Proposed New Jersey Transit Photo Permits

[RudyRockvilleMD]

Three current railfan magazines (Trains and Railfan & Railroad) August, 2005) and (Railpace, July, 2005), had articles, editorials, or both which were critical of New Jersey Transit’s proposed photography permit policy; let me be the devil’s advocate before going further.

1. MBTA has required permits for photography from its vehicles or its property for many years – well before
September 11, 2001.
2. SEPTA forbids photography from its stations
3. The railroads have always had, and they continue to have, the authority to control the access to their platforms.
4. If the stations had been privately owned by say the Pennsylvania or the Lackawanna then the stations would have been private
property so there would have been no question whether their stations were public property. The railroads could have required
a permit for photography from their property or their vehicles, or banned it altogether.
5. The access to many government facilities is restricted even though they are publicly owned.

The questions are whether public transit authority stations are public property in the same sense as streets or parks? If so, can New Jersey Transit require permits to photograph trains from its facilities or its vehicles? The writers of the editorials and the articles seemed to feel public transit authority stations are public property, and one writer contacted some attorneys who seemed to feel that requiring permits to photograph trains from public transit authority station platforms might not be constitutional.

I mostly agree with the articles and the editorials, and I think the permitting process is flawed. The permitting process is complex in that the applicant has to go to New Jersey Transit’s headquarters in Newark, NJ to get a mug shot for a photo ID badge. The photo ID badge must be displayed while taking photographs from New Jersey Transit’s facilities or vehicles in much the same manner as a hunting license. Then you must call New Jersey Transit 24 hours in advance to let them know where you will be, and when you will be there.

Moreover the photography permit policy is inconsistent. First, it allows photography of family and friends on New Jersey Transit’s property, no permit required.

Then the reasons for the permits seem to depend on to whom you talk and when you talk them. According to an article in the Trenton Times sometime in May, 2004 a spokesperson for New Jersey Transit first claimed the permits were for intellectual property reasons, and then she claimed they were for security reasons. However, there is no credible evidence that photography helped the terrorists carry out the bombings of the trains in Madrid Spain in March, 2004, or helped the terrorists who recently bombed London’s subways and buses in July, 2005. Further, it is questionable whether photography would help the terrorists in planning an attack. In fact, a large variety of photographs of many types of transportation systems exist in the files of collectors and in the diverse media. They have been widely published, they are readily available, and with the advent of the Internet and high-speed search engines they can be easily accessed.

But, according to at least one of the recent articles a different New Jersey Transit spokesperson claimed the permits have nothing to do with security - no background checks will be performed – they are prompted by safety and liability concerns.

However, the New Jersey Transit photography policy permit may not be all that bad in a few ways. It forbids using on station platforms because they take up space, and they interfere with the movement of passengers. It also forbids the use of flash units because they could distract the train crews; but, I believe we can all live with these restrictions.