Delay Letter.jpg
A copy of the excuse letter that NJ Transit will write to a commuter's employer when their train or bus is late. (NJ Transit)
Late to work because your train or bus was delayed? NJ Transit will write an excuse note to your boss.
Executive Director Steven Santoro made the offer in an April 25 letter to commuters on NJ Transit's website, offering the letters to riders who's work situation has been "compromised" by the recent delays.
The dog-ate-my-commute-letter can be picked up at customer service offices or can be requested through the "contact us" section of NJTransit.com, Santoro wrote.
"The letters have been a long-standing customer amenity," said Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman. "Typically, during widely publicized events, we receive fewer of these requests because most employers are aware of the service disruptions through the media."
The letter can be emailed to commuters, he said. The note is a form letter with spaces for that day's date, train information, scheduled arrival time and time it arrived.
"My reaction: Now, I've heard everything," said Len Resto, New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers president
Wednesday was the first morning that NJ Transit didn't see widespread delays this week, until a 20 minute delay was posted around 9 a.m. But the agency may have written a lot of excuse letters on Monday and Tuesday.
On Tuesday, NJ Transit warned riders to expect 15 minute delays on weekdays and 30 minutes on weekends "indefinitely" due to Amtrak track work on Penn Station. Those delays spiked to 60 minutes Tuesday night.
NJ Transit's boss also apologized for recent delays and said he met with Amtrak President and CEO Wick Moorman about NJ Transit having voice in issues such as
, tunnel evacuation protocols, and customer flow at Penn Station New York.
Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.