Massive Delays Anticipated At Lincoln Tunnel Due To Route 495 Viaduct Reconstruction

Massive delays are in the forecast for commuters using the Lincoln Tunnel due to reconstruction of the Route 495 viaduct that will eliminate one lane in each direction.  The project is expected to last for the next two years.  The exclusive bus lane ("XBL") will still be in operation during the morning rush hour for New York City bus traffic.  However, massive delays are still anticipated because there will be one less outbound lane for bus traffic leaving the Port Authority and returning back to New Jersey.  Of course, there have been no contingency plans announced for alternate routes, or any cross honoring NJT tickets on NY Waterway Ferries or trains.  Besides over crowded NJT trains, and ferries, some alternate bus service is available for Northern NJ bus passengers via the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.  More details about the construction are available here. 

NJ Bus Commuters Fix It List For Governor Murphy

Although NJ Transit Rail Riders have been getting the most press about the crumbling rail infrastructure in NJ, bus riders have their share of complaints as well.  Larry Higgs has an excellent article describing many of them, including broken down buses, delays at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and in the Exclusive Bus Lane and Lincoln Tunnel.  Hopefully NJ Transit and the Port Authority are reading and listening to these complaints along with those of rail passengers.  The article can be found here.

George Washington Bridge Bus Station Renovation Won't Be Complete Until Next Spring -- Hopefully

To no surprise to the thousands of bus commuters who use the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, the renovations that were scheduled be completed by the end of the year will not be completed.  The project that started over two years ago has been plagued by numerous delays. The Record is reporting that the projected completion date has now been pushed back to April 2017.

Passengers not only have had to brave the elements from the wind and cold, they also have endured trekking up a long staircase to reach the buses.

And What Caused (at least part of) The Delay This Morning at the XBL

Feb 12, 2016 XBL Police Activity/More Delays 

Editors Note: A reader of NJBUS Blog forwarded us this story and picture describing an incident this morning that caused delays at the XBL.  If anyone has any further info, feel free to send it our way.

An angry passenger boarded a 164X bus in Fair Lawn this morning around 7:15 am complaining to the driver of an alleged incident on another bus.  The passenger apparently called police complaining he was assaulted on an earlier bus.  By the time the 164 got to the XBL, the entrance to the XBL was clogged as there were numerous police vehicles sporadically stopping bus traffic.  An earlier 164X bus was already pulled over on the XBL shoulder and Port Authority police pulled the later 164X bus off the side of the road.  Port Authority police boarded the bus asking if anyone had a problem with the driver.  The passenger who had the issue stood up complaining about his alleged assault - perhaps by the driver of the earlier bus. Bus traffic at the XBL continued to back up as the Port Authority police and NJT officials investigated the alleged incident interviewing both drivers and checking registrations.

Meanwhile, the passenger who alleged the assault got back on the later 164X and fellow passengers, who were already fuming for the delay of at least 20 minutes, yelled at him to get off the bus since it was his problem, and they were late for work.  The funny thing is that the police put him on another bus and he got to continue his commute while the two 164X buses continued to sit at the XBL for at least another ten minutes while the police continued their "investigation."  As far as we could tell, nobody was arrested for the incident.  After about a half an hour delay, both buses departed, only to get stuck behind a broken down bus on the ramp to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Another Long Commute Home For Port Authority Bus Terminal Commuters.

A bus fatally hit a man inside the Port Authority Bus Terminal leading to massive delays inside and outside of the terminal.  The second and fourth floors were completely shut down due to overcrowding.  Buses were delayed well over an hour and traffic on 495 in to the Lincoln Tunnel was backed up for miles. 

Buses sat outside the terminal as well as on the approaches to the Lincoln Tunnel.  NJT rail was cross-honoring tickets, but NJT made little other contingency plans.  Trains were delayed out of Penn Station because of problems with the Portal Bridge.

Buses could have been diverted to Secaucus Junction and/or the GWB terminal to help alleviate congestion until the investigation and scene was cleared.  No such contingencies were put into place.  This lead to another very long commute home. 

