Total mechanical failure means a train or bus could not complete or start a trip, according to the FTA.UPDATE 6:50 P.M.: Amtrak and NJ Transit have resumed service between Philadelphia and New York after it was delayed due to brush fires in New Jersey that were burning near rail lines on Wednesday afternoon. NJ Transit commuter rail saw 351 total mechanical failures over 52.5 million revenue miles that trains ran in 2019. If there was a sliver of light in the tunnel, it’s that 2019′s numbers showed a slight improvement over the number of trains that broke down in 2018. But NJ Transit officials say they are working to address issues that led to the poor rankings. Before the coronavirus pandemic crushed public transit ridership in 2020, commuters regularly complained about being stuck on a platform, waiting for the little engine that couldn’t run.

The statistics, released this week in the Federal Transit Administration National Transit’s Database and based on numbers reported to the FTA annually by transit agencies, likely didn’t come as a shock to commuters. Buses ranked eighth worst in the nation in 2019 and seventh worst among similar sized agencies, such as NYC Transit. For a second straight year, NJ Transit trains broke down more than any other system’s in the nation in 2019, according to Federal Transit Administration data.

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