On Friday, train drivers in New Jersey stopped working. About 350,000 people in New Jersey and New York City had to find other ways to travel or stay home.

The workers stopped working because they could not agree on a deal on Thursday. This is the first time in 40 years that buses and trains have stopped. The workers did not like the last deal a month ago.

"We gave them our plan, but they said no and left," said Tom Haas. "There were still two hours to go."

The boss of NJ Transit, Kris Kolluri, said they have stopped talking for now.

He said, "I want to talk again soon. If they want to meet today, I will meet them. If they want to meet tomorrow, I will meet them. I think we can find a way to fix this. But do they want to find a fix?"

Murphy said it's important to make a deal. The deal must be good for workers. It must also be good for people in New Jersey who use transport and pay taxes.

The group said this after talking about the deal for 15 hours. Workers will likely stop working at 4 a.m. on Friday.

NJ Transit has buses and trains in New Jersey. Many people use them to go to work, even to New York City. Now, the trains are stopped. This means people cannot travel between New Jersey and New York City by train. The Newark airport also has problems.

The bus company said they have a plan for problems. They will have more buses. But the buses will only help a little on some routes near train stations in New York. The buses will start on Monday. The company will also pay other bus companies to drive from some parking lots when many people travel.

But the bus company said the buses can't take as many people as the trains. Only a few train riders can use the buses (20%). So, if there is a strike, the company asks people to work from home if they can.

The idea of it made travel hard. So, trains and buses to Shakira's concerts in New Jersey on Thursday and Friday were stopped.

They met on Monday in Washington to talk about it. Someone helped them talk on Thursday. They will meet again on Sunday morning to talk more.

The agency and the train workers are talking about money. The train workers want more money like other train workers nearby. They want about $170,000 each year. Now, they get about $113,000. They hope to agree with Kris Kolluri, who is in charge.

But NJ Transit says the union is wrong. They say engineers earn $135,000 each year, and some earn more than $200,000.

Kolluri and Murphy said that the problem is not only about a pay rise. It is also about other groups asking for the same. This could cost NJ Transit too much money.

The government can stop the strike and make the workers agree. But this time, they don't want to do that, like they did in 2022 for the train strike.

The union at NJ Transit has fewer members now. Many people have left to work for other train companies with better pay. Now, there are about 450 train engineers, but there were 500 a few months ago.