Riders of 440 Shopper bus linking Journal Square and Hudson Mall plead to keep route along Broadway

[Majestic412 25]

A Jersey City bus company that ferries riders back and forth between Journal Square and the Hudson Mall is set to move a portion of its route from Broadway to Sip Avenue, angering some customers.

 

The 440 Shopper, run by A&C Bus Corp., makes about 30 trips daily from the mall to Journal Square, riding up Sip Avenue and taking a detour along Broadway. Starting March 26, according to signs posted inside the buses, the route will skip Broadway and remain on Sip.

 

A&C made the same change in 2009 for two days until riders persuaded the company to revert to its original route.

 

Mary Wolf, a Wales Avenue resident who takes the bus at least three times a week, hopes riders can keep A&C from making the change this time.

 

The new bus stop, which would be approximately three blocks south of the current one at Wales and Broadway, is in too dangerous a neighborhood, Wolf said.

 

"Too many people getting robbed," she said.

 

Annette Rybka, another 440 Shopper rider, concurred, saying the route change would put "our lives in danger." Rybka regularly takes the bus to Journal Square to shop and run errands.

 

"It's a dangerous walk," she said. "We have a lot of elderly, and a lot of handicapped. They can't make that walk."

 

Police spokesman Lt. Edgar Martinez reviewed incidents that occurred between March 2011 and March 2012 at the bus's current stop and at Sip and West Side avenues, the approximate location of the new bus stop.

 

There were zero incidents at the current bus stop and three at the possible new one, including two robberies and one assault, Martinez said, adding he doesn't think there has been "an increased call for service" at Sip and West Side avenues.

 

When A&C implemented the route change in 2009, ridership on the bus increased, A&C vice president Mary Beth Callahan said then. But Callahan reverted to the original route to satisfy loyal riders, she said in 2009.

 

Callahan did not return phone calls seeking comment on A&C's latest plan to change the 440 Shopper route.

 

Meanwhile, Rybka is circulating a petition among A&C riders to keep the 440 Shopper on Broadway. It's the only route that offers seniors in the area a trip to Journal Square, she said.

 

"We have no other form of transportation on this side of Marion," Rybka said.

 

 

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/03/riders_of_440_shopper_bus_link.html

[NoHuBus 24]

Well to see no incidents on the current bus stop i think ac should keep going on broadway (me personally going through sip ave cuts all turns this bus route goes). I say if its not broken dont fix it mentally keep the route.