B35 via Church Posted November 28, 2010 Share #1 Posted November 28, 2010 November 27th, 2010. This trip started off with a big question mark... I get to the IRT Church av station, look up at the train arrival board there, and I see Eastchester-Dyre av - 1 min.... below it, there was another 5 train coming 10 mins later... Man, I thought my whole itinerary was gonna be screwed, up until some quick thinking allowed me to "gut it out", and JUST catch my first NJT bus for the day.... I'm like, wtf happened to the ... I really gotta start paying attention to the service advisories... But before that... I stay on the until GCT (instead of switching for the Q at atlantic)... I see a swarm of people (as expected) getting off the ... there was a train on each track, so from a good distance, I had to guess which train was the next departing train, and I managed to maneuver my way b/w closing doors, making SURE not to hold them - as FOUR police officers were standing on the platform.... So ONE minute elapsed, and I'm at TSQ... I'm power walkin like a muhf**ka... down the long escalator that takes you to the , back up the stairs to then walk across the corridor b/w 7th/8th avs... you'da thought I was michael schumacher, the way I was zig-zagging my way around slow walking people (a pet peeve of mine).... to THEN make my way to the 2nd level of the PABT... I'm looking around, then I see the door # of the route I want to take... Only to find out, it only picks up ppl. there on weekdays... So now I have to horse it out, back down 3 flights of steps, to then have to go UP to the 3rd level... I make it to "gate" 302, where I see few hispanic ppl. waiting... that alleviated the worry a bit... then like 3 minutes later, I embark on: #8091 - (NJT) 116 to Perth Amboy. This b/o wasted no time at all... seemed like he knew everyone on the bus, except for me of course... so while everyone was sitting towards the front, chatting it up, I was towards the back, with my coat off, doing word find puzzles (I was sweating, and this was my way of relaxing)... by time we left PABT, it only picked up 8 ppl; me included. I wanted to actually take the 62 out to Perth Amboy, but on weekends, only the real early runs go out there, and it's only 3 or 4 buses... so I said to hell w/ it and took the next best thing, which I'm glad I did... I liked this ride on the 116... we got out there quicker than I expected... Carteret's (whose commercial area surprised me) - with which 5 ppl got off at, probably to wait for the 62, port reading (a nothing-to-see-here town), then we get to woodbridge, where the b/o had to slam the brakes to avoid hitting a 62 (ironically) turning off woodbridge av, onto main st - I don't care for triangle intersections anyway, but we did have the right of way.... In any event, we pick up 3 more people (could've been 4, but for w/e reason, the b/o bypassed a lady waiting to get on board... the 62 was right in front of us, she waved off the 62 & flailed her arms out for our 116... my guess was, she was too far away from the bus stop; she was too close to the corner, instead of at the actual stop... but in her defense, there was a double-parked car at the stop).... around the woodbridge station, and make our way to Perth Amboy... I had no idea that the city turned into a smaller version of washington heights (at least on the commercial strip/smith st anyway).... So I get off at the RR station... time on bus: 52 minutes ---- ...and here is what I deemed the low point of the trip... I spent a whole hour (and 5 minutes) waiting for the next bus... also spent most of that time tryna find a goddamn bathroom, but to no avail... of the 81_ buses that serve the area, there was [2] 815's, [1] 813, before the bus I was waiting for finally came... well, in between time that hour & change, a (fairly) attractive woman asked if the "bus to new york" stops here... I pointed to the bus stop... she's like, yeah, I see it right here... then I say, you just missed it like 20 mins ago... she kept huddling up by store entrances, in an attempt to keep warm (it was colder than a b**ch yesterday)... I thought about going to Kennedy's, but I wasn't that hungry at that point... chick came back sittin next to me on the bench, askin me how long til the bus comes, and if I'm waiting for the bus to NY... I tell her, nah, the last NY bound bus, was the bus I got off 1/2 hour ago (which it was at that point).... then I say, it's gonna be another 30 minutes, it runs every hour)... she was like thank you, then disappeared somewhere, I'm guessing to take the train... mama had a little fatty, short thick lil thing (emphasis on little), but her face wadn't a sight to behold.... and I'm not even social like that, but believe me, these trips I go on, is improving that part of my secretive/quiet persona.... why is it that people always come in my direction.. for directions?? but anyway, nuff about her.... My bus finally comes. #1185 - (NJT) 817 to Campbell's Junction Quick, have any of you ever heard of campbell's junction? Good, b/c I haven't either... and I didn't spend anymore than 10 seconds