The severe disruptions to NJ Transit, PATH and Amtrak service over the past few weeks, and again today, have left tens of thousands of passengers stranded without the service they were counting on. With temperatures over 90 degrees and our century-plus-old transportation infrastructure wearing down further in the heat, delays lasting many hours - or worse, outright cancellations of entire routes - have resulted in overcrowded stations, with the majority of people forced to wait or scramble for alternative ways home. Our region is home to the best mass transit systems in the country, but consistent underfunding has delayed critical upgrades, leaving millions of people dependent on fragile and unreliable infrastructure that often fails in extreme heat or cold. As climate change continues to bring more frequent and severe heat waves and extreme weather events to the metropolitan region, we need to see investing in mass transit as nothing other than absolutely, unequivocally essential.

Businesses and residents can’t tolerate another ​“Summer of Hell” like we experienced in 2017. In the short term, our leaders should be preparing for contingency plans in the event of service disruptions, including dramatically improved communications and additional bus service. Ultimately, we need a consistent, dedicated funding source for NJ Transit. And we absolutely need to build the entire Gateway Program – all 11 critical projects from Newark to New York – that will bring modernized, 21st century infrastructure to the most critical stretch in the Northeast Corridor.

Riders deserve access to frequent, reliable service, and our region’s prosperity rests on a functioning transportation system that works for everyone.