The End of the Line for DeCamp's New York Commuter Service

Friday April 7, 2023 is now a historic date in New Jersey Bus History.  A company that started over 150 years ago as a stagecoach operator, DeCamp has terminated its commuter bus routes travelling between New York City and Essex County.  DeCamp has cited Covid-19 and tele-commuting as reasons it is shutting down service, losing a good portion of its pre-pandemic ridership that never returned.  

NJTransit has implemented "emergency" replacement rush hour bus service for portions, but not all, of the terminated DeCamp routes starting Monday April 10: 

A new NJT 191D provides rush hour service for DeCamp's Route 66 riders in West Orange and Montclair.

NJT 192D provides rush hour service along portions of DeCamp's former route 33 in Bloomfield.

NJT 195D provides rush hour service for DeCamp's route 33 riders in West Caldwell, Caldwell and Verona. 

NJT 199D covers portions of the former DeCamp route 44 in Newark, Belleville, North Arlington and Lyndhurst.

BoxCar is also starting a new "Essex Express" on Monday April 10 providing rush hour service along a new route that combines portions of the former Decamp 33 and 66 lines.  This service avoids the port authority bus terminal and travels to the east side of Manhattan.  

NJT's fares are lower than DeCamp's and both NJT and BoxCar should provide better service than DeCamp.  

It remains to be seen if off-peak and weekend bus service will ever be restored along this territory.

New DeCamp Bus Increased Weekday and Weekend Service

 

Good news.  @DeCampBusLines has recently increased weekday service on its 32, 33, 44 and 66 lines.  It has also brought back weekend service on its 33 and 66 lines just in time for the holidays.  The 33 and 66 now run every 90 minutes both Saturday and Sunday.  If you have weekend plans in the city, don't drive and take the bus!  Schedules are available at the DeCamp website.

New Jersey Bus Service Update

 As New York and New Jersey begins to reopen, private New Jersey carriers are slowly coming back with service restored to many lines.  As of today, DeCamp has returned for the second time since it suspended service completely last summer.  It began running limited rush hour service on its 33, 44 and 66 lines.  Timetables available  at Decamp.com.  Other NJ private carriers such as Lakeland, Short Line, Community, Suburban have been  operating rush hour service only to and from New York on most of their routes for the past year, with little or no off-peak or weekend service as of now.  Rockland Coaches is only running a few rush hour runs, and its 14 and 21 lines still remain completely suspended.  NJ Transit has been running its regular bus and rail schedules with just some minor adjustments.  

In other news, Academy has lost all of its contract work with NJ Transit, with Coach USA about to take over the 2, 10, 22, 23, 88 and 119 routes.  Details here.   Academy was hit with a whistleblower lawsuit alleging many missed trips and doctoring missed trip reporting over many years.  NJ Transit has subsequently removed Academy from all of NJT's contract operations.  

And finally, some good NJBus news.  There has been movement in replacing the crumbling Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown.  The Port Authority has released new designs and is holding virtual scoping meetings on June 23 and June 24th and is accepting public comments through July 19th.

We hope everyone has stayed safe and is doing well and looking forward to better days ahead.

Coronavirus Service Restoration

Several private NJ carriers are slowly bringing back service.  As always, please check with the carrier to see if they are operating and in what capacity.

Lakeland Bus has been operating 6 round trips between Dover and NYC since May 18th.  Schedule available here.

DeCamp is operating a limited schedule as of June 8 on its 33, 44 and 66 routes.

TransBridge is operating a reduced schedule to New York as of June 8.  Schedule available here.

Academy has been operating a modified schedule on some of its routes.  Schedule available here.

Shortline, Suburban, Community Coach, and Rockland Coaches  are operating limited rush hour service as of June 15.  Details here.

NJ Transit has been operating a modified weekday schedule throughout.  Details and links to individual schedules available here.

We will update this post as we get information on any other carriers.  Stay safe everyone!

Coronavirus Service Cuts - March 24, 2019 Update

Here are some updates on service cutbacks due to the Coronavirus.  This information is subject to change on a daily or even hourly basis, so please check with your carrier if you need to travel.  Stay safe everyone!

NJ Transit is still operating a regular weekday bus schedule but there are reports they will be cutting bus service soon.

DeCamp will suspend all of its bus service effective Wednesday March 25.  Check their website and twitter feed for more information.

TransBridge has already suspended all operations.  Details on their website.

CoachUSA - for more updates on Rockland Coaches, ONEbus, ShortLine, Suburban Transit, and Community Coach, please check the CoachUSA service update website here.

Lakeland bus has cancelled Route 78 service and all weekend service.  Details here.

Some Carriers Temporarily Reducing Service Due To Coronavirus

With social distancing the new normal and many people working remotely, ridership on New Jersey's bus routes has dropped dramatically.  There are reports that NJ Transit ridership has decreased by 40% and the agency may implement a reduced schedule once ridership drops 50%.

