NJ Transit's Access Link pilot that uses Lyft and taxis expands to Bergen, Passaic

Colleen Wilson, NorthJersey.com
Updated ·2 min read
In 2023, Access Link service arrived on-time 87.5% of the time on average, up slightly from last year when it was 85.2%, but down from 2017 when it was 92.5%.

NJ Transit is expanding its wildly successful Access Link pilot program.

Access Link users in seven more counties will be eligible to opt in to the program, which makes other services such as Lyft and Black & White Taxi available to pick up riders using Access Link's subsidized rates.

Uber was also part of the initial pilot, which launched in May 2023 in nine counties.

Access Link users who require a wheelchair lift are not eligible for the pilot, but NJ Transit officials have said their hope is that the van service will also improve as drivers and vans are freed up.

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"The Riders’ Choice Pilot Program has helped improve on-time performance and reduce wait times for customers and is much more cost-effective for NJ Transit on a per-trip basis,” NJ Transit President and CEO Kevin Corbett said in a statement.

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“We are pleased to be able to expand this program to seven additional counties and deliver a more seamless and reliable transportation experience for our Access Link customers,” he said.

Access Link pilot expanding to Bergen, Passaic counties

The program now will extend to Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties.

When the program began last year, it launched in Essex, Morris, Union, Somerset, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties and parts of Cumberland County.

More: NJ Transit testing new app that gives hearing or visually impaired real-time bus info

In the first few weeks, 2,700 Access Link users signed up for the program and more than 12,000 trips were taken. Now, 3,250 users have opted in -- out of the 40,826 people served by Access Link in the regions where the pilot was first offered -- and they have taken more than 176,000 trips in those eight months.

Access Link came under scrutiny from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, which reached two settlements with NJ Transit that required the agency to make wide-ranging changes, including station improvements, reducing hold times when users call for assistance, better on-time performance of pickups, and improving performance tracking.

In December 2023, 91.2% of Access Link service was on time, below the 99% on-time rate agreed to in the settlement with federal law enforcement. It was significantly improved from the 83.4% on-time performance in May 2023.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Transit Access Link pilot expands to Bergen, Passaic