NJ TRANSIT is launching new features on its mobile app in a pilot program that allows rail and bus passengers to see how full their ride is before they step on board, making a better-informed personal decision that optimizes their comfort level as they return to the system.

For rail and bus passengers, green, yellow and red color-coded icons indicate light, medium, or heavy ridership conditions.  On buses, the data is collected by automated onboard passenger counting technology.  On trains on the Raritan Valley, Atlantic City and Morris & Essex Lines, the data is collected automatically from NJ TRANSIT’s new handheld devices used by train crews to scan and validate tickets and passes. For other rail lines, customers will be able to crowdsource this information by voluntarily inputting this data to alert fellow customers how full the train is.  Crowdsourcing will be gradually phased out as train crews on additional rail lines receive the new handheld ticket validation devices. All data collected is anonymized and used only to provide estimates of passenger volume.

Bus passengers will use the MyBus feature to view onboard ridership conditions with icons and color coding to indicate light, medium, and heavy passenger travel on both the NJ TRANSIT Mobile app and website.

To view the rail information, passengers must access DepartureVision.

For more information on this exciting new feature and how to download the app, please visit njtransit.com/app. Passengers who have already downloaded the app must update the app to make sure they have the latest version to access this feature. The update for this feature will be available to all app users in phases over the next week, beginning today.

-via Press Release