Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Provides Wireless Phones For PowerCommute Vehicles

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Project: PowerCommute drivers and passengers won't be driving solo on their high-tech trek between the Morristown Train Station and their local work site. A Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile wireless phone will be on board, too.

As part of the company's participation in Project: PowerCommute, Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile will install a wireless phone in each electric vehicle, complete with the capability to dial 9-1-1 or AAA roadside service at the touch of a button, at no charge for the duration of the program. In all, 30 wireless phones will be installed in vehicles serving Morristown, Cherry Hill and Princeton Junction stations.

According to Denny Strigl, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, the company's wireless technology is a perfect complement to a strong and important environmental initiative.

"At Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, we actively support alternatives to the traditional one-person, one-vehicle commute," said Strigl. "Right now, many of our employees carpool, work compressed work weeks, and telecommute one or more days a week. Project: PowerCommute gives us another innovative way to reduce pollution and roadway congestion. We feel privileged to be part of it -- both as a participant and by installing our wireless phones in each electric car to ensure the safety of drivers."

Vietta Hardaway, of East Orange, and Andy Kminek, of Stanhope, are two of eight Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Customer Service employees who will participate in the project.

Hardaway says the project allows her to consider mass transit for the first time. She will take the train from East Orange to Morristown and join her coworkers in the electric car pool. "It will be a blessing just not to have to drive," she said. "I'm looking forward to sitting back, being stress free and enjoying my commute."

For Kminek, Project: PowerCommute is about saving time, energy and fuel. "I don't like to drive and I'm big on conservation, so I was very interested in being part of Project: PowerCommute." Kminek also said that taking the train to the electric vehicle will cut his current two-hour round trip commute in half, leaving him more time for work and family.

Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, based in Bedminster, is the largest wireless service provider on the East Coast and the second largest in the United States. The company's New York/New Jersey Metro region has headquarters at 250 James Street in Morristown and in Orangeburg, NY. Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile has 4.4 million customers and 6,500 employees in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and, through a separate subsidiary, in the Southwest.

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