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NJ TRANSIT BOARD ADVANCES FINAL PHASE OF RAIL SAFETY SYSTEM

New Technology to Provide Fail-Safe System for NJ TRANSIT Trains

NEWARK, NJ, February 13, 2002 -- The names of sixteen students from schools throughout New Jersey were announced during today's NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors meeting for winning the Corporation's Black History Month art contest.

More than 3,000 students in grades 5-8 participated in the statewide contest, which was hosted by NJ TRANSIT to celebrate Black History Month. The contest was sponsored by Fleet Bank, who furnished the prizes. This is the sixth consecutive year that NJ TRANSIT has invited students from New Jersey schools to participate in Black History Month, increasing awareness of the contributions made by African-Americans. The winning artwork will be displayed on NJ TRANSIT trains and buses throughout February.

"This year's art contest featured a wide variety of African-Americans who have had a profound impact on the lives of these students, including Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, boxer Muhammad Ali and many more," said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Jeffrey A. Warsh. "While we are announcing the names of the 16 winning students today, I would like to commend all of the students who participated in this year's art contest."

Each student was asked to submit an original art illustration of an African-American person or persons who has made a significant contribution in the past or present, or someone they foresee as a visionary of the future. The artwork was reviewed and evaluated by an independent judging committee.

The contest winners are:

First Place

  • Alexandra Castro (Heights Elementary School in Oakland, grade 5).
  • Louis Rivoire (

    NEWARK, NJ, February 13, 2002 -- The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors today approved a $45.4 million contract with Motor Coach Industries Service Parts, Inc. (MCISP) of Des Plaines, IL to stock and deliver parts for NJ TRANSIT's new cruiser bus fleet from a New Jersey-based warehouse. The new arrangement will save NJ TRANSIT millions of dollars in operating costs.

    This plan calls for MCISP to lease a warehouse in East Brunswick and maintain certain inventory levels. As a result, NJ TRANSIT will save as much as $11 million dollars over the life of the contract because the Corporation will not be required to purchase and stock a complete parts inventory for the new buses. Prior to purchasing the MCI cruisers, NJ TRANSIT bought nearly 600 buses -- and spent more than $5 million to provide an initial parts supply for those buses -- between 1996 and 1999.

    The five-year contract -- with an option for three additional years -- marks the first time a public transportation agency will participate in a parts procurement program similar to those found in the airline and trucking industries. Academy Bus Company -- a private carrier that provides service under contract to NJ TRANSIT and independently in New Jersey and other states -- is planning to join NJ TRANSIT in this program.

    "This proposal shows both innovation and fiscal responsibility," said Acting State Transportation Commissioner and NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman John F. Lettiere. "Consistent with Governor McGreevey's directive to trim costs, NJ TRANSIT is answering the call through a program that combines financial prudence with an approach unique to public transportation."

    "I am pleased that NJ TRANSIT is bringing this innovative procurement approach to the public transportation sector," said Myro

    NEWARK, NJ, February 13, 2002 -- The NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors awarded Phase III of a contract with Union Switch & Signal, Inc. of Pittsburgh, PA to complete installation work on the Corporation's Positive Train Stop (PTS) advanced rail safety system.

    PTS is part of a rail safety initiative launched by the NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors in August 1997. NJ TRANSIT is the first passenger railroad in North America to merge two railroad safety technologies -- Automatic Train Control (ATC) and Positive Train Stop (PTS). The combined technology is now known as the Advanced Speed Enforcement System (ASES).

    Today's $25.7 million contract authorization brings the total contract award to Union Switch & Signal to $42.3 million and is funded by the Federal Transit Administration and the State Transportation Trust Fund.

    "Working closely with the Federal Railroad Administration, NJ TRANSIT has become a national leader in the development of this integrated rail safety system," said NJ TRANSIT Board Chairman and Acting State Transportation Commissioner John F. Lettiere. "Governor McGreevey and the Board of Directors remain committed to the exploration and implementation of new technologies that enhance safety for the more than 110,000 daily NJ TRANSIT rail passengers."

    "The merging of the ATC and PTS rail safety systems places NJ TRANSIT on the cutting edge of the transit industry," said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Jeffrey A. Warsh. "It also reaffirms NJ TRANSIT's reputation as one of the nation's safest railroads, providing an added level of protection for our customers that is second to none."

    The ATC system uses electrical impulses in the rail to send a continuous signal through the train's computer to the engineer in thJohn Witherspoon Middle School in Princeton, grade 6).

  • Ernest Rementilla, Jr. (Roosevelt Middle School in West Orange, grade 7).
  • Patrick Jeong (Tenakill Middle School in Closter, grade 8).

Second Place

  • Diana Osomo (Luis Munoz Marin Middle School in Newark, grade 5).
  • Jordanne M. Allen (Woodstown Middle School in Woodstown, grade 6).
  • Gunnar Arcoleo (Freehold Intermediate School in Freehold, grade 7).
  • Grace Kennedy (Hackettstown Middle School in Hackettstown, grade 8).

