NJ Transit riders slam new mobile app for inaccurate train and bus information

By Larry Higgs | NJ.com (TNS)

Commuters have lived with the new NJ Transit mobile app since it was introduced with fanfare by Gov. Mikie Sherrill on May 12. In the following months, the reviews have not been good.

Commuters reported issues with the new app that was the centerpiece of Sherrill’s executive order 16 to improve the experience of NJ Transit riders.

The problems are so bad that even Transportation Commissioner Priya Jain commented during July’s NJ Transit board meeting that family members complained to her about the app.

“I get calls from family members who use the NJT app and they said it’s not working,” she said. “We are committed to getting an app that works.”

If there is an indication how essential the mobile app is for commuters, one only has to watch how many are watching their phones in major terminals such as Penn Station or the Port Authority Bus Terminal, to track their train or bus and activate tickets.

Commuters asked about their issues by NJ.com had several major areas of complaint. We also road-tested the app on bus and light rail lines and found similar issues to those raised by rail commuters.

Problems riders said they experienced include being logged out when buying tickets and inaccurate train and bus information. Many said features the old app had, such as a point-to-point trip planner and departure vision, which is the same train status screen riders see on station platforms, aren’t as informative as the same feature on the old app.

“It is awful. It is regularly incorrect about when trains are coming, how late they are, or whether they are cancelled or not,” said Morris & Essex line commuter Howard Fischer.

The positives — the blue and white app graphics make the new app easier to read, even in bright sunlight. It has more instant features to buy the tickets a rider most commonly purchases. It uses GPS to pinpoint near by bus stops and trains stations and provide arrival information.

The app relies heavily on GPS to reduce the amount of information riders have to enter. But GPS also can overwhelm the user, making it difficult to manually put in a nearby bus stop that isn’t listed by GPS.

NJ Transit has updated the app since its May release, said John Chartier, a spokesperson. The most recent update was a month ago, according to Apple’s app store.

“Since then, NJ Transit has already released two updates to improve functionality, performance, and the overall customer experience,” Chartier said.

The lack of an easy to find and use Departure Vision was the biggest complaint among rail commuters. Departure Vision has not been eliminated and remains a feature in the new app under “Train,” Chartier said.

Riders said it isn’t as functional as the old departure vision, especially when there are rail problems, if express trains run local or when NJ Transit has to operate a line on an emergency schedule.

“Show the same information in the app that is showing on the (video) boards in the station,” said rail commuter Pam O’Kane Foster. “The app is not reflecting delays, or schedule time changes.”

Commuters also complained about the accuracy of information that the app shows, including buses shown as approaching that disappear from the screen. Other said that buses that are not shown on the app arrive before those listed on the app.

What are the problems? Commuters on two Facebook NJ Transit groups and on Reddit detailed their complaints. Several on Reddit said they deliberately haven’t downloaded the new app.

Too many steps

“In a nutshell it requires too many layers to get to the info you need. You should be able to save a commute (in my case Maplewood to Penn) and at the tap of the screen be able to see the schedule/next departures, and purchase tickets,” said M&E commuter Frank Verderosa.

“I’ve currently saved my home and destination stations, but still have to go through four screens to get the info I need,” he said. “They’ve made improvements since its release. Initially the track info was in tiny print in a place you wouldn’t expect it. It now better resembled departure vision.”

Trip planning is harder

The old app has a simple standalone trip planner where riders entered where they’re going and leaving from and when they wanted to travel. Riders complained about difficulty using its GPS based replacement.

“Trying to plan a trip in advance does not work as well as the old app. This app has a few more steps to be able to see what trains are leaving my station at 6 a.m.,” said rail commuter Gerri Hall. ”It’s workable but not as intuitive nor easy. If I am doing my search at 8 p.m., the app defaults to showing times for 8 p.m. the next day. Dumb.”

Riders can override GPS to plan a trip, Chartier said.

