Transit Briefs: Denver RTD, NJ Transit, NYMTA, LIRR

RTD will introduce systemwide lower fares starting Jan. 1. (Denver RTD Photograph)

Denver Regional Transit District (RTD) on Jan. 1 will launch systemwide lower fares. Also, AECOM lands a design contract for New Jersey Transit’s New Brunswick commuter rail station; New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NYMTA) is pre-qualifying vendors for new subway system fare gates; and HNTB earns an award for the MTA Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Jamaica Capacity Improvements (JCI) program, Phase 1–Platform F.

Denver RTD 

RTD on Jan. 1 will implement a new systemwide fare structure—the first time the agency has lowered fares for all RTD services, including light rail, commuter rail, bus, shuttles, ADA paratransit services, demand responsive services like FlexRide, special event services, vanpools, and many more. The change is a result of a yearlong fare study and equity analysis aimed at creating a fare structure that is “more equitable, affordable and simple,” RTD reported Dec. 22. The updated fare structure was adopted by the Board of Directors in July.

RTD’s new fare structure includes:

• Standard fare:
—$2.75 for a 3-Hour pass (no Airport).
—$5.50 for a Day Pass (no Airport).
—$10 for an Airport Day Pass (good for travel across the system including to/from the Airport).
—$88 for a Monthly Pass (includes Airport).

• Discount fare:
—$1.35 for a 3-Hour Pass.
—$2.70 for a Day Pass.
—$27 for a Monthly Pass.z
—All Discount fare products include travel to/from the Airport.
—Customers who qualify for Discount fare are seniors 65 and older; individuals with disabilities; Medicare recipients; and individuals enrolled in LiVE, RTD’s income-based fare discount program.

• Access-a-Ride:
—$4.50 for one-way standard fares.
—The regional fare is being eliminated.
—$19 for one-way to the airport.
—$27 for six-ride ticket books.
—In March, the 50% LiVE discount will become available to Access-a-Ride customers.

• LiVE program:
—LiVE participants’ discounts increase to 50%.

According to RTD, riders can exchange 2020-23 unused tickets at its sales outlets (up to 20 ticket books) or by mail through Jan. 31, 2024.

NJ Transit

The Middlesex County Improvement Authority (MCIA), in partnership with NJ Transit and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), has awarded a $7 million design contract to infrastructure consulting firm AECOM for the New Brunswick Train Station renovation project. Work on the 120-year-old station located along the Northeast Corridor will cover the westbound and eastbound platforms; pedestrian transfer passages; the existing tunnel beneath the tracks; site work and landscaping; new waiting areas; entrance signage; trainway equipment; building equipment; vertical circulation elements; and other vital site-related components.

MCIA said it is spearheading the renovations on behalf of the County and NJ Transit, with the new contract forming part of the $45 million project investment funded by the State of New Jersey as part of the FY2023 budget.

“The renovation of the New Brunswick Train Station will play a pivotal role in supporting the ongoing economic development of Middlesex County,” Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ronald G. Rios said during the contract award announcement earlier this month. “Aligning with the concurrent construction of the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center and the Health + Life Sciences Exchange (HELIX) in the county seat of New Brunswick, this project is instrumental in positioning the County as a vibrant destination.”

“The customer experience will benefit from extending and replacing well-worn passenger platforms, modern amenities, [and] reliable elevators and escalators,” MCIA Executive Director H. James Polos said. “Brighter and more energy-efficient lighting and upgraded heating and air conditioning systems will all be a part of the extensive renovations. The MCIA will work diligently with all its partners, including the City of New Brunswick, NJ Transit, Amtrak, NJDOT, Middlesex County, and the State of New Jersey, to deliver a project that will perfectly complement and support the world-class facilities currently being built in the Hub City.” 

“These station improvements not only significantly improve the customer experience at the station, but they support our continued efforts to make public transit as accessible as possible for all those who depend on it for their everyday mobility,” NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin S. Corbett said.

NYMTA

MTA on Dec. 26 reported that it is seeking to replace its legacy fare arrays and “strategically deploy next-generation fare gates” in the New York City subway system that will “better align with the Authority’s goals of promoting fare compliance and preventing fare evasion, enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities and people utilizing strollers, and improving the overall customer experience.” The Authority has released a Request for Information to pre-qualify vendors, which it said is the first phase of a multi-step procurement process. MTA said that through the Request for Information process, it will establish an MTA Qualified Products List for its next generation of fare gates. Interested companies are invited to submit relevant product and other information in the form of a proposal.

“Fare evasion has reached crisis levels in the transit system, with a loss of $285 million in revenue due to subway fare evasion in 2022 alone,” MTA reported. “A key recommendation from the MTA’s Blue-Ribbon Panel report on fare evasion was modernizing fare gates in the subway.”

MTA in November replaced an entire fare array at the Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue-JFK Airport (E, J, Z) Station in Jamaica, Queens, with “more secure and accessible” wide-aisle fare gates, following a March pilot at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn. The new fare gates in Jamaica replaced both the turnstiles and the emergency exit gate at the south side of the station, which was a major contributor to subway fare evasion, MTA said.

