We've heard some pretty lame excuses before but the latest from New Jersey Transit takes the cake, or in this case the donut.
Commuters know all too well that sluggish public transportation is often just a fact of life. Lately though the problem has been getting worse for travelers in the Tri-state area and no one seems interested in taking responsibility for the constant delays and inefficiencies.
One of the worst offenders might be NJ Transit's Hamilton station, where the trains are chronically late and riders are frequently left wondering when they will get to work. Of course that's assuming they get into the station to begin with.
Recently early morning commuters hoping to catch a train have discovered the station doors locked on more than one occasion. One might think it would be the transit system's responsibility, but not according to NJT.
@NJTRANSIT @ScottieHo @NJTRANSIT_ME “TB” is also the same person who “assumes” the doors get opened at Hamilton. If… https://t.co/DEdyhM5gm8— Steve Kohut (@Steve Kohut)1553169863.0
When a frustrated passenger brought up the persistent issue on Twitter an NJT spokesperson with the initials T.B. began pointing fingers at the people really responsible for passengers' transit nightmares, Dunkin' Donuts.
@stevek8n9 Hi Steve, like previously stated, Dunkin Donuts is responsible for opening the doors in the morning at H… https://t.co/83tt9id2ea— NJ TRANSIT (@NJ TRANSIT)1553170207.0
That's right. According to NJT when the coffee and donut chain purchased a location near the Hamilton train station part of the contract included Dunkin' Donuts agreeing to open the station doors on time.
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 why is a donut shop in charge of opening a train station?— Jerry Burke (@Jerry Burke)1553170835.0
@ChasingJerryB Hi Jerry, this was presented in their contract with NJT when purchasing the location. -TB— NJ TRANSIT (@NJ TRANSIT)1553171432.0
Contract or not customers weren't buying NJT's excuse and wondered how and why a deal like this got made in the first place.
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 Maybe it's inappropriate to contract opening a train station on time to a donut stand?— Jim Dunne (@Jim Dunne)1553175231.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 Would love to meet the guy who has drafted the contract :)— Syed Adnan Asrar (@Syed Adnan Asrar)1553219229.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 “Steve, if the donut shop doesn’t open the station on time, we’re certainly not going to pay… https://t.co/3D1Ssdns1h— Dead As Hell 2 (@Dead As Hell 2)1553189444.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 So let me get this 100% straight..... A part of metropolitan NJ is dependent on the donut gu… https://t.co/vUnzHpxPkx— Bame (@Bame)1553189860.0
@katiebakes @NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 I love it. They're like, "what don't you get? This is pretty self-explanatory. I… https://t.co/MhYSzun4Nq— Adam Herman (@Adam Herman)1553187029.0
@NJTRANSIT @katiebakes @stevek8n9 This is amazing.— Adam Herman (@Adam Herman)1553186363.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 My favorite thing about this amazing tweet is that an NJT employee really thought revealing t… https://t.co/G9g9YK1Pcz— fingerspitzengefühl (@fingerspitzengefühl)1553213656.0
And for many NJT passengers it was the last straw. After chronic delays, constant mismanagement and now this, customers we're pissed a ready to see heads roll at NJT.
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 This is the best argument ever for firing every member of @NJTRANSIT's executive and manageme… https://t.co/k2qYhxybgi— David Sheridan (@David Sheridan)1553192036.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 That's not how customer service works. "Complain to the person we hired" is not how you treat… https://t.co/Lb4duYvAWj— Teao (@Teao)1553190168.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 I have never seen a tweet that better describes how terrible New Jersey is than this one.— Ordoliberal (@Ordoliberal)1553191886.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 This is amazing incompetence, even by NJ standards— Michael Bator (@Michael Bator)1553212023.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 Is Dunkin Donuts contracted to fix the broken signals as well— Real NJ Transit Alerts (@Real NJ Transit Alerts)1553185965.0
We treat public transit like such crap in America that we outsource the opening of stations to fast food franchises. https://t.co/2r6x1KLwwU— Jeremy Wilcox (@Jeremy Wilcox)1553178344.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 "Like we said BEFORE, We don't TAKE responsibility for ANYTHING... that's the morning crew fo… https://t.co/plIEdvvSDz— Dr Factenstein (@Dr Factenstein)1553227663.0
So far though NJ Transit has not commented further on the situation so it looks like commuters are stuck waiting for the donut guy in the morning.
@NJTRANSIT @ChasingJerryB "Hey Jerry, sorry you can't go to work today, the donut guy is hungover again."— sdx (@sdx)1553176558.0
@NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 Time to make the [trains run on time] https://t.co/W2FIA7J7r2— (Theme from) Peter Gunndam (@(Theme from) Peter Gunndam)1553180990.0
And hopefully in the future NJ Transit can find someone far more reliable to open up it's station.
@kerrymflynn @NJTRANSIT @stevek8n9 This would not have happened if it were a @krispykreme.— waffles (@waffles)1553215989.0
