Bernie Wagenblast | |
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![]() Wagenblast in 2022 | |
Born | |
Occupation(s) | Transportation journalist, radio personality and voice-over artist |
Years active | 1976-present |
Bernie Wagenblast (born September 1, 1956, in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is a transportation journalist, radio personality and voice-over artist. She is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter. The newsletter originated as a discussion group in June 1998, evolving into its current format shortly thereafter. She also edits The AASHTO Daily Transportation Update, [1] published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and hosts AASHTO's ETAP Podcast [2] and the ITE Talks Transportation podcast for the Institute of Transportation Engineers. [3]
Wagenblast has been a lifelong resident of Cranford, New Jersey and attended Cranford High School. [4] She went on to graduate from Seton Hall University where she was active in the college's radio station, WSOU (South Orange, NJ), [4] [5] serving as the news director there in 1976–1977, and station manager in 1977–1978. In 2016 she was inducted into WSOU's Hall of Fame.
Wagenblast is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter. [3] She also has served as the voice for various transportation facilities including AirTrain Newark, AirTrain JFK, New York City Subway, and the travelers' information station system at Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport. [6] As of May 28, 2015, she can be heard as the voice on the refurbished cars running on the PATCO Speedline. She is the voice of the PATH customer information line as well as the main phone number for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. On July 4, 2004, she was the announcer during the laying of the cornerstone of One World Trade Center at the World Trade Center site.[ citation needed ]
Wagenblast was a traffic reporter for the New York City office of Shadow Traffic/Metro Networks (a Westwood One company), where she began her career in the transportation field in 1979 as one of that company's original on-air reporters. [5] [7] Through her work for Shadow, she appeared on several New York City radio stations over a five-year period, including WINS and WABC. On WABC she used the name Jack Packard, which was given to her by the station's morning DJ Dan Ingram when Wagenblast began airing traffic reports on the station in December 1979. The name was based on a character from the old time radio program "I Love a Mystery". [8] In addition to New York City, Wagenblast also appeared on suburban stations WBAB, WERA, WMTR, WNAB, WVIP, and WWDJ.[ citation needed ]
Other broadcast experience included positions at WHN (New York City), WJDM (Elizabeth, NJ), WDGS (New Albany, IN) and WRNJ (Hackettstown, NJ).[ citation needed ]
After working for Shadow Traffic the first time, Wagenblast joined the New York City Department of Transportation, where she helped to establish the city's first transportation communications center. Afterward, she moved to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and was operations manager at TRANSCOM, a coalition of transportation agencies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, from 1986 until 1996. [5] She also was involved in the start of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, serving as co-chair of the Highway Operations Group.[ citation needed ]
Following over a decade of work in government, Wagenblast rejoined the private sector serving as the NYC Director of Operations for SmartRoute Systems, a Senior Associate for TransCore and working with SmartRoute Systems to help grow their public sector Intelligent Transportation Systems business.[ citation needed ]
Wagenblast returned to WINS in April 2008, doing traffic reports in the early afternoon hours. She called her 23-year absence from the station a "lunch break" and one of the longest absences in the history of the New York media market. [9] In addition, she was heard on WKXW and WRCN-FM. She worked for Total Traffic in Rutherford, New Jersey.[ citation needed ]
Wagenblast came out publicly as a trans woman in January 2023; although still going by Bernie, she said her full name would now be Bernadette. [6] [10] [11] In an interview from June 2023, she said that although she had felt like a girl since age 4, she had been dissuaded against feminine dress or behavior at a young age. [12] [13] As a teenager she called Paula Grossman, the only openly trans woman she knew, from a payphone to try and find support. [14] Wagenblast later confided in her wife, and in 2017 she told her adult daughters about her identity. [13] She began privately coming out to friends and family in 2022. [13]
Wagenblast and her wife separated after Wagenblast's transition. [11]
Cranford is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 23,847, an increase of 1,222 (+5.4%) from the 2010 census count of 22,625, which in turn reflected an increase of 47 (+0.2%) from the 22,578 counted in the 2000 census.
Newark Liberty International Airport, originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union County, New Jersey, in the United States. Located about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of downtown Newark and 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of Manhattan in New York City, it is a major gateway to points in Europe, South America, Asia, and Oceania. It is jointly owned by the cities and leased to its operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It is the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system behind John F. Kennedy International Airport but far ahead of LaGuardia Airport.
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the state of New York and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, connecting to major commercial and employment centers both within the state and in its two adjacent major cities, New York City and Philadelphia. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 175,960,600.
Secaucus Junction is an intermodal transit hub operated by New Jersey Transit in Secaucus, New Jersey. It is one of busiest railway stations in North America.
Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by eight NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, an NJ Transit event shuttle to Meadowlands Sports Complex, one Metro-North Railroad line, various NJT buses and private bus lines, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail, the Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) rapid transit system, and NY Waterway-operated ferries.
Newark Penn Station is an intermodal passenger station in Newark, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, Newark Penn Station is served by multiple rail and bus carriers, making it the seventh busiest rail station in the United States, and the fourth busiest in the New York City metropolitan area.
WSOU is a non-commercial, college radio station. The station broadcasts from the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. It is a student-run station with university administrator Mark Maben serving as its current General Manager. The station also streams online.
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest and busiest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway. New York City is home to an extensive bus system in each of the five boroughs; citywide and Staten Island ferry systems; and numerous yellow taxis and boro taxis throughout the city. Private cars are less used compared to other cities in the rest of the United States.
Transportation Alternatives is a non-profit organization in New York City which works to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease automobile use. TransAlt seeks a transportation system based on a "Green Transportation Hierarchy" giving preference to modes of travel based on their relative benefits and costs to society. To achieve these goals, T.A. works in five areas: Cycling, Walking and Traffic Calming, Car-Free Parks, Safe Streets and Sustainable Transportation. Promotional activities include large group bicycle rides.
The 7 Subway Extension is a subway extension of the New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line, which is served by the 7 local and <7> express services. The extension stretches 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest from its previous terminus at Times Square, at Seventh Avenue and 41st Street, to one new station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. A second station at 10th Avenue and 41st Street was dropped from the plans in October 2007. The entirety of the extension is located within the New York City borough of Manhattan. The extension, a key part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, is expected to bring business and entertainment into the area, as well as aid redevelopment of nearby Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, located around the Long Island Rail Road's West Side Yard. The extension also serves the nearby Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The 175th Street station is a station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, at the intersection of 175th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, it is served by the A train at all times.
Cranford is an active commuter railroad station in the township of Cranford, Union County, New Jersey. Trains operate between High Bridge and Newark Penn Station on New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line. The next station east is Roselle Park while west is Garwood. Cranford station contains two side platforms to service three tracks and is accessible for handicapped persons under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Transportation Communications Newsletter is an electronic newsletter published Monday through Friday via Yahoo Groups and Google Groups. It has ISSN 1529-1057.
Pete Tauriello is a veteran traffic anchor on 1010 WINS, WKXW and several other radio stations in the New York City area including a few years on the Z-100 "Morning Zoo." He has also served as a traffic reporter on WWOR-TV and more recently on WNBC-TV's "Today In New York."
In New York City, a planned congestion pricing scheme will charge vehicles traveling into or within the central business district of Manhattan. First proposed in 2007, this disincentivizing fee to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution was approved and included in the 2019 New York State budget by the New York State Legislature. As of 2023, congestion pricing is scheduled to be implemented in early 2024. When the congestion charge goes into effect, tolls will be collected electronically and will vary depending on the time of day, type of vehicle, and whether a vehicle has an E-ZPass toll transponder.
Access to the Region's Core (ARC) was a proposed commuter-rail project to increase passenger service capacity on New Jersey Transit (NJT) between Secaucus Junction in New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City. New infrastructure would have included new trackage, a new rail yard, and a tunnel under the Hudson River. A new station adjacent to New York Penn Station was to be constructed as running more trains into the current station was deemed unfeasible. An estimated budget for the project was $8.7 billion. Construction began in mid-2009 and the project was slated for completion in 2018, but it was cancelled in October 2010 by Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who cited the possibility of cost overruns and the state's lack of funds. Six hundred million dollars had been spent on the project. The decision remains controversial.
Carolyn Hopkins is an American public service announcer. Her recorded voice announcements are heard in major transportation systems around the world.
Kate Jones is a comedian, writer, wedding officiant, performer, and a Guinness World Record holder for the Subway Challenge – the fastest trip through the New York City Subway – as of May 2023. She also shares the Guinness World Record for fastest time completing all NYC ferry stops with Rob Neill and Jesse Braver. She is a founding member of the London Neo-futurist group Degenerate Fox with Desiree Burch and the voice of Michelle Nguyen on the podcast Welcome to Night Vale.
Charlie Pellett is a British-born American news anchor for Bloomberg Radio. He is known for voicing announcements on the New York City Subway including the famous "stand clear of the closing door please" announcement on New Technology Trains.
The Cranford Theater is an independently owned movie theater in Cranford, New Jersey, United States that has been in operation since 1926.
ITE Talks Transportation is a collaboration between ITE and Bernie Wagenblast, founder and editor of the Transportation Communication Newsletter and host of Transportation Radio.