MONTCLAIR – Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 80, requiring NJ TRANSIT rail performance metrics to be shared with the public monthly through the agency’s website. This step forward in providing transparency and accountability for commuters follows from a number of the findings in the independent audit of the agency’s operations ordered by the Governor and released in October 2018.

“Improving communication with customers has been among the most important objectives in our efforts to improve NJ TRANSIT performance, safety, and reliability,” said Governor Murphy. “The step we’re taking today requiring performance metrics to be released monthly will give rail commuters the information they need to make informed decisions and provide accountability to the public in real time.”

“As the Board Chair of NJ TRANSIT, I am a firm believer in transparency and enhanced metrics to measure our progress toward improved service,” said Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chair Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti. “Formalizing the reporting requirements through an executive order ensures that NJ Transit will be held accountable for its performance for administrations to come.”

“When I arrived at NJ TRANSIT, I found a hollowed out, severely neglected organization which hampered our ability to deliver the service our customers rightfully expect and deserve,” said NJ TRANSIT President and CEO Kevin Corbett.  “We’ve taken aggressive measures to address recruiting, Infrastructure needs and languishing capital projects.  As a result, we are rapidly restoring the depleted ranks of employees and seeing improved performance that indicates we’ve turned a corner. But make no mistake, we still have a lot of ground to make up. I will not be satisfied until our customers are. Increased transparency and improved metrics will hold our organization accountable at all times.”

Legislative Leadership also hailed the measure.

“There is still a lot of work ahead of us, if we are going to get NJ Transit back to its appropriate  standard,” said Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg. “Transparency is crucial to that work and giving the public a clear picture or their performance will help everyone build trust as well as an understanding of what work is left to be done.”

“These performance metrics will be important for NJ Transit and lawmakers in order for us to make better decisions and have a comprehensive understanding of how to replicate the positive outcomes found in the monthly reports and how to improve upon areas that do not reach the standards we are aiming for,” said Senator Patrick Diegnan. “Giving passengers access to the monthly performance data of NJ Transit will provide accountability and create greater transparency in our public transportation.”

“I have said from the beginning that better communication and transparency between NJ Transit and its customers should be a priority and public performance metrics can be an important part,” said Assemblyman Daniel Benson. “Riders, especially commuters who have borne the brunt of this, deserve to know this information as soon as possible so they can make informed decisions. This includes being able to review the number of train cancellations or reductions in service, where and for what reasons, as well as, on time performance metrics. This is another positive step by this administration on what is needed to correct this agency.”

The key performance metrics contained in the monthly releases will include the total number of cancellations each month and a listing of the specific types of cancellations, on time rail performance and mean distance between failures of each NJ TRANSIT line, and other information that the Commissioner of Transportation deems appropriate to inform commuters of commuter rail performance.

NJ TRANSIT will provide the public with a uniform progress report beginning with data from October 2019, to be released in November 2019. The release will also include historical month-by-month information dating back to January 2017.

For a copy of Executive Order No. 80, click here.