New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), at the direction of New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, has launched an upgraded digital customer experience upgrade, including a redesigned website hosting features such as:

• Modernized navigation
• Improved accessibility
• More prominent system status information

The new website launches alongside the debut of Navvie, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot on the website to help riders more easily access trip planning and travel details. Further, the agency’s mobile app is set to receive updates to streamline the experience in response to passenger feedback. NJ Transit says improvements come as part of its ongoing efforts to modernize and improve the overall customer experience. 

“Our redesigned website puts customers first while Navvie, our first digital assistant, gives customers a smarter, more convenient way to plan their trips and get travel information,” said NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri. “These improvements reflect our commitment, and Gov. Sherrill’s commitment, to deliver a modern, intuitive transit experience for all New Jerseyans.”

The redesigned website features a simplified design for faster access to the most-used features, a modernized, mobile-responsive layout and streamlined journey to plan trips. It also features more prominently displayed passenger information such as service alerts, advisories and other essential travel details and a clearer presentation of rail, bus and light-rail schedules. The website also features enhanced accessibility with increased text clarity and contrast, more intuitive navigation for screen readers and compliance with updated web content accessibility guidance.

Available 24/7, NJ Transit says Navvie is designed to provide trip-planning support, travel information assistance, guidance on schedules, alerts and transfers.

As results of the pilot are analyzed, the agency says that Navvie may be integrated into the NJ Transit mobile app by the end of 2026, aligning with its multi-channel unified communications vision.

Launching Sept. 9 is the enhanced NJ Transit mobile app, featuring improvements focused on reliability, service clarity, ticketing and trip planning based on feedback from riders following the release of the agency’s newly-designed mobile app earlier this year. Customers will see improved access to active service alerts and service information, enhanced trip-planning and nearby-station functionality and improvements to event ticketing, including support for special-event travel. The agency also notes the release includes accessibility, payment, performance and general usability improvements.

A subsequent release the agency says is set to come later in September is designed to further enhance the home screen with favorites and a breaking news/service information module. The service information experience will align with NJ Transit’s website breaking news messaging and provide customers with the ability to navigate multiple major service announcements or service impacts directly from the home screen. 

The agency says these digital enhancements support Gov. Sherrill’s Rapid Action Plan for NJ Transit as spelled out in Executive Order 16.

The move comes just after the agency hosted industry experts for an industry day to share thoughts, ideas and possibilities on ways to use real-time data to modernize the way the agency communicates system status and customer information. The industry day was also a chance for these experts, who expressed interest in the agency’s recent request for information (RFI) to get more information. RFI responses and other market research will help shape the procurement process, which is expected to follow shortly.

“I am encouraged by the robust response to our request for information. There are many technology solutions available to make it possible for us to deliver consistently accurate, unified real-time information to customers across every channel,” Kolluri said. “I look forward to delivering the kind of timely information our customers expect and deserve.”

On June 10, NJ Transit issued an RFI seeking information from companies that provide real-time transit communications systems. NJ Transit says it is entering the next phase of its customer communication upgrades, hence issuing the RFI. The agency says this initiative will deliver better real-time information and system status across all its channels to improve the customer experience.

By studying the most current available technologies within the industry, NJ Transit says it is learning more about existing capabilities to inform a scope of work for a forthcoming procurement process. This effort is designed to ultimately lead to a unified customer communications platform capable of utilizing technology to increase accuracy, efficiency, timeliness and consistency of customer communications across the statewide transit system.

The RFI asked companies to share information regarding commercially available platforms, custom-developed systems and innovative ways to integrate these systems using AI and other tools to provide riders with a single source of accurate and timely information regarding train and bus status, across multiple platforms including NJ Transit’s mobile app, website, email and text alerts, digital station signage and more.

Currently, NJ Transit disseminates passenger communications through multiple systems, including:

• Station and onboard digital signage
• DepartureVision and MyBus systems
• Mobile applications
• Websites and microsites
• SMS and push notifications
• Email alerts
• Social media platforms
• Real-time data feeds and third-party data feeds
• Public address and operational messaging systems.

The RFI advances NJ Transit’s ongoing modernization already underway and unifies these systems into an authoritative source providing accurate, up-to-date information to customers consistently and simultaneously across all communication channels. The new platform aims to be capable of supporting real-time operational communications, improving consistency and speed of customer messaging and enhancing accessibility and multilingual communications. The agency also seeks to build the new system in a way that can readily be updated and expanded to accommodate growth and future needs.

The agency says the RFI was issued solely for informational purposes to enable NJ Transit to study and develop the best solution(s) for its needs at a reasonable cost. The deadline for submissions is Sept. 17, 2026. Once that process is completed, the agency will commence a more formal procurement process. NJ Transit expects to award a final contract to create the new system in 2027.

The Unified Customer Communications System project follows the launch of a completely redesigned mobile app and a $3 billion Fleet Modernization program, in which the agency approved the purchase of 374 new Multilevel III train cars to fully replace its oldest rail cars. The fleet is expected to be fully modernized by 2031, for the first time in NJ Transit’s 40-year history.

For information on how to obtain a copy of the RFI, see NJ Transit’s procurement calendar.