in it... I'll get to that after this bus route ride recap... I have to ride this again... Although the b/o was cool as shit, this experience was marred by the fact that I was rockin back & forth like granma the whole ride, b/c I had to take a leak... there was a haitian guy that was chattin it up w/ the b/o (I couldn't understand a word this guy was sayin, but the b/o somehow did)... he got off in south amboy... Throughout the ride, there wasn't no more than 7 ppl on the bus... b/w cliffwood beach & keansburg, one old guy got on, and a mexican couple got off... leaving me & the old guy on the bus... the b/o saw the looks on my face, he said, "sorry bro, I have no choice"... I give him an A for effort - he was flooring bus #1185... it's almost like he knew I was tryna catch another bus.... he kept singing in spanish for most of the trip... like I said, cool dude man... when I boarded back in perth amboy & asked him what the fare was, dude was eating an apple... I had to hold back the laughter... old man got off somewhere on route 36... I was the only person left when we got to the terminal... where I saw some poor lookin couple (black) w/ a 12-13 yr old boy... paid them not too much mind, as I get off the bus.... time on bus: 51 minutes ---- ** Stick around for.... Part 2 ** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
553 Bridgeton Posted November 29, 2010 Share #2 Posted November 29, 2010 Nice! Enjoyed reading this. I like doing little trips like this because you never know when a nice chick will come up and ask a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share #3 Posted November 29, 2010 (con't'd) In the middle of me thanking the b/o, he says, 'that's your bus'... I'm looking to to the right, then the left, and there's the connecting bus right there... gave him (the b/o of the 817) the thumbs up, and hustled a few feet to: #2546 - (NJT) 834 to Red Bank. Soon as I got on, we were off... I gave the b/o a transfer... he asked where I was going, I just said Red Bank... he said something, but w/ my headphones on, I didn't hear him... as I was walking to the back, he never repeated himself... I was wondering why the pax all kept lookin at me... anyway, this ride was shorter than I expected; then again, it was mid-route, and barely anyone got on or off from the time I boarded... not knowing that the last stop was the RR station itself, I just "followed the crowd" (literally, everyone got off at riverside/pearl... we all cut through some rock-ridden backyard of some establishment, en route to monmouth st there)... * now that I look back at the route map (right as I'm typing this), I see why ppl got off premature... no sense in staying on the bus 5 minutes longer than you'd have to, if you can walk to the nearing terminal in the same amt. of time, or less.... time on bus: 18 minutes So walking towards the RR station, I notice some dude (short hispanic guy) that also got off the 834, was following me... I wasn't threatened at all, to be honest w/ you guys, I was looking for somewhere to let off a #1... and I found the perfect spot.... think I need to go to the doc' or somethin... been pissin like a russian racehorse the past 2-3 days.... TMI, w/e... it's part of the trip.... You wanna know for sure if someone's following you purposefully? Encircle something (in this case, it was a block)... I gave him a look of "wtf are you gonna do", then he proceeded towards the parking lot of the RR station... no harm, no foul, no prollem. After I emptied out (that's not a typo), I head back to the bus stop inside the RR station, and I see 3 buses parked; one of which was #2546 I just got off.... iono, I must have seen like 3 different 834's coming & leaving b/w the 7-10 min wait... I'm like, this route gets this much service... must be a popular route.... In any event, the last bus in line powers on, and a good crowd of ppl. along w/ me, pile on the: #1116 - (NJT) 831 to Long Branch. I ask the b/o how much is it to Long Branch, with the transfer... he says "all the way out to Long branch huh, that'll be 3.05", in an ole school, southern type voice... So I find a seat towards the middle of the bus... and I start to doze off... until we pull into a mall, and I see an absolute f**load of people... turns out, it was the monmouth mall; a mall I always heard about, but never actually seen or been in (well, I still never been in it... lol)... I don't know how everyone got on, but they did... So I also got to see Monmouth park... and in doing so, the bus diverted, adjacent to the slew of parking spaces, to some apartment complex; with which one person got off... then I dozed off again... next thing you know, I see some nice ass lookin hotels/apt's on Ocean Blvd, just before we get to the hospital... it sorta reminded me of an upscale version, of the area they fixed up in the rockaways; around B. 102nd st... anyway, we eventually get to the RR (Long Branch), where I see a bi-level pulling off, and another train (not a bi-level, sorry, I'm not good w/ traincar names/types)... I didn't know Long Branch was a terminal; learn something