New Jersey Transit - Random Thoughts Thread

[DCTransitFilms]

Is Kearny Point separated from Ironbound? Or is it something similar like what Hamilton Township does with the Monmouth County routes.

[B35 via Church]

3 hours ago, DCTransitFilms said:

Is Kearny Point separated from Ironbound? Or is it something similar like what Hamilton Township does with the Monmouth County routes.

They're two different facilities... Other than that, IDK what you're asking.

[DCTransitFilms]

2 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

They're two different facilities... Other than that, IDK what you're asking.

Trying to clarify if Hamilton Township operates the Monmouth County (830s) routes that Transdev used to have. They use the former Transdev garage for the operations but idk if it was a separate garage from Hamilton Township, OR Hamilton Township operates them.

[chrisg69911]

Has anyone else had multiple buses get delayed/cancelled from pabt on high frequency/ridership lines. The 190 this afternoon was absolutely atrocious. Got to the gate at 320 pm. There were already some people there, so the 310 departure never came, and wasn't tracking either. 1 bus already cancelled. 330, 350, 410, come and go and no buses. A bus finally comes at around 430, with probably 100+ people waiting, would've been even more if people didn't leave. We somehow fit 71 people on the bus also. Thankfully for the people that got left behind another bus came a few minutes later. One of the njt employees at the gate said all the buses were stuck in Paterson due to the parade, but why have MCIs run on tiny Paterson roads just to serve the broadway bus terminal then skip everything else and get massively delayed. The 74 had the same routing as the 190 in Paterson too, so I wonder how much those got delayed too. 

[checkmatechamp13]

14 hours ago, B35 via Church said:

Speaking of which, I lucked out & caught the #31 in South Orange yesterday... Abandoned my original plan & ended up taking a couple routes I haven't rode in a while (wanted to use up some old tickets, but I'm just going to eat the 50 bucks or so & be done with it)..... Be there as it may, apparently the terminal (#31, #92, #107) at the rail station is temporarily discontinued, so for the time being, that stop by the 7-11 at Valley & 1st is the first stop.... I get why they don't have near as much #31 service run out there, but I get the sense that they ultimately want to treat it like Coach USA did the old Maplewood branch.... I still think there's untapped potential with the route, but that's neither here nor there....

As for the #24, yeah, I noticed those short turns you're talking about also... Didn't stop to think what they designated them as, though.... So they're the 'B' huh? Not sure why they chose B.... I probably would've went with no letter.

As somewhat of an aside, one of the buses I saw that had a paper sign (to show that it was a 24T), had "11 BLOOMFIELD" on the destination sign..... I was on the #24J to Jersey Gardens at the time, and I kept saying to myself, since when does the #11 short turn in Bloomfield.....

For the 24, the "B" stands for "Broad Street in Elizabeth". I agree, with just leaving it as "24", since it's within the common area of both branches (even with the "T" buses on the weekends that start at Jersey Gardens, that doesn't tell you which branch in Elizabeth the route serves while en route to Newark...it's up to the rider to figure out that they go up Jersey Street). 

For the 11 to Bloomfield, I actually have seen buses go out of service at Bloomfield Center (by the park, heading eastbound). It's probably one of those short-turns like the B46 to Fillmore Street (maybe not the best example, but you get my point), where it's not actually on the schedule, but dispatchers can use that at their discretion. 

2 hours ago, chrisg69911 said:

Has anyone else had multiple buses get delayed/cancelled from pabt on high frequency/ridership lines. The 190 this afternoon was absolutely atrocious. Got to the gate at 320 pm. There were already some people there, so the 310 departure never came, and wasn't tracking either. 1 bus already cancelled. 330, 350, 410, come and go and no buses. A bus finally comes at around 430, with probably 100+ people waiting, would've been even more if people didn't leave. We somehow fit 71 people on the bus also. Thankfully for the people that got left behind another bus came a few minutes later. One of the njt employees at the gate said all the buses were stuck in Paterson due to the parade, but why have MCIs run on tiny Paterson roads just to serve the broadway bus terminal then skip everything else and get massively delayed. The 74 had the same routing as the 190 in Paterson too, so I wonder how much those got delayed too. 