Third Place

  • Magnon Gauntt (Samuel Mickle School in Mickleton, grade 5).
  • Manuel Reibon (Abington Avenue School in Newark, grade 6).
  • Juan Batista (Bloomfield Middle School in Bloomfield, grade 7).
  • Alexandra Melendez (Abington Avenue School in Newark, grade 8).

Honorable Mention

  • Sergio Joseph (Central Five Jefferson School in Vauxhall, grade 5).
  • Anthony Dwayne Jeffrey (Ollie E. Culbreth P.S. #14 in Jersey Cityn P. Shevell, Vice Chairman of NJ TRANSIT's Board of Directors and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New England Motor Freight, Inc. of Elizabeth, the largest family owned LTL carrier in the Northeast, which operates 30 terminals throughout 12 states, Puerto Rico and Canada and through its partnership carriers services 95 percent of the population of the continental United States. "I know that using an independent vendor to maintain a parts warehouse provides major costs savings and allows vehicles to be repaired and returned to service more quickly."

    "This approach is an excellent business and customer service decision," said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Jeffrey A. Warsh. "This contract will result in buses spending more time on the road than in the shop while avoiding millions of dollars in parts inventory costs."

    NJ TRANSIT has ordered up to 1,400 cruiser buses from Motor Coach Industries (MCI). To keep the new fleet operating properly, the Corporation requires parts to cover maintenance, accident repairs, modifications and upgrades, and to comply with warranties. Under normal procurement procedures, NJ TRANSIT would purchase parts from MCISP's principal warehouse in Louisville, KY and store them at NJ TRANSIT facilities.

    To ensure that MCISP's prices remain competitive, NJ TRANSIT staff will perform random price audits, comparing MCISP's prices to those offered by other bus parts suppliers. If MCISP's prices are more than five percent above the highest prices offered by other bus parts suppliers, MCISP will be required to adjust their prices.

    This approach will also benefit NJ TRANSIT by providing more space in the Corporation's central parts storage facility, which currently maintains parts for routine maintenance and major overhauls of the Corporation's entire bus fleet. Under thie locomotive. The system monitors the conditions on the railroad as the train is proceeding. It enforces an appropriate speed for the train and provides protection against a broken rail or improperly thrown switch by providing the engineer with that information so the train can be stopped in time. It will also prevent a train from passing through a stop signal at 20 MPH or above.

    PTS provides an engineer with intermittent commands in the cab car or locomotive that will control the train's movements if an engineer fails to respond appropriately. The system uses transponders placed at intermittent locations in the track to send radio signals to the train's computer, which, in turn, provides information to the engineer in the locomotive. The PTS system has the ability to automatically slow or stop a train before a stop signal if an engineer does not respond appropriately to commands given by the train's on-board computer system. Speed restrictions will also be enforced on curves and where rail maintenance work is taking place.

    To date, NJ TRANSIT has:

    • Installed a fully operational PTS system on the 23-mile Pascack Valley Line, serving commuters in Bergen and Rockland counties (became operational in November 2001). PTS installation under today's contract is to be completed on all other NJ TRANSIT-owned rail lines by 2008.
    • ATC system installed on 82 percent of the NJ TRANSIT-owned rail system. Balance of ATC work is to be performed on the Main and Boonton lines (2002) and Pascack Valley Line (2004).
    • Installed a combined ASES system on the Boonton Line (between Denville and Mountain Lakes) and Morristown Line (between Dover and Morristown) for test purposes. Combined ASES system scheduled for completion on all NJ TRANSIT-owned right-of-w
    , grade 6).
  • Ronald Josias (Union Avenue Middle School in Irvington, grade 7).
  • Krystle Lemonias (Orange Middle School in Orange, grade 8).

The first place winners will receive a computer and color printer. Second place winners will receive a camcorder. Third place winners will receive a color television. Honorable mention winners will receive a $50 Barnes & Noble gift certificate.

NJ TRANSIT will host an awards luncheon February 26 at the Newark Museum to join the nation in celebrating Black History Month and acknowledge the student winners of the contest.

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system, providing bus, rail and light rail services for 380,600 daily commuters on 238 bus routes, two light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines.

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s proposal, MCISP will stock parts for MCI cruiser buses in the East Brunswick warehouse and provide them to NJ TRANSIT's bus garages, usually within 24 hours.

Finally, when buses are retired, NJ TRANSIT disposes of obsolete parts. It is impossible to recoup the full value of any remaining parts. The contract with MCISP will save NJ TRANSIT significant costs on future parts disposal.

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing bus, rail and light rail services for 380,600 daily commuters on 238 bus routes, two light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 163 rail stations, 26 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.

ay by 2008.

    • Retrofitted 98 of 109 cab cars, locomotives and Arrow III Multiple Unit rail cars to offer ASES signal displays for NJ TRANSIT engineers. Installation on the remaining 11 cars is scheduled for completion under today's contract by December 2002.

    NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing Bus, rail and light rail services for 380,600 daily commuters on 238 bus routes, two light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 163 rail stations, 26 light rail stations and more than 17,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.

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