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NJ Transit allows web domain name to expire, causing site to disappear for some

For some commuters trying to look up the latest travel information today, njtransit.com became njtransit.gone.

Customers searching for bus and train schedule information for the state’s largest transportation agency on the day after a snowstorm instead got a message telling them they could buy the njtransit.com website domain name.

Initially saying the problem was the result of a glitch between the domain name and server that began at 7 a.m., NJ Transit officials later confirmed the domain name expired last Friday.

"No one here seems to have received notification of the impending expiration, which is unfortunate," NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said. "There was never a risk of anyone buying the domain and using it for their own purposes."

Stessel said the problem seemed to affect fewer than 20 percent of users. In the 8 o’clock hour this morning, web traffic was 2,908 visitors, compared with 3,486 users the previous Thursday at that time, he said. During the 10 a.m. hour, web traffic was up from a week earlier, with 5,023 visitors, compared with 4,851 users the previous Thursday at that time.

Nonetheless, some users still were unable to access the site for the evening commute.

Susan Wade, director of public relations for Network Solutions, which hosts the njtransit.com website, said the domain name was set to expire last Friday and that NJ Transit renewed it this morning.

She said there might be lag time for some users, but assured: "They’re back up and ready to rock."

Customers clicking onto njtransit.com today got an alert telling them they could place a backorder for the domain name that expired. The message went on to say the current registrant for the domain name could also contact the provider and renew, but it might take up to two days to be reactivated.

"This has got to be the stupidest thing this railroad has done, and it has done a lot of stupid things over the 20-plus years I’ve been using it to get to Hoboken or midtown from Morris Plains," commuter Margo Beller said.

Other commuters couldn’t resist the opportunity to tweak the agency for again failing to be on time.

Still, it was unlikely someone else could claim squatter’s rights and take the njtransit.com domain name. Network Solutions has a domain deletion policy that provides a 35-day grace period after the expiration date during which the current holder can renew.

Customers who signed up for NJ Transit bus or train alerts continued to receive their text updates.

Customers who signed up for NJ Transit bus or train alerts continued to receive their text updates.

And Stessel said the problem won’t present itself again for quite some time. NJ Transit renewed the domain name for 20 more years.

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