Four rail transit experts will assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of commuter rail transportation in New Jersey in a virtual panel discussion open to the public at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15.
The public is invited to register for the event at www.newsweneed.org/upcoming-events and to submit questions for the panel either in advance or during the event itself.
Panelists include:
State Assemblyman John McKeon, D-Morris and Essex, former co-chair of a joint Senate/Assembly task force that investigated New Jersey Transit and chief sponsor of two NJ Transit reform bills;
Janna Chernetz, New Jersey director of the Tri-state Transportation Campaign;
Len Resto, president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers and a current Chatham Borough Councilman;
Christopher Jones, senior vice president and senior planner for the Regional Plan Association.
“The coronavirus crisis has had a major impact on our daily lives, including how – and whether – we commute to work,” said Amanda Richardson, executive director of the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media, which is sponsoring the event. “With large corporations continuing to require hundreds of thousands of employees to work from home and exploring the possibility of setting up satellite offices in the New Jersey suburbs, the drop in NJ Transit rail ridership and farebox revenue may last much longer than originally expected.
“How is NJ Transit handling the change? What should NJ Transit and other transit agencies be doing differently? And how would majo changes in commuting patterns – if they prove permanent – cause us to rethink the future of commuter rail? Please join our expert panel tomorrow as we explore these and other questions.”
The Corporation for New Jersey Local Media is a nonprofit organization that builds strong communities by promoting community journalism, civic engagement public discussion of critical issues. It operates as a special project under the aegis of the Community Foundation of New Jersey.
For more information, contact Richardson at amanda@newsweneed.org.
