NJ Transit seeks solution to rail delays at Meadowlands stadium events
NJ Transit has issued a Request for Proposals to address lengthy delays that occur for people using rail service to and from major events at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. The Press of Atlantic City, noting past events that have seen fans stranded for hours, reports the goal is to find a way to move 20,000 people per hour between the stadium and Secaucus Junction, 5 miles away, where trains connect to the rest of the NJ Transit rail system and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. NJ Transit says the request is part of its “Innovation Challenge” project to find inventive solutions. “This RFP will allow NJ Transit to receive and evaluate proposals from the best and the brightest in the industry,” CEO Kevin Corbett said in a press release. “It’s an encouraging and important step forward in our goal to provide more robust public transit, with increased capacity, to the Meadowlands Sports and Entertainment Complex from Secaucus.”
MTA says it will avoid ‘worst case’ cuts — for now
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has avoided its “worst case” service cuts — which would have included a 50% decrease in commuter rail operations and a 40% reduction in subway service — the agency said Thursday, but warns major cuts remain possible in 2023 and 2024 unless Congress passes an aid plan that would bring the agency $8 billion in federal funding. Some $4 billion in aid from a bill passed by Congress in December, along with $2.9 billion in federal financing, averted the cuts. “Our financial picture remains extremely challenging,” MTA Chief Financial Officer Robert Foran said in a press release. “We have avoided worst-case service cuts in 2021 and 2022, but this remains the most difficult financial challenge the MTA has faced – an order of magnitude worse than anything the agency has ever faced in its history.”
Ontario health agency warns GO Transit passengers of possible COVID exposure
GO Transit passengers are being informed that a passenger infected with a COVID-19 variant made four trips on the commuter railroad’s Barrie line Feb. 9-10. The CBC reports York Region Public Health officials say that on both days, the passenger departed at 7:33 a.m. from Rutherford Station in Vaughan, Ontario, for Toronto Union Station, and departed from Union Station on his return trip at 5:05 p.m. Officials are urging passengers who rode those trains to get tested as soon as possible and to monitor themselves for new or worsening symptoms.