everyday....... but... lol... As the bus pulled right behind a parked 83_ bus (which was the same bus I needed), this fat white lady is in a hurry to catch it... I was right behind her... she was in the stairwell... the b/o says, he's not gonna let you on here (which I then came to realize, that was a dropoff point, as waiting pax stood about 10 yards away, then I backed off a bit)... then out of the blue, she screams: LET ME OFF... LET ME OFF... in my head, I'm like woooow (in my best flavor flav' impression)... I look at the b/o like I'm about to bust out laughin.. she looks back at him, and then he quickly opened the door... some people man, I tell ya..... time on bus: 57 minutes So again, I'm just pacing around, tryna keep warm a bit, waiting along w/ everyone else.... from a distance, I see the b/o of the bus I'm about to get on, w/ (what looked like) a bagel in hand... hell, the man's human, let him eat... Apparently, some lady had a problem w/ that (not the same lady I talked about 2 paragraphs up)... she goes on about, how you have people waiting for the bus out here, and there you are eating... somethin to that effect... I didn't hear what he told her, as I was still a little woozy.... #1117 - (NJT) 837 to Asbury Park Refer back to my ride on the 834 for what I'm about to say.... I hand this b/o an xfer... I tell him I'm going to the RR station, he says that you need 70 cents more... then it hit me like a ton of bricks... Now I know why ppl. back on the 834 kept starin at me... that b/o said that I needed 70 cents.... Which, as a New Yorker, I don't quite understand... Isn't the purpose of an xfer, to board a connecting bus freely.. I mean, I paid 70 cents extra for the xfer to begin with.... I paid the 70 cents on this bus, but I felt bad for not paying back on the 834... I wish that b/o would've repeated himself... it wasn't like I was trying to beat the fare... 100% my fault still, no blame on that b/o whatsoever. As for this ride on the 837... wtf... every trip I've done in Jersey so far have included some ghetto element to it... this time it's the crackhead lookin baby mama with 2 daughters, and the fat friend/family member (whatever relation she was)... like me, they also rode it out to Asbury park... I tried my best not to look directly at those kids... There were more seats available; why they decided to sit right in front of me, I don't know... One little girl kept screaming, jumpin up & down in the seat, while the other little girl was as docile as can be... I tried my hardest NOT to look directly at the girl... not literally, but I think I mastered the art of looking through people; can't really explain it... it's like you're looking in the same direction as the person you're trying not to look at, but your intent is to not look at them; it isn't your focus... anyway, I knew the minute I looked at the girl, the baby mama was gonna say something slick... being black myself, around the same age group, I know first hand how attitudinal & belligerent these baby mama types can get... I saw the stares she (the mother) gave me, like she was waiting for me to say or do something - I never gave her the chance. It was getting dark out, and I couldn't really see much... but of what I did manage to see as the bus reached Asbury Pk (park av & deal lake dr), that was a nice waterfront view there... between that intersection, and the downtown area (cookman av), it looked neglected - kinda like how coney island gets during fall & winter time.... The downtown are was pretty live though... more black ppl. than I expected to see, to be honest... turns out this was a short turn I was on, as the full 837 goes to Seaview (something); the destination sign of another 837 that came in, was scrambled.... time on bus: 34 minutes The trip gets even more interesting... ** Stick around for Part 3 ** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted November 29, 2010 Share #4 Posted November 29, 2010 834's an hourly route, don't know where all those buses you saw came from. The fee went like this: You paid $3.5 for the 817 plus a 70-cent transfer fee. That is valid for one zone of connecting travel. Your 834 trip was 2 zones (though it was short). That called for 70 more cents. Same thing for the 831 and 837. However, I am surprised that NJT allows unlimited "transfer chains". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