Yes, the Peruvian Independence Day Parade was today, and shut down Main Street from Passaic all the way to Paterson. My understanding was that buses were supposed to basically run like the 707 on Paulison, then continue up Marshall Street and take some of those back roads near Great Falls to the Broadway Bus Terminal. But yet I saw buses going down Broadway and Straight Street, and even saw an MCI stuck at Ellison & Church. I saw both NABI and MCI buses on I-80 too (not sure if any of them were in service).

I get why they still had buses going into Paterson (obviously, you need something to serve the paradegoers and Paterson residents, especially those going to Rutherford and Union City who can't use the 74), but yes, they could've had the detours planned a lot better. They could've had some extra buses operating PABT - Passaic to maintain reliability, and made sure to dispatch the buses better on the Paterson end (my guess is some of the drivers turned down Main Street, thinking the street was open south of Market Street, and ended up getting stuck going through a bunch of side streets near the parade and after-party).

Make sure to submit a complaint to NJ Transit. They definitely need better transit service to/from the parade. The simplest solution which has minimal cost is to add a stop on some of the Port Jervis express trains that pass through Paterson to at least give people a reliable alternative, and better dispatching and more service on the routes to/from the parade (they add train service for the parade in Asbury Park, so I don't see why they couldn't add bus service for the parade in Paterson).

https://njtransit.my.salesforce-sites.com/customerservice/site_app#/contactus

[MNR Beacon Line]

10 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

The simplest solution which has minimal cost is to add a stop on some of the Port Jervis express trains that pass through Paterson to at least give people a reliable alternative

I would imagine their contract with Metro-North would prevent them from doing this. New York State pays for those trains and they are not OK with extra stops for NJ passengers.

[chrisg69911]

20 hours ago, checkmatechamp13 said:

I get why they still had buses going into Paterson (obviously, you need something to serve the paradegoers and Paterson residents, especially those going to Rutherford and Union City who can't use the 74), but yes, they could've had the detours planned a lot better. They could've had some extra buses operating PABT - Passaic to maintain reliability, and made sure to dispatch the buses better on the Paterson end (my guess is some of the drivers turned down Main Street, thinking the street was open south of Market Street, and ended up getting stuck going through a bunch of side streets near the parade and after-party).

Make sure to submit a complaint to NJ Transit. They definitely need better transit service to/from the parade. The simplest solution which has minimal cost is to add a stop on some of the Port Jervis express trains that pass through Paterson to at least give people a reliable alternative, and better dispatching and more service on the routes to/from the parade (they add train service for the parade in Asbury Park, so I don't see why they couldn't add bus service for the parade in Paterson).

https://njtransit.my.salesforce-sites.com/customerservice/site_app#/contactus

I was trying to get to Rutherford, so the only option I had was the 190. Could've gone to grand central then transferred at Secaucus, but that would've been way more expensive. Could've taken a 191/2/whatever that pass by the edge of Rutherford along rt 3, but those have shit frequencies/don't run on Sundays it would've not been worth it.

I submit a compliant as soon as I got on the bus, I doubt it would ever get paid attention to if I was the only one who complained though. If all the people who walked away while waiting did though, that might be a different story. 

[checkmatechamp13]

2 hours ago, chrisg69911 said:

I was trying to get to Rutherford, so the only option I had was the 190. Could've gone to grand central then transferred at Secaucus, but that would've been way more expensive. Could've taken a 191/2/whatever that pass by the edge of Rutherford along rt 3, but those have shit frequencies/don't run on Sundays it would've not been worth it.

I submit a compliant as soon as I got on the bus, I doubt it would ever get paid attention to if I was the only one who complained though. If all the people who walked away while waiting did though, that might be a different story. 

I complained too. Their handling of the parade detours was ridiculous. Hopefully if enough do it, they'll keep it in mind for next year (or for the next parade)

The #195 has a trip that leaves at 4pm, which in hindsight would've probably been better for you given you had to wait a half hour beyond that.