Some private carriers have already temporarily curtailed service.  Riders should check with their carriers for information.  We have some updates here:

Academy has implemented reduced "Schedule B" service on several of its routes.  These schedules can be found here.

Community Coach has greatly reduced service on its 77 line with just 3 nyc-bound trips and 4 trips now operating out of New York.  Schedule found here.

Rockland Coaches is now operating on a Saturday Schedule, with some additional express service available.  Details here.

Suburban Transit is also operating with an adjusted weekday schedule, more info available here.

Short Line has also cut back service, more info available here.

Decamp is also cutting service.  Details available on its Twitter feed and website.

Lakeland says they will be making service adjustments and has cut a few runs.  More info here.

If you are now working remotely, and have an unused monthly ticket, you may be able to get a refund from your carrier.

Stay safe everyone!

Port Authority Gate Shuffle - September 8, 2015

DeCamp Bus Route 33 seen today at newly reassigned lower level gate.

The Great Port Authority Bus Terminal Gate Shuffle commenced today to some minor rider confusion but overall went relatively smoothly.  Hundreds of Port Authority and NJT employees wearing shiny yellow uniforms were on hand to help riders find their buses.  Overall, 55 bus routes were re-assigned to new departure gates.  Hopefully the new assignments will help alleviate congestion in the terminal but only time will tell. A new expanded facility and more improvements are still greatly needed. 

For more details on the new gate assignments, please see our previous post and also the Port Authority website.

Port Authority Bus Terminal Gates Shuffling -- Effective September 8, 2015

Get ready for some commuter confusion at the Port Authority beginning in September.  As we previously reported, officials at the Port Authority Bus Terminal will be reassigning gates for many NJ Transit and private bus lines effective September 8, 2015.  Affected gates are on the third and fourth floors of the terminal.  Affected NJT lines include routes 107, 108, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 122, 124, 129, 139, 144, 151, 153, 155, 157, 160, 161, 163, 164, 165, 168, 190, 194, 195, 197, 198, 199, 321.  Some gate changes are only for late night departures depending on the line.  Full details regarding the new NJT gate assignments can be found here.

Lakeland Bus Lines that previously departed from gates 401-405 will now depart from Gates 206-207.  More info can be found here

DeCamp Bus Lines will be moving to the lower level of the South Wing using Gates 12-20.  An alert on their website currently breaks out the new route assignments.

Community Coach will be assigned to Gates 412-413 for its Route 77 line.

Rockland Coaches:

Route 45 will be reassigned to Gates 410-411.
Routes 46, 47 will be reassigned to Gate 411.
Routes 9 and 49 will still depart from Gate 208 until 10PM.  Later trips will depart from Gate 410.  Routes 11A, 14E, 20, 21T will still depart from Gate 220 until 10PM.  Later trips depart from Gate 411.

Shortline buses will be assigned to Gates 401-409.

The new gate assignments will supposedly allow buses to move more effectively within the building which could alleviate delays.  Only time will tell.  In the short run, we think there is going to be a lot of confused commuters and platform crowding as commuters try to find their buses on September 8th.  Hopefully officials will do a better job at communicating these changes to the public than they have in the past.

More details can be found on the Port Authority website.

UPDATED BUS SERVICE INFORMATION JANUARY 27

New Jersey was not hit as hard as originally forecast from the storm.  Some operators restored service by this afternoon.  This is the latest information we have.   

NJ Transit restored  bus service by 11AM today.

Rockland Coaches  suspended service today.

Shortline Bus  suspended service today.

DeCamp Bus Lines was operating as of 10AM today.

Lakeland Bus was running some service as of this afternoon.

Suburban Transit appears to be suspended for today.

Ameribus/Saddle River Tours  suspended service on the 11C and 20/84 routes and its AC runs today.

IT APPEARS THAT ALL SERVICE WILL BE RESTORED BY THE JAN 28 MORNING RUSH.  PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR CARRIER TO CONFIRM THEIR OPERATING STATUS.

BUS SERVICE ALERT: NJ Bus Service Suspended For Blizzard January 26-27

BUS SERVICE CANCELLATIONS DUE TO BLIZZARD JANUARY 26-27

NJ Transit has suspended all transit operations this evening with the impending blizzard.  The last buses departed at 8 PM.  There will be no service on Tuesday January 27. 

Rockland Coaches has also suspended service as of 9PM this evening.  They will not operate on Tuesday January 27.

Shortline Bus has suspended service and will not operate Tuesday January 27th.

DeCamp Bus Lines will be suspending operations as of 8.15PM this evening.

Lakeland Bus is suspending service as of 8PM this evening.

Suburban Transit is suspending service as of 9PM this evening.

Ameribus/Saddle River Tours has suspended service on the 11C and 20/84 routes and its AC runs on Tuesday January 27th.

We hope all commuters get home safely during the storm.  It looks like everything will be shut down in NJ on Tuesday.  Please check with your carriers for resumption of service.