pkim87

The "CERT" bill as it stands: "As a condition of receipt of assistance, Treasury must require that a provider of transportation services agree to use the funds, on a priority basis, to maintain through December 31, 2020, pay, paid administrative leave, and benefits to all employees after making any adjustments required for retirement or voluntary employee separation; and recall or rehire any employee laid off, furloughed, or terminated because of reduced service as a result of COVID-19, to the extent warranted by increased service levels." Congress will not reconvene until after Labor Day then will have to hash out the bill. It will be interesting how they categorize private carriers using buses paid for by NJT. By the looks of the bill, the funding is to be used to restore or maintain current service levels more or less and so cannot be used to boost the company's bottom line or other debts incurred not related to pandemic related service cuts (i.e. Saddle River cannot use it to pay $57000 in back rent to Port Authority). The companies will have to shoulder the fixed costs of not having service until the bill passes and funding is received. And what happens in the future after Dec 2020 will be up to the carrier based on their individual situations.

Decamp cannot be worse than Saddle River, which let their commuter routes literally go down the toilet. On top of that, their website makes it look like "nothing happened." I would not like to work for that kind of company.

There are definitely alternative options. Spring Valley is the alternate terminal for 11A, which is also the terminal for the PVL. I just wish the PVL didn't have 2-hour headways on weekends, but unfortunately the ridership does not justify any increase.

Rockland Coaches have been suspended as of 4/4 with "hopes of returning in May" but no date in sight for its return. During the off-peak hours in various times of day, I have never seen more than 15 people on the 11A (that is being generous). Much of the route in NJ overlaps with NJT's 165R (and NJT's monthly pass is cheaper), so it is hard to attract NJ riders. With many if not all businesses still operating from home (if possible), and companies finding ways to make working at home work, even when things go "back to normal" it may be a new normal (more companies may allow work from home, 2-3 days a week, so workers will no longer need a monthly pass). The true effects of the pandemic may not be known for months if not years afterwards. I hope Decamp comes back in one shape or other. We used them twice for charter services and was pleased.

100%. This is the one thing I have noticed with MCI's (both commuter and charter coaches): not many novel design changes sometimes even from one decade to the next. It is as if they do not want to let go of their old ways. This is why I like branching out and seeing Prevost, Volvo, or VanHool buses for example and see how their designs are not "limited" to one style and in some cases even work better than MCI's. If you look at Sunsundegui's Sideral 2000 or its charter counterpart SC7, this design (which was in use since the '80's) looks simpler and cleaner IMO than the D45. These have a rear door, a water closet and a rear window (which makes the bus environment less "stuffy" and I like vision whenever possible). We are catching up yet again to Europe (articulated subway cars were in use there for at least nearly two decades as well and NYC is just ordering them soon for the first time).

Let's hope the bus garage/park & ride planned for Ridgefield Park can move along smoothly. The land itself (besides the Hampton Inn) does not look usable in its current state (rugged terrain) and does not seem like an ideal location for any commercial development. Hope the land owners settle before it gets to trial. Knowing the state of affairs, NJT has a lot of good reasons for using the land.

If Saddle River is not running these routes due to all the aforementioned issues, why do they still advertise the commuter service on their website? Seems a bit off. Does not sound like a good company to work for by the way they do things.

When this is all said and done, will Oradell be the only garage left which will run the rickety buses until the Northern Bus Garage gets built (which NJT projects may take up to 5 years)?

Thanks for the update. Any idea how long this can take? Hopefully not too long. Many of these 40'ers out of Oradell seem to be on their last legs and they are Loud. The engine/engine brake sound like a suffocating walrus. In addition, there are one too many buses with non-functioning signs so the route numbers are taped onto the windshield. There was a streak where almost every 2 weeks, I spotted a dead cruiser being towed to a garage. I like the new 45'ers that Rockland Coaches (Westwood) received. But there is still no word on when they will resume service. Will they receive any more buses this year?