There's also the #160/163/164 which run through East Rutherford down Paterson Avenue.

[46Dover]

On 7/29/2024 at 8:10 PM, chrisg69911 said:

Could've gone to grand central then transferred at Secaucus,

You mean Penn? 😁

[B35 via Church]

Quick questions about the #316:

1) When/What year did service stop running over the Whitman Bridge? (putting this another way, when did it start serving Camden? )

2) When/What year did it start serving the Bruce Willis P&R ?

[Kingsbridgeviewer382]

So NJ Transit has officially announced what routes will be taken over by who on August 17th on their website. Academy is taking over the Bergen and Passaic routes (702, 707, 709, 722, 744, 746, 748, 751, 752, 753, 755, 756, 758, 762, 772, 780) while NJT will operate the 2, 84, and 88. They say no alterations will be made to the routes with the switch for now.

https://www.njtransit.com/coach?fbclid=IwY2xjawEiW0xleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHf-Rx2vSxnoF4jVNUqbrLM2dVlkFslOWsSVxHH3C3tFvQhleppJL9mrYMg_aem_9U1fzgwO5MQrKUCYmAu6rw

[jass]

Boarded a 62 from the airport and the display said IRONBOUND

Does that mean the bus continues past Penn Station to the garage (with stops), or is meaningless? I had never seen that on the display.

Also, are there more buses with luggage racks on order?

[nightmare402]

11 hours ago, jass said:

Boarded a 62 from the airport and the display said IRONBOUND

Does that mean the bus continues past Penn Station to the garage (with stops), or is meaningless? I had never seen that on the display.

Also, are there more buses with luggage racks on order?

it's just garage name

[Arrow III]

Electrical fire breaks out on NJ Transit train in Point Pleasant Beach

[Lawrence St]

Is Coach discontinuing the 77, 300 and 351 routes?

Edited August 11 by Lawrence St

[46Dover]

13 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

Is Coach discontinuing the 77, 300 and 351 routes?

I was asking about the MetLife buses too

[chrisg69911]

20 minutes ago, 46Dover said:

I was asking about the MetLife buses too

I work dispatch for the metlife events and we haven't gotten any word about anything. We're working the 17th, and they're dropping the routes the 16th right, so as far as I know its still running. At $20 oneway/roundtrip, I couldn't see how they aren't making money off of it.

[jass]

On 8/9/2024 at 10:46 AM, nightmare402 said:

it's just garage name

But why is it on the sign? Does the bus provide service between Penn and the garage?

Also, the new schedule shows 12 runs a day cut on the 62. Insane! its always packed.

[553 Bridgeton]

Kearny Point is literally connected to Ironbound Garage. I drove past the garage today to see where it was and njt has signs on the fence saying private property no trespassing. Clearly the garage is not going to be ready by the 17th. The Kearny Pt drivers will probably signing on and off in Ironbound until it’s ready. 

[Ale188]

I just saw the first electric bus in my life in Moorestown mall lol.

22906

I know they've been out for over a year, but Im so glad I found 1

Edited August 14 by Ale188

[Tranzitfan81]

The 8 Electric buses run on mainly on the 450s routes in the Camden area. The 457 is one of the routes they operate on ( that goes to Moorestown Mall)

[Ale188]

1 minute ago, Tranzitfan81 said:

The 8 Electric buses run on mainly on the 450s routes in the Camden area. The 457 is one of the routes they operate on ( that goes to Moorestown Mall)

Thats the route then. I saw it sitting next to a NABI after its trip

[JAzumah]

On 8/11/2024 at 12:45 AM, Lawrence St said:

Is Coach discontinuing the 77, 300 and 351 routes?

No. They are moving to a different division.

[DCTransitFilms]

1 hour ago, JAzumah said:

No. They are moving to a different division.

which one? 

[JAzumah]

On 8/14/2024 at 12:02 PM, DCTransitFilms said:

which one? 

I do not know, but my guess is that it will follow the work that it is interlined with.