553 Bridgeton Posted November 29, 2010 Share #5 Posted November 29, 2010 Lmfao! I love the ghetto part. Trust me man I deal with them on a daily basis and I cant stand it. They get loud for no reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share #6 Posted November 29, 2010 834's an hourly route, don't know where all those buses you saw came from. The fee went like this: You paid $3.5 for the 817 plus a 70-cent transfer fee. That is valid for one zone of connecting travel. Your 834 trip was 2 zones (though it was short). That called for 70 more cents. Same thing for the 831 and 837. However, I am surprised that NJT allows unlimited "transfer chains". I don't know either... but I'd hate to have been the one waiting for anymore 834's towards red bank, around the time I actually got to the RR station.... only thing I can guess is, one of the b/o's simply forgot to change the sign to "highlands", one of the buses was that 834 I had gotten off... the third 834 is anyone's guess... as far as xfer's being good for one zone of travel... That's all I needed to know.... thanks... I'm still learning NJT's bus system... still a lil question or two, I gotta ask 553bridgeton via PM.. I've been puttin it off for weeks now... anyway, what do you mean by xfer chains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted November 29, 2010 Share #7 Posted November 29, 2010 anyway, what do you mean by xfer chains? Using a transfer on a bus, purchasing another one on the same bus... Most transit agencies don't let you do that. (i.e. MTA only allows 2 before another fare must be paid, same for SEPTA). NJT's one zone intrastate fare is $1.75... you're saving a lot of money! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuJersey Posted November 29, 2010 Share #8 Posted November 29, 2010 Using a transfer on a bus, purchasing another one on the same bus... Most transit agencies don't let you do that. (i.e. MTA only allows 2 before another fare must be paid, same for SEPTA). NJT's one zone intrastate fare is $1.75... you're saving a lot of money! Correction, the one zone Intrastate Fare for NJ Transit (NJT) is $1.50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuJersey Posted November 29, 2010 Share #9 Posted November 29, 2010 Sounds like you had a pretty cool & adventurous trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted December 6, 2010 Share #10 Posted December 6, 2010 I guess you just took the :njc: back from Asbury Park... Some future trip ideas: Start Jamaica 165 St Terminal N22 to Hicksville for N79 to Walt Whitman S54 to Huntington Square Mall for S58 to Riverhead S92 to Orient Point for ferry to New London Amtrak to NYC Or: Start Fordham W61 to Port Chester 11/41 to Norwalk Link to Milford O to New Haven J to Waterbury MNR to GCT via Bridgeport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted December 6, 2010 Author Share #11 Posted December 6, 2010 lol... totally forgot about this... Thanks.... Nah bro (Amtrak), I thought about taking the train.... - But what I ended up doing is taking the (NJT) 317 from Asbury Park to Lakewood.... it left 5 minutes before the train was scheduled to come... anyway, that ride was a (long) 58 minutes... felt like we were going in circles, 'specially since it was pitch black out... lol {bus # 7565} - Then I took a (NJT) 139 (full of drunks) back to NYC.... that ride took 112 mins [1hr, 52 mins] long... {bus # 8247} - Then I walked from PABT to 5th/30th... took the BM1 to E 18th/Cortelyou... that took 34 mins.... {bus # 3341} then a 1/2 hour walk home, and that's all she wrote.... Total time of trip: 11hrs, 28 mins -------------------------- I'm gonna end this trip report, with the recorded message (of the female driver) that played back on the (NJT) 139 once we touched down onto the PABT entrance ramp: Thank you for riding with New Jersey Transit... Wayyyyy to Gooooo ! That shit was funny ! Dude next to me was like, "what the f**k was that"... we both busted out laughing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaTransitMan4608 Posted December 6, 2010 Share #12 Posted December 6, 2010 hey i rode 8247 on the 139 in October Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B35 via Church Posted December 6, 2010 Author Share #13 Posted December 6, 2010 Some future trip ideas: Start Jamaica 165 St Terminal N22 to Hicksville for N79 to Walt Whitman S54 to Huntington Square Mall for S58 to Riverhead S92 to Orient Point for ferry to New London Amtrak to NYC Or: Start Fordham W61 to Port Chester 11/41 to Norwalk Link to Milford O to New Haven J to Waterbury MNR to GCT via Bridgeport I actually did a trip similar to the first one... that is, minus the ferry, the amtrak, and the S58... I took the 54 to patchogue for the 66 to riverhead instead... I think I may do a variation of the 2nd one... I'll probably take the MNRR to Stamford for the #41, to the coastal link... after that, it'll be a crapshoot as to what I do in milford... all depends on how early I feel like getting up one saturday.... too bad you can't thank the same post twice... lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amtrak7 Posted December 6, 2010 Share #14 Posted December 6, 2010 - But what I ended up doing is taking the (NJT) 317 from Asbury Park to Lakewood.... it left 5 minutes before the train was scheduled to come... anyway, that ride was a (long) 58 minutes... felt like we were going in circles, 'specially since it was pitch black out... lol {bus # 7565} Thank you for riding with New Jersey Transit... Wayyyyy to Gooooo ! Well, you really did go in a circle because the 317 goes south, and you came up from the north. The slogan for NJT is "The Way to Go", anyway. I think the driver was supposed to say that, and just accented it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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