Announcing that more than 200 arrests have been made in the past two years related to counterfeit activity, NJ Transit and the NJ Transit Police Department (NJTPD) officials Monday unveiled a series of new measures to avert the use of counterfeit tickets aboard NJ Transit trains, buses and light rail vehicles.
NJ Transit introduced a new, highly-visible procedure to ensure the integrity of weekly and monthly rail tickets. As part of this approach, NJ Transit train crews began using UV scanners to inspect weekly and monthly passes, which now contain an anti-counterfeit measure that can only be detected with these special UV scanners.
The UV scanners, which are also being utilized by light rail fare collection officers and both uniformed and plain clothed officers aboard NJ Transit buses, are capable of scanning weekly and monthly passes displayed in customers’ plastic ticketholders. Customers will not be required to remove their passes from their ticketholders unless the scanner is unable to detect the anti-counterfeit measure, at which time the train crew member will request that the ticket be removed for further inspection.
“The new procedures being implemented today will protect the interests of our law-abiding customers – and protect the interests of hard-working New Jersey taxpayers,” said NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein. “Whether you are a customer hailing a bus in Newark, boarding a light rail vehicle in Camden or taking one of our trains from Trenton to New York – you have been personally impacted by these criminal acts.”
NJTPD officials said they’ve made more than 200 arrests for counterfeit tickets since June of 2010, and continue to actively investigate the manufacture, sale and usage of fraudulent monthly tickets.