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New Jersey Transit - Random Thoughts Thread


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On 11/1/2019 at 12:50 PM, jass said:

The buses to Jersey Gardens are the absolute worst.

The times Ive taken it, we spend all day going back and forth through industrial areas where nobody gets on or off. Meanwhile, theres 50 people trying to get to the mall. A trip that should take 15 minutes takes 50.

On 11/3/2019 at 4:26 PM, Silver Script said:

They should make the 40 skip those areas and only have select trips serve those areas when people are going to and leaving work.

Been enough times in the past that I would catch the 40 to the mall and have it be a waste of time when the drivers go through the port newark area (Like Export and Tyler streets) and no one is there to get off or catch it. And that area adds like 7-8 minutes more.

Hmm.... This is going off into something else, but I'll play along......

I've said this before, but there shouldn't be one single route serving Port Newark and Jersey Gardens... So yeah, I concur with y'alls sentiment here.

-----------------------

I'll go even further & say that, the route structures (as separate routes anyway) of the #30 & the #40 never boded well with me.... I mean, I get that there's topographical issues b/w both of those routes in Kearny, but having the #30 be the Newark-Broad st bus (in terms of the RR connection) & the #40 be the Newark-Penn bus (also in terms of the RR connection) - only for the former to stop dead at Lincoln Park & the latter to serve the industry, to go on to terminate at a mall (with overall subpar service, to boot) because another carrier (Coach USA with the #24a/24b) already provides service between Downtown Newark & Jersey Gardens, leaves much to be desired.....

Personally, I would do a couple of things to try to accomplish this...

* The proposed NJT #34 would only consist of the current Montclair - Newark Penn branch....

* The proposed NJT #30 would run between North Arlington loop & Elizabeth IKEA (via Newark Penn, via Ironbound, & via Port Newark)..... In Kearny, considering topographic concerns, it would be branched to either run along [Kearny av] or along [Davis av].... Buses would then run down Rodgers blvd, en route to Newark Penn..... The routing south of Newark Penn is a combination of the current #34 in the Ironbound & the current #40 in Port Newark & the IKEA in Elizabeth.....

* The proposed NJT #40 would run between Bloomfield & Jersey Gardens (via Newark - Broad).... It's basically the current Bloomfield branch of the #34 (altered to serve Newark -Broad instead of Newark-Penn) that would run along Broad st, to eventually run nonstop to Jersey Gardens.....

* Basically, the current NJT #34 Bloomfield branch would be split between the proposed #30 & the proposed #40....

 

Check out the MAP for further clarification.....

  • the #34 is not drawn.... It's the current routing Montclair - Newark Penn branch.
  • the #30 branch proposal via davis av. is drawn, but the layer is hidden.
  • both route proposals (#30 & #40) are drawn in blue, since that's the only color Google Maps' snap to roads feature offers & I'm not free-handing anything - takes too much time... So if the map is too confusing as is, just uncheck one of the route layers to view one of the proposals at a time (i.e. - If you only want to see the #30 proposal, uncheck/hide the layer showing the #40 proposal...... or vice versa).

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Random thoughts:

* Good to know that the 313/315 interline..... 315 driver I had on the 9:30 am trip out of Philly, left Cape May as a 313 (found that out, b/c the #552 I left Cape May on, eventually met up with the same bus# & driver at Wildwood terminal...

* So as I take it, a b/o that does the 317 just does a RT & that's the end of his her day? Because the past 2 out of the 3 saturdays (this saturday & the saturday before last) I've taken the same 5:20pm out of Philly to Lakewood.... As far as today goes, that dude is STILL out there as I'm typing this post (today's ride, we pulled out of philly at 5:23 & we got to lakewood at 8:06).... I'm looking at mybusnow & the same bus number of the bus I took is approaching moorestown mall (12:26am) heading towards philly (which is consistent with the schedule).....

* From now on, I will refer to the Grand Marketplace in Willingboro as the Grand Emptyplace :lol:.... Took my favorite route in the entire state to fan (the #409) earlier on in the trip, and only one car was in that parking lot.... I LMAO'd when I saw that, to the point where some lady 3 rows ahead of me turned around....

* The 551 should have an 'x' variant (strange as that sounds)..... I knew that they had trips stopping at the Gloucester outlets, but I didn't know there were trips that serve Farley, Avandale, and the GP outlets.... The 3:40 I took just went AC, Avandale, Camden, and Philly.... Good old times.... Maybe petty, but I would dub those trips as 551x's....

