Frustrated NJ Transit commuters have been circulating fliers on trains and waging a nascent social media campaign dubbed "NoPayMay" to encourage rail riders to attempt to use April monthly passes next month as a form of protest.
A flier left on a New Jersey Transit train on Friday morning, imploring customers not to pay for their May monthly pass.
The #NoPayMay movement comes after weeks of delayed trains, two derailments and other mishaps that have left commuters at their breaking point.
Though hundreds of tweets on Twitter implore riders not to purchase a new monthly rail passes for May, one commuter noted that a conductor said that anyone who tries to use an old ticket will face arrest.
Leisa Herrera, 47, of Rahway said she plans to present her April ticket on Monday. She said she has no idea if others will join the movement.
"If everyone got on the train and no one paid even if only for a day, it would send a strong message," Herrera said.
Another commuter, Ravi Ramineni, 29 of Woodbridge pegged the odds of #NoPayMay taking place at "60 percent." He said he will take part.
NJ Transit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about how the agency would handle anyone who tries to observe the #NoPayMay protest.
Commuters who asked for the cost of their April ticket to be refunded have also tweeted they received a form letter from NJ Transit that said the beleaguered agency is "unable" to do that.
"I truly believe that NJ Transit should make some sort of concession to its passengers and have a better plan for getting people home when these things happen," Herrera said. "They haven't given any thought to the unsafe conditions that are created every time there is a delay and how vulnerable we are."
On Tuesday, NJ Transit said weekday trains would be delayed by 15 minutes "indefinitely" due to ongoing track work being done by Amtrak at New York Penn Station. The delays are expected to be 30 minutes on weekends.
Things have gotten so bad that NJ Transit began reminded riders it offers apology letters that they can give to their employers explaining why they were late to work.
Though a spokesman called the letters "a long-standing amenity," NJ Transit Executive Director Steven Santoro offered the tardy note in a letter published on the agency's website.
The heads of Amtrak and New Jersey Transit are slated Friday to face New Jersey lawmakers who want answers about recent rail problems at New York's Penn Station that have created chaos for commuters.
A joint committee in Trenton will hear from Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman and NJ Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro.
The bad month began April 3 when a "minor derailment" of a New Jersey Transit train in New York Penn Station caused disruptions for days at the nation's busiest rail hub.
That came days after an Amtrak train derailed and sideswiped an NJ Transit train on March 24.
On April 21, trains were delayed by an Amtrak switch problem. Two days earlier, a stalled train caused gridlock for trains traveling to New York Penn Station.
The previous week, a train with 1,200 passengers aboard got stuck in a Hudson River rail tunnel and disrupted the evening commute for tens of thousands of others.
This week trains were heavily delayed on Monday and Tuesday due to track maintenance being done by Amtrak.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.