“Customers can override the GPS-based origin by selecting the “X”in the Origin field at the top of the Trip Planner,“ he said.

That will clear the current location and allows riders to manually enter a station, bus stop, municipality, address, or point of interest as their starting location, rather than using their device’s GPS location, Chartier said.

Still even that failed to give bus information during a testing by NJ.com on Thursday morning.

“If you’re looking for a schedule for the next day at night after the last train has left, it doesn’t allow you to change the date and time,” said rail commuter Melanie Kidd. “It just gives you an error. Plus why is it in 24 hour time in the smallest font possible?”

Departure Vision

This was a top complaint of rail commuters who faulted the new app for not including the same departure vision train status screen that riders see in the station.

The version offered on the new app was hard to find and offered incomplete information, such as when a train is late or other schedule changes, riders said.

“Why do trains disappear on Departure Vision when they are late?,” said rail commuter Jackie Petroccia. “Isn’t that the point, to know when your train is departing?

Another train commuter said problems with the app required NJ Transit employee in Penn Station New York to shout out train cancelations

“One time in Penn station a staff member had to come around and yell the schedule changes to everyone (multiple trains cancelled etc.) because it wasn’t showing up on the app and people were still waiting for trains that had been cancelled,” said Nancy Bajra. “It’s like we have to go back to the Middle Ages ‘hear ye hear ye’ announcements.”

Bad information

Inaccurate schedules and arrival times was a complaint of both rail and bus users.

“The train times used to be accurate. Now, I’m told it’s on time … when it’s actually late,“ said rail commuter Brandi Bowles. ”Accurate train times would have saved me a ton of scrambling."

Several issues surfaced during NJ.com’s test of the app on NJ Transit bus. Arrival times were inaccurate, with buses arriving early or not at all. Other issues included phantom buses that were not shown on the schedule but showed up at the bus stop.

In one case, an 84 bus arrived that wasn’t listed on the app, when the next 84 wasn’t scheduled to arrive for 40 minutes. In another, an 86 bus that wasn’t shown on the app arrived behind an 84.

Information on the app between the map and schedule can disagree with each other. An 87 bus that the app said was 8 minutes away only made its second stop out of 10 on Central Avenue in Jersey City before reaching the desired stop.

Despite tapping a specific bus route such as the 123 or 119 in major terminals such as the Port Authority Hoboken or Journal Square Bus Terminal, the app delivers results for all bus routes serving the facility.

Times shown on the app should be thought of as suggestions and it’s common place for buses to appear and disappear, said bus rider Crystal Lee.

In May, NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri said the mobile app’s My Bus feature is about 75% to 80% accurate. NJ Transit’s technology team believes that can be improved to 99%, he said.

The Fix

The app displays information from NJ Transit’s operational and real-time systems, Chartier said. But they can vary due to conditions.

“Bus predictions may change due to traffic, GPS or communication delays, detours and service conditions,” he said. “Rail times, tracks and (bus) gates update as information is received from operations.”

The agency plans to spend $18 million to equip buses and trains with GPS technology to give riders more accurate information on the agency’s app, officials announced in May.

NJ Transit started taking steps in June improve its provide real-time transit communications systems.

“In June, we issued an Request for Information to modernize our customer communications technology which will look to enhance real-time capabilities,“ Chartier said.

NJ Transit currently uses multiple systems to get information to riders, some which were developed decades ago.

“Now we manage multiple communication systems to get the same message out,” said Anthony Grieco, NJ Transit senior vice president, communications and customer experience. “It’s time consuming, labor intensive and ripe for inconsistent messaging.”

NJ Transit will hold an industry day in mid-August, to see what ideas the industry has to share, before NJ Transit releases a request for proposals in September, he said. The goal is create a united communication system that could be rolled out in 18 months.

“You enter one message and it goes to every customer communication channel in the proper format,” Grieco said. “Every channel gets the same message, that’s our goal.”

________

©2026 Advance Local Media LLC

Visit nj.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Daily News Briefing