NJ Transit and a locomotive engineer’s union are still negotiating with less than a day until a strike deadline. At a press conference Wednesday night, NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri and union officials expressed optimism about a deal being made before midnight.

NJ Transit President and CEO Kris Kolluri said the two sides have had “constructive” meetings this week in Newark and in Washington D.C.

If the engineers do walk off the job, the agency plans to increase bus service, saying it would add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.