CapTengu

The ROW over Hell Gate Bridge cannot have the 4th track rebuilt due to freight loading gauge issues. This was the reason the 4th track was removed in the first place, in order to move the 3rd track over; track centers on the bridge are far narrower than the modern dynamic loading gauge allows for.

That would severely reduce L train line capacity and permanently cap the IBX at lower frequencies irrespective of future ridership growth. You may save on money but in the long run add a massive bottleneck to one of the few lines where the primary constraint to more service is substation capacity.

In fact, if we're going down that particular line of argument, it is easier to not get killed by a train with low platforms (unless one jumps or is pushed directly in front of the train) as getting out of the trackway and back onto the platform is much easier than with high platforms.

This is not a problem right across the river in Newark, which has a low (~3') fence between tracks at most stations preventing people from walking across. I've genuinely seen more people running across the NEC at New Brunswick alone than between any two Light Rail platforms everywhere I've gone.

One makes one transfer between the 7 and the IBX at Roosevelt Avenue to make the trip; the IBX does not exist in a vacuum. You asked if there would be any end-to-end riders; this is an example of a foreseeable trip that uses nearly the entire IBX as one of its legs.

In theory they could use overhead with "conventional rail" rolling stock, but this then eliminates one of the benefits of said mode choice (using LIRR maintenance facilities to maintain rolling stock instead of needing a new maintenance facility for a captive fleet).

Clearance issues regarding emergency egress in the ENY tunnels if third rail is used. LRVs using overhead enables use of the tunnels as-is, without a bench wall/catwalk and corresponding severe reduction in loading gauge.

The IBX would be (by transferring to the 7 at Jackson Heights) the fastest transit option between the Sunset Park and Flushing Chinatowns.

Moving to PoP is good, but many PoP systems allow you to buy a ticket or load farecard value in advance and then validate it when ready to use it, which is effectively the same as the status quo for the rider. What the MTA is proposing is nothing like this; you must pay at time of boarding.

This disadvantages people who make multi-day split trips, such as heading out on Friday to visit family and returning on Monday. Currently it's possible to buy the whole trip in one go, but with this change one would need to buy the return leg on the way back, potentially very early in the morning.

All three NJT Light Rail systems still do this. You can either buy a ticket in advance and then validate it separately when you are ready to use it, or buy one pre-validated from the TVM (expires 60-75 minutes later depending on the system).

30 days until expiry has proven to be reasonable on NJT. Four hours is patently absurd.
Many times I've bought return tickets either before leaving on a weekend-long trip (sometimes the day before) or as soon as I got to the destination, to avoid dealing with TVMs in a rush on the trip back.

Fare capping is great for casual riders who may or may not hit the pass value in a week depending on what they're doing. It is by no means a replacement for passes, but it provides an additional option for riders that don't know if they need a weekly in advance or not.

This is arbitrary and capricious, however, as it effectively forces automatic denial of any projects performed by a NYC-area agency regardless of actual project merits. This then runs into conflicts with both Federal and State law, as well as compact clause issues.

The Feds cannot unilaterally withhold funds, unless compelled by law (i.e. Congress) to do so; the last time this was done was to force WMATA to use DCA's full name. Anything else is a slam-dunk lawsuit for the states and agencies regarding impoundment of previously-authorized federal funds.

NJT tried to avoid this, but riders had other ideas. Demand for Midtown Direct service was so lopsided when that opened NJT was forced to send a large amount of trains intended to stay out of Hoboken to Penn just to deal with excessive passenger loads. Political demands for it don't help either.

Cantilevered seats can be found on the new buses currently on order. Not having them has been a simple matter of the current buses being on average about 15 years old.

The 62 is not a dedicated airport shuttle like the Q70. Its primary ridership is actually airport workers and people heading between Newark and Elizabeth. NJT does not have a dedicated airport bus fleet, or any purpose/route-dedicated fleets for that matter.

Morris, Bergen, Passaic, Middlesex, and Monmouth pay in, as far as I know. Salem operates the 468 itself under contract to NJT. I am unsure what Mercer is doing, nor how the 890/891 have been handled since the termination of WHEELS (although to my knowledge Warren does not pay in).

Not much. NJT orders a lot of equipment SEPTA never does at all in absolutely massive quantities, namely motorcoaches. There's also the perpetual problem of having no good place to split the network in half, as there is significant overlap between what could be considered "north" and "south".

South Jersey's network would die back significantly if it wasn't part of the same agency as North Jersey. A huge part of the economy of scale is one unified fleet pool, which South Jersey alone would be unable to fund their portion on their own without a larger state agency doing it.

NJT is the only reason the 890/891 in Philipsburg still exists. The county has attempted to kill funding multiple times (eventually successfully), with NJT keeping the route operating due to public outcry. The only things stopping NJT from adding routes in the area are Lakeland and Trans-Bridge.

Even NJT's otherwise isolated minibus route network (the 890/891) serving Philipsburg is designed around connecting said city and its environs to Easton, with further travel possible on LANta and Trans-Bridge services at the bus hub. Warren doesn't even have a minibus anywhere near its largest town!

The Sussex and Warren buses completely miss any connections with NJT services that run into their counties, and the only Ocean County route that connects to NJT (also the only one where "frequency" is even an applicable term) is basically a glorified beach shuttle. This is not a subsidy issue.

This isn't the reality on the ground, though. Service in the hold-out counties sucks because it's exclusively viewed as a service for the poor/disabled, not actual transportation for normal people to use daily. This is made evident by the fact they don't even try to connect to any other services.

The number one way to improve this is not service fragmentation, but rather getting contract operators out of NJT's operations entirely. NJT cannot increase service levels on the Bergen, Passaic or Middlesex locals without entirely renegotiating contracts, which causes costs to skyrocket.

The purely county-run systems in NJ are horrendous, with most service entirely unusable for anything other than seniors shopping on certain days of the week. Compare to the counties that pay into NJT, where service (while it could be better) is good enough for both commute and casual travel.

They were kept functional (they still provided signal power, which is run by M-G sets off the catenary supply), but Amtrak was beginning its electrical renewal program at the time and replaced the equipment there while there were still no trains drawing power that they needed to account for.

Which, thankfully, is entirely a matter solvable with the agreements required for the corporate transfer. Since NJT would be able to functionally eliminate most PATH overhead positions this would actually be a more efficent use of the same amount of PA funds.

The PA has wanted to get rid of PATH for decades. A NJT takeover of PATH is as simple as figuring out how to transfer the PATH subsidiary and its assets to NJT, which can be done entirely under existing laws and regulations. This has been done before with Mercer Metro and PABCO, among others.