* Some strung out bitch at Lakewood accused me of stealing a phone from her I let her borrow... and threatened to call police on me (the top flight security dude & some other strung out nutcase had to calm her down.... for all I know & care, they're still out there.....
Don't do drugs..... Just - don't do drugs.... smfh....

Edited by B35 via Church
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29 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

* Good to know that the 313/315 interline..... 315 driver I had on the 9:30 am trip out of Philly, left Cape May as a 313 (found that out, b/c the #552 I left Cape May on, eventually met up with the same bus# & driver at Wildwood terminal...

I'd hope so. Never have I seen worse bus scheduling (and that's taking the City Island BxM8 and general QM3 into consideration)...

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10 hours ago, Lex said:

I'd hope so. Never have I seen worse bus scheduling (and that's taking the City Island BxM8 and general QM3 into consideration)...

I just never thought about it (the interlining)....

I'm not so sure if scheduling is an issue (as in, when they operate at what point in the day), as much as it is, well - what these routes even are to begin with... What I mean by that is, the 313/315 are an odd combination of different types of routes; a point to point route, a (supplementary) fixed route, and a commuter express all in one (funny that the point to point rendition of those routes (the 316) is a seasonal route though)....

A route like the 317 for example/OTOH, are a combination of (what would be) multiple fixed route commuter locals.....

 

 

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How is it that I get to Nungessers 8 minutes late on the #22 yesterday & still just miss the #88? I don't know which is worse....

I took the 2:05 PM #22 trip from Hoboken.... Was moving fairly well - that is, until we were stuck in traffic, pretty much from the time we hit the 50's (street) on up... The lack of #22's & #89's compared to the amount of minibuses is ridiculous.... Anyway, looked at my watch around the 70's & knew that the trip as planned (time-wise) was shot to shit..... So I get off at the last stop & commence crossing the street (assuming that #88 is long gone), until I noticed a bus (there were 4 on layover) powered on - it was the #88...

I could've ran faster for it I guess, but the fact I had one of those "hunger headaches" didn't help matters.... Got to the gas station (Blvd East side) and was on the wrong end of the light... So I'm watching that #88 pull off, as eastbound traffic whizzes by... So I double back & head to the BK for a quick bite to eat.... Hour long wait (well, 51 mins. exactly) for the next bus later and I'm off to JSQ.....

I'm actually more pissed at the #83 driver I had after that #88 ride to JSQ.... Supposed to pull off at 5:30, and dude's having a good ole nap; we didn't leave JSQ until 5:41....

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Too tired to bother with posting on the Subway part of the forums anymore, thought I'd dwell on NJ Transit instead...

Used the 194 bus to travel for stuff in North Jersey on-off for about 16 years, and the Boonton Rail Line for about 9.  Probably not the first person to say this, but:

1. The North Jersey bus network sucks, plain and simple.  Non-linear routes, infinite number of variants for one line, mind-numbingly difficult to get from Newark to points north of Willowbrook (and vice-versa).  Ridiculous crowding at PABT/Midtown because too many buses terminate there when they could be running to GWB/The Heights or destinations in Fort Lee, Weehawken, Hoboken and Jersey City instead.  Also not every route needs an MCI- the 75 from Butler to Newark Penn had no use for them whatsoever, the route carried air.

2. The rail network- too much single tracking in places that should have been upgraded to double years ago, and commuter rail service is spread unevenly throughout the region (service/scheduling/infrastructure).  Not enough effort to restore viable corridors to passenger service- not saying all abandoned lines should be brought back from the dead, just saying it's odd how Jersey City has all those ferries, but you still have to use an overcrowded train station in Hoboken.  Or you listen to politicians in Passaic County talk about restoring at least partial passenger service on the Susquehanna line for 20 years, but nothing ever comes of it. 

Still think NJT has a lot of potential in terms of sheer volume and areas served, just regret that all the potential energy dissipates through inaction.

 

Edited by R10 1989
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Tried to take the 1 from JC to Newark this weekend. Luckily I knew to open the tracker map which showed the incoming bus was very, very late. So we took PATH.

The bus ended up arriving 40 minutes late. We were in Newark and the 1 was still in JC.

And this was with horrendous weekend PATH schedules!

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On 11/22/2019 at 8:52 PM, R10 1989 said:

Too tired to bother with posting on the Subway part of the forums anymore, thought I'd dwell on NJ Transit instead...

