Hundreds of thousands of New Jersey Transit commuters woke Friday morning to the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years.
The engineers who run commuter trains walked out after contract talks broke down between the union that represents them and the agency.
The engineers want parity in pay with engineers at other commuter railroads in the area. The agency’s chief executive, Kris Kolluri, has said that it cannot afford the pay increases the union is demanding.
New Jersey Transit has a contingency plan of supplemental buses, but it doesn’t begin until Monday. Even then, Mr. Kolluri has said that the additional buses could handle only about 20 percent of the daily train riders. The agency has asked commuters to work from home if they can.
How to get in and out of New York?
There are still ways to enter and escape from New York, though it will cost more in money and time. You have options by land, sea and air:
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N.J. Transit rail passes and tickets will be accepted on its buses.
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PATH subway trains run by Port Authority are functioning as usual from Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken. PATH is not cross honoring N.J. Transit tickets, so riders will have to pay the normal $3 fare.
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Drive if you dare. The peak-hour toll to enter New York by bridge or tunnel in a passenger car is $16.06. Tack on $9 if you enter the congestion pricing zone below 60th Street.
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The private Boxcar luxury bus runs to and from 12 stops in northern New Jersey. The company plans expanded service as of Monday.
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Amtrak trains continue to run to Penn Station in Manhattan, but the cost is far higher than the N.J. Transit commuter lines. There are stops in Trenton, Princeton Junction, New Brunswick, Metropark and Newark.
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New York Waterway will run ferries as usual from docks in northern New Jersey and South Amboy to the city and is preparing to augment its service during the strike. One-way adult fares are about $10. Seastreak ferries are also running from Belford, Atlantic Highlands and Highlands, and the company plans to increase capacity on Monday.
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Blade helicopter service is available from West 30th Street to Newark Liberty International Airport for $285.
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Private bus service is available from Manhattan to the Shakira concert on Friday at MetLife Stadium. Coach USA is providing service between the Port Authority Bus Terminal and the stadium, beginning at 4 p.m. Return trips begin at 10:45 p.m. Tickets cost $25 round trip. A similar schedule is set for Beyoncé’s shows this weekend. Reservations are required.
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New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will allow Metro-North customers in Orange and Rockland Counties who must use N.J. Transit lines to ride on its Hudson or Harlem routes for no extra cost. Commuters must drive, catch a ferry or take a bus to rail stations on the other side of the Hudson River.
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There is no rail service to or from Newark Liberty International Airport. N.J. Transit bus lines run from the airport to points in the state. There is Coach USA bus service to Manhattan.
What is N.J. Transit’s backup plan for Monday?
Most commuters do not remember the last transit strike in New Jersey, which happened in 1983 and lasted about three weeks. Another strike loomed in 2016 but was averted a day before it would have begun.
The contingency plan New Jersey Transit has created is similar to the one used 42 years ago. It involves chartered buses running from four satellite lots to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan or to stations of the PATH train in North Jersey, starting on Monday. There are no chartered buses Friday.
Each bus carries about 100 passengers, compared with as many as 1,000 on a full train, Mr. Kolluri said. The buses will accommodate only about 20 percent of the 70,000 commuters who take trains into the city, he said.
Some displaced commuters are likely to switch to existing bus routes operated by New Jersey Transit and private carriers. Others may drive at least part of the way to the city, adding traffic to already congested roads.
“Even with a contingency plan in place, this is going to be incredibly disruptive to the region,” said Zoe Baldwin, vice president for state programs at the Regional Plan Association. “No matter what mode you’re on, you’re going to have a more difficult commute than usual.”
What led to the stoppage?
Most threatened transit strikes do not materialize, but the tone of negotiations became harsh as the deadline neared.
Last week, Mr. Kolluri questioned the “mental health” of Thomas Haas, the general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, after the union’s members overwhelmingly rejected a previous agreement.
Mr. Kolluri and union officials had shaken hands on a deal that appeared to bridge the impasse more than a month ago. But the union engineers voted it down and sent their negotiator back to the bargaining table.
Mr. Kolluri has refused to increase New Jersey Transit’s offer, saying that any extra pay offered to the engineers would have to be paid to all 14 of the agency’s other unions.
“This is the deal that was offered, that he shook my hands on, that he negotiated, and now he has to live with his consequences,” Mr. Kolluri said.
Mark Wallace, national president of the engineers’ union, said that Mr. Kolluri was not interested in reaching a deal. “He’s trying to vilify us with the citizens of New Jersey,” Mr. Wallace said.
What are the issues to be resolved?
In most labor negotiations, the two sides disagree on work rules such as schedules and staffing levels. This dispute is just about money.
Mr. Haas said last week that the union had agreed to 95 percent of New Jersey Transit’s demands.
“The only sticking point we have are wages,” he said. “Every other part of this contract is resolved.”
But the gap between the union’s demands and the agency’s offer is wide.
Mr. Kolluri said the deal the union voted down in March would have raised the average annual pay of full-time engineers to $172,000 from $135,000. But Mr. Haas said that the agency was inflating that figure.
In essence, New Jersey Transit insists that the 450 engineers represented by the union accept the same contract terms that all the agency’s other unions accepted. Just last week, the agency announced a deal with its biggest union, which represents 5,500 employees of its bus network.
But the engineers say their pay should be on par with the region’s other commuter railroads, including the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. They say those railroads pay their engineers about $10 an hour more than New Jersey Transit pays.
Patrick McGeehan is a Times reporter who covers the economy of New York City and its airports and other transportation hubs.
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