One of the Sorriest Bus Stops In the USA - Englewood Route 4 --Updated October 2

A bus stop on Route 4 West in Englewood has made the Streetsblog USA Final Four of "Sorriest Bus Stops" in the Country.  The stop is used by Jitneys that run between Paterson and the George Washington Bridge Bus Station as well as NJT's 171 and 175 lines.  The Saddle River Tours/Ameribus  11C  line also serves the bus stop.  Like many of the bus stops along Route 4, there is no bus shelter.  The blog notes that riders have to climb over the guardrail or walk along the busy highway to exit.  The stop is heavily used by bus and jitney riders going to the new housing developments in the area.  There is no cross-over to get to the east-bound side of the highway where there are also new housing developments.  The stop is near the proposed future Route 4/Englewood Hudson Bergen Light Rail Stop along the Northern Branch.  We hope that NJT creates an upgraded bus stop on Route 4 in both directions with direct connections to the light rail extension - if it ever is built.

This also draws attention to the sorry state of the bus stops along the entire length of Route 4.  Many lack shelters, are poorly lit, or require a dangerous walk along the busy highway.  Something should be done to improve the stops before a bus passenger is severely injured.

Unfortunately, Englewood lost to Munhill, PA in the Final Four.  A stop in Seattle just won the title of Sorriest Bus Stop for 2017.  Apparently we can't even be successful at being Sorriest!

UPDATE:  On October 2, 2017, NJ Transit announced that effective October 9, 2017 this bus stop is being eliminated at the request of the City of Englewood and advising riders to use the Grand Avenue stop.

Summer of Hell For New Jersey Bus Riders

NJT Bus Riders switching buses after break down on NJ Turnpike

Riders of NJ Transit trains are not the only ones experiencing a "Summer of Hell" due to the ongoing track work being performed by Amtrak at Penn Station.  The Penn Station summer track work caused cancellations and diverted hundreds of trains away from Penn Station - especially trains on the Morris and Essex Lines.  Many scheduled train runs were cancelled this week due to issues with train crews not reporting to work. 

Fellow bus commuters have also been feeling pain during this summer of hell.  On Tuesday morning, an NJT bus broke down in the XBL causing delays in excess of an hour for riders into the Port Authority Bus Terminal.  On Wednesday and Thursday, it was reported that several NJT bus runs were also cancelled due to "operational issues."  It has also been reported that NJT had to  cancel these trips because drivers had to cover additional bus service implemented because of the rail issues at Penn Station.   Way to prepare NJT!

New Jersey's fleet of "Jersey Cruisers" that travel to New York are now over 15 years old and are constantly breaking down.  You can't miss them pulled over by the side of the road these days.   As we previously reported, NJT was in the process of replacing these buses starting last year, but work on the new buses was halted when our beloved Governor Christie suspended non-essential construction projects for several weeks last summer.  So next time you are stuck in traffic due to a broken down bus, or suffering on one without air-conditioning, you'll know who to thank.  Our wonderful Governor who continues to create "traffic problems" by closing toll booths at the GWB, cancelling the ARC Hudson river tunnel project, and otherwise severely underfunding NJ Transit. 

George Washington Bridge Bus Station Reopens On Tuesday May 16 -- Updated

Good news for riders who use the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.  The long delayed renovation project at the Station is almost completed and reopened for bus passengers on Tuesday May 16. The construction lasted two years longer than anticipated due to problems with the contractors and developers. NJ Transit has also announced that cash fares will no longer be accepted for its routes that service the terminal in order to speed boarding and departures. Riders will have to purchase tickets from either the windows, the ticket machines or use the NJT Mobile App.  There was plenty of TV coverage today about the re-opening including from WNBC-TV, and NY1.  We will have additional reports in the near future.



The new gate assignments for GWBBS routes are:

NJT Route     Gate

171                 12

175                 13

178                 17

181                 14

182                 18

186                 15

188                 11

Coach USA/Rockland

9A              Gate 5

Ameribus/Saddle River Tours

11C            Gate 4

20/84          Gate 4


Express/Spanish Transportation Jitneys

Gates 20 and 21

New MCI Buses Rolling in New Jersey

Here is a brand new bus on DeCamp's Route 66 line heading to the Port Authority Bus Terminal at the Lincoln Tunnel Exclusive Bus Lane.  NJT has ordered in excess of 1200 of the new cruisers to replace its aging fleet and recently began delivering the new MCI buses to many of the private NJ bus companies.  Suburban, Community Coach, and Saddle River Tours are some of the other private companies who have begun operating the new cruisers.  More on the story can be read here.