More on the story here and here.

Our condolences go out to the family of the man who was killed inside the terminal.

NJT Reports Buses are "Late" 32% of the Time

The Record is reporting on new data just released by NJ Transit that its buses have an on-time performance rate of just 68%.  NJT is using a new computerized system for tracking buses.  The report defines being "on time" as arriving at a scheduled stop between 1 minute before the scheduled arrival time and up to 6 minutes late.  More interesting is that the report states that 86% buses at the Port Authority Bus Terminal departed on time in June.  We find that statistic quite hard to believe. 

The XBL

With all of the recent news about the Port Authority Bus Terminal finally getting an overhaul with some money allocated for renovations, one question remains:  if you build it, how will the buses come?  A new or expanded bus terminal, which is still light years away, is just one piece of solving the delays at the terminal. 

An expanded or new terminal is useless if buses can't access it.  There has been a lot of talk of how a new terminal is needed, but little discussion on how to improve the flow of traffic into and out of the terminal.

Each morning, thousands of buses use the XBL.  The XBL, short for "Exclusive Bus Lane," (although we think it means "extremely slow bus lane") is a reverse-flow lane set up on Route 495 each morning in the west bound lanes for buses to travel to the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal.  The problem is, it isn't very "exclusive" as upwards of 2,000 buses use the XBL each morning. 

During the morning peak, hundreds of buses line up on the NJ Turnpike - both from the North and the South - waiting to merge to enter the XBL.  Buses from Route 3 also need to merge to access the XBL - those buses actually have to line up and then travel west on 495 for about a quarter mile (and creating even more traffic jams) just to enter the XBL and then back-track east in the XBL to get the city. 

The wait just to merge and enter the XBL often exceeds 30 minutes.  When a bus breaks down in the XBL, the whole thing grinds to a halt for hours and you might as well call in sick to work.

What is mind-boggling is that the local lanes of 495 are often moving well, yet hundreds of buses still line up and wait to use the clogged XBL.  This creates a commute that is often 30-40 minutes longer than if the buses took the local lanes and avoided the XBL.  The original premise of the XBL was for a quicker commute, not a longer one.  We find this incredibly inefficient and frustrating for both bus drivers and bus commuters.

But, what can be done? 

There are no immediate plans to build any more tunnels into NYC for vehicular traffic - and the Christie administration scrapped construction of the rail tunnel that would have been the only long term solution for relieving any trans-Hudson congestion.   The Christie administration loves to create traffic jams, doesn't it?

In the short term,  a second XBL should be added during the morning rush in the east bound lanes of 495.  Alternatively, buses should be instructed to use the local lanes when the XBL is clogged and the local lanes are moving relatively smoothly.  It makes no sense for hundreds of buses to have to wait upwards of 30 minutes to enter the XBL when 495 is moving.  Either the Port Authority Police or NJT Officials should be able to direct this at little additional cost.

An XBL outbound at the Lincoln Tunnel should also be set up to help alleviate the overcrowding at the terminal for the afternoon rush.  One lane of the Lincoln Tunnel and westbound on 495 should be dedicated just to buses. 

Ideally, the perfect solution is to build much needed new rail and vehicular tunnels into New York.   Until that happens, making better use of the resources we already have is a no-brainer.

Delayed on NJ Transit

Social media these days is picking up much of the slack when it comes to reporting delays and over-crowding on NJ Transit's bus and rail service.  Who is better than frustrated riders who are stuck waiting for a bus or train to instantly report to fellow commuters about the delays?  One such Facebook and Twitter group called Delayed on NJ Transit  provides a convenient forum for NJ commuters to vent and to report delays so fellow riders can plan alternate routes.  The Twitter feed currently has over 1200 followers. 

The group also is conducting its own survey where NJ Transit commuters can give candid feedback regarding their commutes.

We commend this group on its efforts and recommend everyone to check these sites out - especially before the next commute.