendations on how to make the NJ Transit experience better for its customers, including: (1) technology improvements that can be made to its mobile application, (2) reporting of performance to the public, (3) the physical infrastructure of stations, platforms, and cars, and (4) the feasibility of greater use of cross-honoring agreements; and
f. An analysis of the implementation of Positive Train Control that includes recommendations that will enable NJ Transit to meet the federally-mandated December 31, 2018 deadline, if possible.