NJBUS Pic of the Week

NJT 165T at Lincoln Tunnel August 2015

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.

NJT Proposed 9% Fare Hike and Service Cuts for Fall 2015

It looks like New Jersey bus and rail commuters will once again be paying more for less.  NJT is proposing a 9% fare increase and some rail and service cuts beginning in September 2015. 

The proposed bus cuts mostly involve bus routes serving South Jersey:

419 Camden – Pennsauken – Burlington:  Proposed Elimination of Service Between Riverside and Burlington City

463 Woodbury – Avandale Park-Ride: Proposed Elimination of the Last PM Trip in Each direction

307 Freehold – Great Adventure: Proposed Service Discontinuance

318 Philadelphia – Great Adventure: Proposed Service Discontinuance

655 Princeton – Plainsboro: Proposed Service Discontinuance

872 Morristown – Route 10 – Livingston:  Proposed Elimination of Service Between Mack-Cali (Parsippany) and Livingston Mall

 

Two late night trains out of Hoboken are also on the chopping block:  The 12:45AM Pascack Valley Line train and the 12:32AM Montclair Boonton Line train.

A series of public hearings are scheduled for next month including one on May 20 from 5:30-8:30PM in Hackensack at The Learning Center, 4th Floor, One Bergen County Plaza. 

For further information, including the new higher fares and the other hearing times can be found here.

Possible NJT 9% Fare Increase

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that NJT may announce a 9% fare increase as early as this week.  The increase would be the first in five years but comes at a time when delays and infrastructure issues for both rail and bus commuters are at an all time high.   No official word as of yet regarding the fare increase or whether there will be any service cuts. 

NJT Monthly My Tix App Now Available for NYC Interstate Bus Riders

NJT announced today the introduction of the My Tix Monthly Bus Pass for NYC bus commuters.  This is great news for those bus passengers who are tired of waiting in long lines to buy their monthly passes each month from ticket windows or ticket vending machines.  Click here to download the Android version and here for the iPhone app. 

George Washington Bridge Bus Station Renovations Update

Major renovations continue at the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.  Only one platform is in use for all departures.  Rockland Coaches' 9A  and Saddle River Tours/Ameribus Routes 11C and 20/84 depart from the front of the terminal at "Zone A."  The jitneys depart from the middle zones and NJT routes depart from the rear zones.  Please see our previous post for additional information regarding the construction.


  


Passengers must climb the temporary staircase for all departing buses and jitneys.

Temporary Waiting Room on Ft. Washington Ave.

Rockland Coaches 9A waiting for departure to New City at the front of terminal by "Zone A." 

Ameribus/Saddle River Tours Route 11C to Spring Valley loading from Zone A.

NJT buses depart from the rear of the platform.

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.

Increased NJT Bus Service from Port Authority to Garfield and Elmwood Park

In current Northern New Jersey bus news,  effective January 11, 2014, NJT is increasing service on the 160 line to run middays, late night, and weekends.  Service will now run off peak week days and weekends to Garfield, with increased weekday service to Elmwood Park.  The route will operate through the Meadowlands, replacing the 164 through the complex.  This is also good news for Route 164 local riders who will have a quicker trip from New York

See the announcement here.

70-170 Maple Ave (1971)

Public Service's Route 70-170 between Paterson and Ramsey.  A truncated version of this route still runs today between Paterson and Ridgewood as the NJT Route 746.

Public Service Route 80 Hasbrouck Heights - New York (1971)

This is the old Route 80 from the GWB Terminal to Hasbrouck Heights.  Service over the GWB  was discontinued in the 1980's and rerouted between Passaic and Englewood as the B-80.  The service remains today as NJT's Route 780.

Maplewood Equipment Route 40 (1981). This is today's NJT Route 171 from the GW Bridge to Paterson

Maplewood 35-35(E) (1981) This is todays NJT 163-164 route.