Dear Colleagues,

Today, the federal government completed an environmental review and issued a decision that will shape our region and benefit our customers for decades to come. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued the Record of Decision (ROD) and the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Hudson Tunnel Project. In fact, I had the honor of signing the FEIS yesterday as a co-applicant along with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

This project, as many of you know, will build two new tunnels in order for the existing, century-old tunnels to be taken out of service one track at a time, to be rehabilitated. When we’re done, we will have four tracks going into and out of Penn Station New York, significantly improving capacity, reliability and service delivery for both NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak customers on the most critical piece of infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor between Washington D.C. and Boston.

The FEIS and ROD represent a major step forward for a region-changing project that – like our Portal North Bridge Replacement Project – will provide more reliable and resilient service along the busiest rail corridor in the nation. Combined with Portal North – which continues to advance and remains on track for a construction award by the end of this year – we are positioning the entire Northeast Corridor to safely and reliably meet the demands of

NJ TRANSIT customers for generations to come.

Achieving this milestone didn’t happen without a significant amount of work by NJ TRANSIT staff. I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge a few key members our team who have been instrumental in today’s announcement, including RJ Palladino who has done yeoman’s work leading the effort on the development of the FEIS and ROD, along with Ayelet Hirschkorn, Jeremy Colangelo-Bryan, John Geitner and Dara Callender, among others. It is another huge victory for our agency, our customers, and our entire region.

I hope you all enjoy a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Warmly,

Kevin

https://utulocal60.com/2021/05/27/16309/

ATTENTION EMPLOYEES

Yesterday, Governor Murphy announced a significant easing of the following COVID-19-related restrictions, beginning on Friday, May 28th:

• New Jersey will no longer require people to wear masks at indoor public places in most circumstances; and
  
  
  
• New Jersey will drop its 6-foot distancing rule for restaurants, businesses, and other venues.
  
  
  
• Also, on June 4, New Jersey will end all indoor gathering limits.

These announcements do not change any policies or procedures for NJ TRANSIT employees working at NJ TRANSIT facilities. State agencies like NJ TRANSIT will continue to be required to follow the masking and social distancing dictates outlined in Executive Order No. 192. 

Employees dealing directly with the public may receive questions from customers regarding the lifting of these restrictions, and whether it means customers no longer need to wear masks or distance while in NJ TRANSIT’s system.

Employees may cite a number of reasons why masks and distancing are still very much required everywhere on our system – for both customers and employees on-board vehicles, indoors and outdoors – regardless of whether or not you are vaccinated:

• The TSA’s face mask requirement remains in place until September 13th across all transportation modes.
  
  
  
• Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 165 remains in effect, requiring all customers and employees to wear face coverings on public transit.
  
  
  
• CDC guidance specifically states that everyone – including the fully vaccinated – should continue to wear masks everywhere on public transit.

That means, for the time being, NJ TRANSIT employees must continue to reinforce the importance of distancing and wearing face coverings on vehicles, in stations, and on platforms.

Brian A. Lapp

SVP & Chief Safety Officer

NJ TRANSIT

Office: (973) 491-7942

Mobile: (973) 558-1405

BLapp@NJTransit.com

ATTENTION EMPLOYEES
Next week, from May 25th through May 27th, NJ TRANSIT will proudly join forces with the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) to offer space at Newark Penn Station, Secaucus Junction, and the Walter Rand Transportation Center to help vaccinate as many New Jerseyans as possible. 
NJ TRANSIT employees are welcome to take advantage of this vaccination opportunity. Walk-ups are welcome, and you don’t need an appointment. For all the details, please see the flyer below.

Through this effort and many others, NJ TRANSIT is working to ensure that all New Jerseyans have access to COVID vaccines, while at the same time supporting Governor Murphy’s ambitious statewide vaccination goals.

This includes offering free rides through our VAXRIDE initiative to customers travelling to and from vaccination appointments and administering more than 3,000 vaccine doses to our employees at clinics at our Camden and Maplewood facilities.

,

Brian A. Lapp

SVP & Chief Safety Officer

NJ TRANSIT

Office: (973) 491-7942

Mobile: (973) 558-1405

BLapp@NJTransit.com

Download (PDF, 42KB)

https://utulocal60.com/2021/05/20/16221/