Comments
koalafishmutantbird t1_j53wcx5 wrote
what can be done to make NJ Transit better than what it is now? More buses and trains? More “express” trains?
toughguy375 t1_j53xz76 wrote
Many of the NJ Transit branches only have service about once an hour, which makes them unusable because you can't afford to miss your train. Make the service every 15 minutes and make the tickets cheaper and more people will use it.
ianisms10 t1_j546bdq wrote
Unless you live in or north of Glen Rock and have service on both the Main and Bergen lines, this is basically it. As a lifelong Glen Rocker, I have the luxury of knowing I can basically afford to wait 15 minutes if I miss my train because I can just walk 2 blocks to the other station. Most people don't have this.
PolentaApology t1_j54wk5x wrote
As someone who doesn't have this, I'm somewhat envious. https://goo.gl/maps/jRyqfQ67BdEkLHhv5
What are the waits like if you need to transfer in secaucus or hoboken?
Nexis4Jersey t1_j54xkfb wrote
They usually leave from the same Island platform at Secaucus so it's not a big deal, and Hoboken is the terminus, so you just look at the departure board.
ianisms10 t1_j566j6m wrote
Going to the city, you need to transfer at Secaucus, which will usually have trains every 10 or 15 minutes. Coming home from the city is the bigger issue. Both lines go directly to Hoboken.
Nexis4Jersey t1_j54ibj6 wrote
The 90s plan had a proposal for service every 10 mins during peak hour and 30mins offpeak. It would have been electrified, and most people would have seen a decent reduction in travel times. There was supposed to be a mini yard built at Waldwick allowing for increasing service on the Main/Bergen Lines.
The Pascack Valley Line would have been re-double tracked up to New Bridge Landing, which was to become a regional transit hub intersecting with a proposed Route 4 busway. The Double tracking would have allowed for reverse peak service, which is badly needed for the warehouse and Hospital workers. That plan was finally shelved in 2005 much to the disappointment of Hackensack and River Edge which plan to up zone along the corridor. NJT further got into a fight with river edge over the New Bridge Landing station expansion , the agency wanted a huge parking garage and the town did not...so the whole plan was canned in 2009. They also screwed over Hasbrouck Heights when they fenced off the western side of the tracks at Teterboro station rather than work with the town to install a proper crossing...ridership plummeted in the months after.
The Only hope of Electrification now is the MTA wants to electrify its remaining diesel lines by 2040ish.
hyperstationjr t1_j54vu3h wrote
Re Hasbrouck Heights, the situation with the train station was one of the main reasons I ended up not buying a home there.
At the time it was close to the rest of my family, I grew up there when I was younger, but I also needed to get into NYC and driving just wasn’t an option.
The fact that I couldn’t get to the train station, while not to only reason, pretty much sealed the deal and I looked elsewhere. It’s a shame because I generally liked the area.
Nexis4Jersey t1_j54w4vr wrote
I'm shocked that they were allowed to get away with that because the town had spent money upgrading the sidewalks and pushing the DOT to make the crossing at 17 safer to cross. Its not an expensive thing to put in a pedestrian crossing...
lost_in_life_34 t1_j555j5a wrote
LIRR and the MNR is the same way and people use it. I've been on packed LIRR trains out of Penn Station at evening and night time hours
​
just get to the station 5-10 minutes before the train
Nexis4Jersey t1_j562dsh wrote
Metro North has way higher levels of service , most busier stations on the Electrified lines see a train every 20 mins most of the day , the less busy stations see a train every 45 mins. LIRR is similar to NJT with its service levels... Metro North pre pandemic ridership was 310,000 , LIRR was 350,000 and NJT was 290,000...
Nexis4Jersey t1_j54hail wrote
We had a wishlist drawn up in the 90s that if it were built by now would have addressed many of the congested corridors. It also would have connected most of Urban Jersey together with rapid transit rail and suburban areas would have had electrified frequent regional rail service.. Clearly the state has money for all these highway expansion projects, we're talking at least 40 billion over the next 15 years, but when it comes to Transit very little seems to be pushed.
pantslesseconomist t1_j55bdkp wrote
Free parking in big commuter lots outside of big commuter hours (this is me annoyed to pay $8 to park in Hamilton from 5-7:30 pm, when the lot is emptying out).
invaderjif t1_j55eubt wrote
I like that. Maybe from additional locations and stops for buses. Not sure how to do it for trains. New lines aren't likely to come.
