The train, without the pain: New Jersey Commuter will offer its audience help and humor.

The commuters's lot is not a happy one, but regional-magazine publisher Micromedia Affiliates aims to ease the pain for 170,000 New Jersey Transit riders with a new monthly called New Jersey Commuter.

To be launched in February, the digest-size lifestyle magazine targets rail and bus commuters bound for Philadelphia and Manhattan. The magazine will be distributed free on buses and trains and in major terminals in New Jersey, appearing on each bus and train seat one day a month.

In return for allowing the magazine to be distributed to its customers, New Jers