Nj Transit

A New Jersey Transit bus traveling from Philadelphia to Mount Holly came to a screeching halt last night when a robber shot the driver. The victim, 51, who was struck in the abdomen, was critically injured. The gunman got away. He was described as a thin, black man in his late 20s or early 30s, wearing a baseball cap and Army jacket. He boarded the bus in Center City, said NJ Transit spokesman Steve Coleman. When the bus stopped at Route 38 and Church Road about 5 p.m., the gunman rose without a word.

In an effort to reduce fatal train-pedestrian accidents, NJ Transit will increase police patrols at high-risk locations and step up education efforts, state Transportation Commissioner James Simpson said Wednesday. The Inquirer reported last week that at least 91 pedestrians were killed by trains on NJ Transit and SEPTA lines in 2010 and 2011. Many of those who died intended to take their own lives, often to the horror of train engineers, passengers, and bystanders. Others were crossing or walking along tracks, apparently oblivious to approaching trains.

An unidentified woman died yesterday afternoon after her car was struck by an NJ Transit train in Atco. NJ Transit spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said the accident occurred about 4:15 p.m. She said there were no reported injuries among the approximately 100 passengers aboard the train, which left Atlantic City at 3:36 p.m. for Philadelphia. The passengers were transfered to buses. Afterward, the small car lay in a mangled heap on the side of the tracks where Bartram Avenue crosses Atlantic Avenue.

NJ Transit bus riders could get a smaller-than-expected fare hike on May 1 under a proposal to be considered by the agency on Wednesday. The plan would increase fares by 10 percent instead of the 25 percent proposed last month, officials said. It also would restore $4 million for bus service and would preserve some routes that were to be eliminated. Train riders would receive no relief from the 25 percent fare hike proposed in March. NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein is scheduled to present the revised plan to the agency's board of directors at the regularly scheduled board meeting Wednesday.

New Jersey Transit's recent announcement that it intends to locate a $37 million rail storage yard in Falls Township's Morrisville Yard came as unexpected good news to many in that struggling industrial community. Some Garden State lawmakers were surprised, too. And outraged. New Jersey Sen. Robert E. Littell (R., Sussex), whose fingers are on the state's purse strings, fired off a terse letter last week warning transit officials that they would not see a dime of public money next year unless they put their yard on the east side of the Delaware River.

Bowing to community pressure after a fatal train collision with a car, New Jersey Transit announced yesterday that it would reduce the speed of its new Atlantic City commuter trains to 60 m.p.h. along populated reaches of the rail line for the next six months. The decision came two days after a NJ Transit train struck a car that had maneuvered around a safety gate at a rail crossing in Berlin Borough, killing a woman and her 4-year-old daughter. NJ Transit officials said the speed of the trains would be reduced from 80 m.p.h.

An Egg Harbor City man stole a New Jersey Transit bus yesterday and drove it more than 100 miles, picking up and discharging passengers and collecting fares, before being stopped and arrested, police said. When David Middleton, 34, was apprehended, he told Hammonton police that he swiped the bus because he needed a ride home, authorities said. NJ Transit spokesman Steve Coleman said the trip began about 7 a.m. as more than 140 buses were being dispatched for the morning rush from the Orange City bus depot in Essex County.

Ozone Day got you all choked up? Ask the boss for a ticket to ride. On days like yesterday, pollutants can combine with heat to increase ground-level ozone - also called smog. Adding to the poor atmospheric conditions is exhaust from automobiles. Enter NJ Transit, which is hoping to make breathing a bit easier by encouraging commuters to take mass transit instead of their cars. The agency offers companies $2 round-trip tickets that can be passed on to employees and used only when the ozone level is high enough to be unhealthful.

NJ Transit will get $2.6 million to move ahead with plans for a "bus rapid transit" route to link South Jersey and Philadelphia, and SEPTA will receive $5 million to upgrade its 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby, federal transportation officials said Monday. In addition, NJ Transit is getting $73 million to upgrade its statewide bus fleet, including new buses that run on compressed natural gas. The South Jersey rapid-bus system along Route 55, Route 42, and I-676 would allow rush-hour buses to travel on highway shoulder lanes and medians for part of the trip to Philadelphia and would provide 1,800 new parking spaces for commuters in Winslow and Deptford Townships.

Passengers who ride New Jersey Transit buses in Camden got some new traveling companions this week - city police officers. Under a transit authority program that began this week, Camden police officers have begun boarding and inspecting buses in an effort to crack down on riders who break the law or disturb the peace on city buses. The authority hopes the program will lure more riders because they will feel safer. "We believe that everybody has the right to ride the buses in peace and comfort," said Tom Kelly, director of security for NJ Transit's southern division.