At the same time, I guess the question of why more people drive into the city vs take public transit need to be understood. I have never driven into the city, parking is pretty expensive there, on top of tolls.
lost_in_life_34 t1_j55azfq wrote
NJ is spending a bunch of money on the NEC as part of the new tunnel project which includes new bridges
lost_in_life_34 t1_j53gs7x wrote
around 15 years ago NY passed a law for a new tax on property transfers to fund the MTA. the MTA is still going bankrupt and now they're looking for another tax. if congestion pricing passes they will be looking for a new MTA tax in another 15 years because the MTA takes on expensive projects they can't afford and allows the core of the system to stagnate and rot
becauseicansowhynot t1_j53t3mh wrote
Precisely
moobycow t1_j553ba6 wrote
Doesn't matter what you think of the MTA, Manhattan is all full up on cars.
lost_in_life_34 t1_j554wnw wrote
half of those are TL&C ride shares and yellow cabs, then trucks and then the leftover 1/4 to 1/3 are actual private cars
BlueBeagle8 t1_j559oq6 wrote
I understand New Jerseyans who support this congestion pricing plan because they think the environmental benefits will outweigh the economic costs.
I also understand the ones who are just broadly anti-car, and happy to support anything that will make driving more difficult.
What I cannot wrap my head around are the people who seem to genuinely believe that the MTA will spend this money in a way that makes any kind of positive impact on their lives. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me annually since 1965...
PracticableSolution t1_j5557wk wrote
Like most sausage making, it’s complicated, but the point of congestion pricing is to fund the MTA first and reduce traffic second. Less cars good. More butts on transit good. I think we all get that. The part that irritates is that the transit alternatives on the Jersey side, namely NJ Transit and Path and the various ferry concerns bear the brunt of it. Transit ain’t cheap and it operates at a big fiscal cost to taxpayers. Both those systems were bursting at the seams pre pandemic and this will be a new burden to bear. None of the congestion money goes to offset that burden and that’s a dick move that doesn’t get enough attention
lost_in_life_34 t1_j55athn wrote
most of that money won't even go to the LIRR or MNR or the outer boroughs. It will pay for projects in Manhattan so people don't have to walk an extra block to the subway and do nothing for the people who are driving in
PracticableSolution t1_j55dpay wrote
That’s my understanding as well.
kzapwn t1_j52iyie wrote
Seems like a waste of time
sutisuc t1_j52q75k wrote
What a worm
Nexis4Jersey t1_j54hk2f wrote
He should push for funding the states backlog of Rail projects , some are in the break ground state like the West Trenton Line , MOM Network , PA Rail links. Others could have an accelerated study/engineering process to reach the shovel ready state like the Newark-Paterson LRT , Newark-EWR-Elizabeth-Cranford LRT , Northern Branch LRT , Paterson-Hackensack-North Bergen LRT , West Shore Line , Cape May Branch..
ianisms10 t1_j53kk40 wrote
I'm so sick of this fucking guy
mjdlight t1_j55g1sv wrote
Is it crazy of me to to think that if this congestion pricing plan goes into effect, there could be great second and third order economic effects for Newark and Jersey City? One way for NJ to fight back against congestion pricing to Manhattan is to continue to improve and build up the cities on our side of the Hudson.
[deleted] t1_j52vfon wrote
[deleted]
ianisms10 t1_j53kjaq wrote
Of course he is
toughguy375 t1_j53tjie wrote
NYC enacted congestion pricing because Manhattan doesn't have room for all those cars. The NJ state government is about to spend $4B to widen the turnpike approaching the tunnels to NYC. It should spend that money on reliable public transportation to make it easier to get to NYC and around NJ without a car.