“Reimagining the fare array is a common-sense solution to the uptick in fare evasion in the subway system,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “This Request for Information will help us take things to the next level, so we can make sure every person entering the system pays their share.”  

“Customers tell us fare evasion is a key factor for their lack of satisfaction, and I get it–everyone should pay their fair share to ride mass transit,” MTA New York City Transit President Richard Davey said. “Modernized fare gates are the natural starting point for subways to address this problem. While there is no one blanket solution, new designs can trim down on riders skipping out on paying while making it easier and more accessible for customers to enter the system.”

“Station accessibility is more than adding an elevator or ramp to the station, it’s about being able to navigate the full station seamlessly,” MTA Chief Accessibility Officer and Senior Advisor Quemuel Arroyo said. “The first full array of wide-aisle gates showed our commitment to reimagining stations with accessibility at the front of our minds. By seeing what other designs and technology are available, we can further advance our mission for universal accessibility, while also curbing fare evasion, another key agency goal.”

Modernizing the fare array in subway stations is just one of the initiatives undertaken by MTA agencies since the release of the Blue-Ribbon Panel report in May. Since then, MTA said its agencies have taken the following actions:

• Modified 777 turnstiles at 95 fare arrays in 42 stations to prevent customers from back-cocking.
• Deployed 432 unarmed gate guards and re-keyed all 1,620 emergency exit access key locks.
• Launched a pilot to delay egress on emergency exit gates to discourage opportunistic evasion.
• Piloting fins on turnstiles to deter riders from attempting to jump the turnstiles.
• Deployed NYCT EAGLE teams, with support from the New York Police Department (NYPD), to local and Select Bus Service (SBS) bus stop hubs with high rates of fare evasion. Over the past three months, with targeted enforcement at three hubs, EAGLE teams have had more than 30,000 customer contacts that include 14,240 customers assisted with fare payment, 4,017 verbal warnings and 6,670 evasion summonses, MTA reported.
• Collaborated with New York City on Fair Fares outreach with enhanced digital messaging and additional enrollment opportunities at Transit Talk events.
• Formed partnerships between the MTA Metro-North Railroad and labor members to focus on increasing conductor fare collection “using on-board video technology to review and correct performance.”
• Launched a pre-boarding inspection pilot program on MTA LIRR and Metro-North at their major Midtown hubs, Grand Central and Penn Station. Crews check tickets before customers board to discourage delayed e-tickets activation and boarding without a ticket, MTA said. So far, both railroads have held two trial runs, reaching over 7,000 customers, which MTA said, “confirmed a significant number of customers are boarding without pre-purchased or activated e-tickets.”
• The MTA Police Department has recorded a 210% increase in fare evasion arrests and 104% increase in fare evasion summonses between 2022 and 2023, “thanks to enhanced train patrols and patrolling subway stations located at commuter railroad hubs,” MTA reported.
• MTA Bridges and Tunnels has further enhanced their crackdown efforts on scofflaws with the deployment of Portable License Plate Readers, which have increased license plate reads, MTA said.
• Between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15, 2023, Bridge and Tunnel officers have intercepted 2,718 vehicles–a 50% increase from the same time in 2022 and surpassed the total of 1,880 vehicles that were interdicted in all of 2022, according to MTA. Bridge and Tunnel officers have also issued 2,933 summonses for covered or obstructed license plates since the beginning of the year, it noted.
• The MTA said it plans to coordinate with the NYPD for “enhanced toll evasion enforcement” for congestion pricing.

MTA LIRR

HNTB on Dec. 22 reported receiving the 2024 American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of New York Platinum Award–Transportation for the Jamaica Capacity Improvements (JCI) program, Phase 1 – Platform F. The firm has served as designer-of-record and provided construction phase, contract extension, and signal revision services.

Each year, more than 50 member firms submit projects to be considered for ACEC New York’s Engineering Excellence Awards. Projects are judged on a set of criteria including complexity, innovation and value to society.

Upon completion, Phase I of the JCI program will support the first passenger route from Jamaica, Queens to Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn on the LIRR, HNTB reported.

The project comprises a new station platform, Platform F, and its associated track reconfiguration. Platform F will support a new Brooklyn shuttle service between Jamaica Station and Atlantic Terminal that HNTB said will increase operational flexibility and through-put capacity. It also will provide capacity to accommodate future trains traveling to and from Grand Central Terminal and contribute to the JCI’s overall mission “to streamline and enhance rail service for its passengers,” according to the firm. Interagency and stakeholder coordination were required to ensure regulatory compliance, and digital twin technology was used to create asset models that allowed for the integration of the project with existing infrastructure.

“The improvements made to Jamaica Station have allowed the LIRR to serve the growing transportation demand in the area,” said Kevin R. Collins, HNTB’s New York Office Leader and Senior Vice President. “Customers of the LIRR will benefit from improved transit times, a transformed station with updated accommodations and a new visual landmark that reflects the character of the community.”

In total, 124 projects will be honored at ACEC New York’s 57th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala, which will take place April 13, 2024.