Its Official. End of the line: Nearly century-old Jersey City bus company shutting down

[nightmare402]

A nearly century-old bus company that has served the southern half of Jersey City is running on empty.

The A&C Bus Corp., based on Danforth Avenue, will be shutting down the operation of its Jersey City bus routes, according to NJ Transit, leaving residents on the West Side with few options of getting around.

Though NJ Transit confirmed the news, the agency nor A&C did not provide a date for when the bus service would be discontinued.

The independent Jersey City bus company was founded in 1927 and is known for its distinctive solid red line across the side of the bus. It currently employs between 10 and 20 people, according to business-tracking websites.

Officials with A&C declined to comment for this story.

A&C currently operates four bus routes in Jersey City: the No. 30 from Society Hill to Journal Square, the No. 31 from Danforth Avenue to the Newport Mall, the No. 32 from Journal Square to the Hudson Mall, and the No. 33 from 53rd street in Bayonne to Journal Square.

“I don’t know what to do” to get to the supermarket if the bus service is discontinued, said Jenny Ho, a 71-year-old Jersey City resident who is in a wheelchair due to a stroke. She takes the bus from her home near Journal Square to the Hudson Mall. “Maybe I’d stop coming here. …. (My daughter) can’t drive me, she has to go to work. That’s why I come here by myself.”

Helen Averion, a senior who says she frequently uses the bus to go from her home near Danforth Avenue to the Asian supermarket at the Hudson Mall said “We need it. People need it. Not all people have cars.”

Ridership numbers for A&C buses were not available Tuesday. There is a light rail station on the West Side, at West Side and Claremont avenues, but it is at the end of the route and only travels east toward Martin Luther King Drive and Downtown.

Residents also could use the Jersey City shuttle service Via to get around, or walk further to reach an NJ Transit route, like the 80 or 10.

“NJ Transit is currently assessing the impacts of A&C’s disappointing decision to discontinue bus service in Jersey City,” NJ Transit officials said in a statement to The Jersey Journal.

This is not the first time A&C riders have experienced drops in service. In 2020, A&C cut operation hours and implemented less frequent buses for all four lines, leaving riders with less public transit options to get Downtown. In 2019, A&C eliminated a line that ran from Greenville to the Newport mall. A&C cited financial challenges when explaining the previous cutbacks in service.

“This is disappointing and we are calling on NJ Transit to intervene to restore the bus line immediately with the appropriate subsidies in the near term,” Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione.

While there may be pressure from the city for NJ Transit to step in, currently that does not appear to be an option.

“It is important to note that NJ Transit does not currently have the resources to replace these discontinued private bus services,” the state agency said.

Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea, whose District 2 includes the West Side, says the loss of bus service would affect low-income housing areas like Marion Gardens and the Gloria Robinson homes near Lincoln Park.

“Without that service they have zero access to any mass transit service,” O’Dea said. “In both instances, they have to walk a half mile or more to get to the only other buses.”

O’Dea said he’ll introduce a resolution to demand NJ Transit present alternatives and options to provide service there. “The answer they can’t do it is not an acceptable answer.”

In a letter to Paul Wyckoff, NJ Transit’s Government & External Affairs chief, O’Dea said it’s “the obligation of NJ Transit to subsidize operations to insure that these vulnerable populations can get to work, shop, get to medical appointments, etc.”

West Side Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey said the residents in her ward rely on buses “because we only have one light rail stop. That’s it.”

“We will be working with the administration to make sure New Jersey Transit does right by us to intervene and make sure service is not taken away from the west side of the city,” Prinz-Arey said. “This speaks to the ineffectiveness of New Jersey Transit and the state to provide good multi-mobile transit for people.

“It has been an ongoing issue for decades and there needs to be investment at the state level to make sure people can get around.”

https://www.nj.com/hudson/2023/07/end-of-the-line-nearly-century-old-jersey-city-bus-company-shutting-down.html

 

[DCTransitFilms]

Gonna miss their buses running through West Side. Honestly grew up watching them run past my aunts old restaurant and memorized the entire fleet lol...

[DCTransitFilms]

A&C Bus is officially closing on October 31, 2023.

https://www.nj.com/hudson/2023/07/jersey-city-bus-company-to-close-on-halloween-giving-officials-3-months-to-find-new-option-for-riders.html

[BreeddekalbL]

More then likely njt will take thosr buses into the fold