Used the 194 bus to travel for stuff in North Jersey on-off for about 16 years, and the Boonton Rail Line for about 9.  Probably not the first person to say this, but:

1. The North Jersey bus network sucks, plain and simple.  Non-linear routes, infinite number of variants for one line, mind-numbingly difficult to get from Newark to points north of Willowbrook (and vice-versa).  Ridiculous crowding at PABT/Midtown because too many buses terminate there when they could be running to GWB/The Heights or destinations in Fort Lee, Weehawken, Hoboken and Jersey City instead.  Also not every route needs an MCI- the 75 from Butler to Newark Penn had no use for them whatsoever, the route carried air....

Can't say I blame you.... Lol...

Anyway, this is a discussion I'm willing to have.... NNJ's bus section is the result of years & years of patchwork.... I mean, the sheer lack of rail coverage is the catalyst to the sea of buses serving that region of the state, but at the same time, AFAIC, there is simply way too much "layering" of bus routes - and I'm including the operations of private carriers as part of it.....

What bugs me about Newark's intra-network in-particular is that it's an odd hybrid of a grid-based network & a hub-based network.... Service levels notwithstanding, it's a reason why you have some routes with as many [branches] / [service patterns/variants] that they do.....

Connectivity from points south of Newark (inclusive) to points north of Newark flat out sucks, largely because there are too many people in Bergen County (esp. upper Bergen County) & Passaic County that prioritize traveling to/from NYC over traveling to (or through) the eastern part of Essex County.....

As for as divvying up service in NYC, I actually think more buses should directly serve Lower Manhattan over GWB (greater demand), but the problem with that is obviously lack of real estate; it's congested enough as it is..... Diverting some of those Bergen County - PABT routes to GWB will yield a stark decrease in patronization - as you're not going to get enough of the masses willing to make their way to the heart of Manhattan from Washington Hgts... Folks would simply jam up the buses heading to PABT more than they do now....

Speaking of those Wayne-Willowbrook expresses, I don't particularly care for the #198 being logistically used as not much more than supplemental service to the #194/#197.... I don't see the point of a route running from William Paterson to PABT & quite honestly, NJT shouldn't be supplying bus service to Orange County either....

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  • 3 weeks later...

Two observations:

1. For some reason, many buses aren’t showing up on Mybusnow today. 5608, 5825, 5834 to name a few. 

2. I’ve noticed that they’ve been using artics more on the 13 for the past few weekends, today included. Usually then, it uses standards. Is there something up with the NABIs?

 

Edited by S78 via Hylan
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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Hello, I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm intrigued on how NJTransit runs its buses.

How long are some of the deadheads along these bus routes? I think there are 3 depots up near the NY area but how do buses get from there to serve routes in cities like Atlantic City?

They deadhead like any other route, depot to terminal. The only NY-AC on NJT i know is the 319 which runs from NY/Journal SQ to AC/Cape May and is busses split Meadowlands and Egg Harbor

Edited by nightmare402
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4 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Hello, I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I'm intrigued on how NJTransit runs its buses.

How long are some of the deadheads along these bus routes? I think there are 3 depots up near the NY area but how do buses get from there to serve routes in cities like Atlantic City?

tic City?

Southern Division Garages

Egg Harbor

Newton Av

Washington Twp

Hamilton Twp

———

Central Division

Howell

———

Northern Division

Big Tree

Greenville

Hilton

Orange

Fairview

Wayne

Ironbound

Meadowlands


Each garage is assigned lines, the 319 is serviced by Egg Harbor and Meadowlands. Meadowlands has 4 319 runs all starting in NY, and egg harbor has 9 319 runs all starting in Atlantic city and 2 starting in Wildwood. Meadowlands only does those 4 out of New York to prevent egg harbor from deadheading from south jersey to New York, but in the summer egg harbor has 1 run that deadheads from Egg Harbor to New York And operates on Friday only and meadowlands has one that deadheads from north Bergen to Cape May which only operates on Sunday only

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On 12/30/2019 at 11:00 AM, 553 Bridgeton said:

Southern Division Garages

Egg Harbor

Newton Av

Washington Twp

Hamilton Twp

———

Central Division

Howell

———

Northern Division

Big Tree

Greenville

Hilton

Orange

Fairview

Wayne

Ironbound

Meadowlands


Each garage is assigned lines, the 319 is serviced by Egg Harbor and Meadowlands. Meadowlands has 4 319 runs all starting in NY, and egg harbor has 9 319 runs all starting in Atlantic city and 2 starting in Wildwood. Meadowlands only does those 4 out of New York to prevent egg harbor from deadheading from south jersey to New York, but in the summer egg harbor has 1 run that deadheads from Egg Harbor to New York And operates on Friday only and meadowlands has one that deadheads from north Bergen to Cape May which only operates on Sunday only

Don't forget Market St.( Paterson) , which is Northern Division based

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