As some of you may recall NJ Transit apparently required permits even for non-commercial photography of its stations or trains since 2000. There were reports of railfans being hassled by NJ Transit’s police for photographing NJ Transit vehicles from public property. The New Jersey ACLU intervened in 2004 to stop the hassling of photographers taking pictures of New Jersey Transit’s trains or stations from public property.
However, NJ transit proposed a policy to require photo permits and prior notice for railfans or non-commercial photograhers to photograph its trains or its structures from NJ transit’s station platforms. They requested comment on their photo permit policy, and I wrote them to tell them it was a bad idea.
I received a letter today (January 3, 2006) signed by the executive director of NJ Transit, George Warrington, which was sent to those who sent in their comments, to the effect that NJ Transit will not require photo permits or prior notice for railfans, news media, or non-commercial photographers to photograph their trains from its station platforms for now.