It’s been a while since my last post and I wanted to write something. I’m sure some of you are wondering where I’ve been since NJ Transit hasn’t been short of delays this week, there’s all this rumbling of fare increases, buses are still running people over and now there are fines for walking in front of trains (wonder if they will give the ticket to person’s family in the event of a fatality?). All of this has been meaningless to me since last week marked the arrival of my perfect baby daughter.

There was a post today in the forum from yellowbird who talks about getting questioned aboard NJ Transit trains about these “new” double decker trains. This got me thinking that I really haven’t spent any time talking much about this. I was going to wait until I rode one, but who the hell knows if […]

Confusing title isn’t it? Yeah, welcome to the world of riding NJ Transit.

Let me explain.

I had just missed the 7:55am NEC train by a pubic hair. Actually, I got to the Jersey Avenue 2nd class citizen lot at about 7:52. Since my rule is I never run for a train, I just sat in my car for a bit listening to my Sirius until the next train, which was 8:14. About 8:05 is when I left my car and walked over to the train which sits on the alternate tracks at Jersey Avenue. I will say that a huge perk of going from Jersey Avenue in the morning is that trains originate there so they normally get there early and you can board prior to the train leaving. Anyway, I get on the train and start my morning routine.

Remember back in school when somehow you learned to remember the spelling of assume by some idiot saying - Don’t assume, you’ll make an ass out of u and me. Assuming things, in general, is one of the worst things to do. It inevitably gets you into a jam one way or another. This applies to when you are on a train talking on your cellphone. If you assume you are the only person in the train car, you will be sad to learn that everyone will know your business. If you assume you are the only person in the train car, you’ll be sad to learn when Ripper is sitting next to you. And most of all, if you assume you are the only person in the train car, you will be VERY sad to learn when Ripper is sitting next to you, without his music and with a keyboard.

When I leave the house in the morning, my journey begins quite pleasant on most days. I live in a small town with little traffic which is the reason we don’t have any traffic lights. My first 6 miles or so are almost always uneventful. Today, about a mile from my house, I was behind an old Jeep Cherokee in a really ugly pale blue color. Coming to a turn, I guess the car in front of this person didn’t signal when making a right and the person in the jeep was flipping around their hand and gave the person turning the finger. 5th grade stuff we are talking.

There was an AP article in the media discussing the about prioritization between NJ Transit and Amtrak trains