Great new feature coming to NJ Transit buses

NJ Transit bus operations is rolling out a new real time bus tracking feature which will allow commuters to know where there bus is real time. Should be a great new feature for commuters.

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee

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Where's my bus? Smart phone program will give real-time routes to NJ Transit riders

Travelers at the airport get a screen that lets them know when their plane is expected to arrive.

Passengers at the rail terminal get a schedule board to see when the next train will pull into the station.

Riders at the bus stop get uncertainty.

"You’re standing here thinking, has the bus come and gone? Is it 25 minutes late, or did I just miss it?" Ellen McKinley said as she waited for the next bus at Princeton Shopping Center. "Once in a while, they come 2 or 3 minutes early. Whenever I’m late, they come 2 or 3 minutes early."

Beginning Thursday, the guessing game will end for bus riders — by far the largest segment of New Jersey’s mass transit ridership.

link to rest of article

NJ Transit getting real time bus information

Good news for NJ Transit bus commuters, NJ Transit plans to soon roll out systemwide a realtime bus location reporting service for bus commuters.

Hopefully this will resolve the question of "where is my bus."

We are not aware of Suburban Transit planning to implement a similar system on their routes.

link to article

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee

South Ferry subway stop flooding and severe damage

One of many articles regarding severe problems in one of the MTA's very newest subway stations that was rebuilt post-9/11 at great expense.

As they describe it in the article, the South Ferry subway stop has now become a $600 million fish tank.

Link

Times of Trenton article regarding Jersey Avenue potential

Lavitt: Transit village should be built at Jersey Avenue train station

A recent NJ Future report lays out the case for making the best of use of mass transit in the Garden State.


The report calls for transit-oriented development as a way of promoting mass transit, improving the environment, fostering economic growth and redeveloping areas with good transit access but poor local economies.

Called “Targeting Transit: Assessing Development Opportunities Around New Jersey’s Transit Stations,” the NJ Future report suggests factors to look for in determining where to build transit villages and other facilities and proposes strategies for encouraging their development.


link to article

Sentinel article regarding Golden Triangle

Officials back another bad deal for EB

I am writing this letter because I want the East Brunswick mayor and Township Council to consider the ramifications of the Golden Triangle deal they have struck with Toll Brothers and to start putting the township and the taxpayers, instead of the developer, first.


Anyone with common sense could have seen that the first deal they struck with the developer whereby Toll Brothers could just back out of the deal or pay less money if the market went against them was absurd. The town had nothing to gain and everything to lose, while Toll Brothers was given a risk-free investment deal where no matter how the real-estate market went, the company would come out ahead.

The remainder of the letter can be reached at this link:
http://eb.gmnews.com/news/2012-09-25/Letters/Officials_back_another_bad_deal_for_EB.html

NYC cracking down on curb side buses

New York is cracking down on the operation of  curbside buses that don't use the PABT.

It remains to be seen how this will play out given that the PABT is already operating at or above its capacity much of the day.

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee

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City to City, on the Cheap

By SUSAN STELLIN

Published: August 27, 2012

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The intercity bus business has expanded rapidly since companies like BoltBus and Megabus took to the highways, promising fares as low as a dollar between cities like Boston and New York.

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Ruby Washington/The New York Times

A Megabus boarding site on 34th Street in Manhattan. It serves 90 cities, compared with 40 two years ago.

Benefiting from a business model that relies on online ticketing instead of staffed ticket counters and curbside pickup instead of bus stations, these companies have added routes across the country and attracted passengers who once shunned bus travel.

link to article

Dispute over Wal-Mart lease at Council

E.B. council debates deal involving Walmart

Ferraro questions whether latest agreement is ‘sound business practice’

BY JACQUELINE DURETT Correspondent

Despite the dissent of one member, the East Brunswick Township Council last week approved a recognition agreement that protects Walmart’s interest in the Golden Triangle property.

The council voted 3-1 on Aug. 19 to recognize the contingency agreement between Walmart, Toll JM Urban Renewal and the township.

article link

NJ Transit cuts off Clever Commute

Interesting article regarding Clever Commute and NJ Transit getting unhappy about information it was supplying to train commuters.

This is a service we have suggested that East Brunswick commuters also considering subscribing to at no cost.

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee

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NJ Transit shuts off key commuter tip in feud with web developer

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

BY KAREN ROUSE

STAFF WRITER

The Record

For nearly four months, roughly 300 NJ Transit rail customers literally held in their hands a piece of insider information that gave them an advantage in the evening rush out of New York Penn Station.

They knew which track their North Jersey-bound train would arrive on first — as much as 20 minutes before it appeared on the departure screens.  

link to article

State plans Route 18 improvements for 2015

Project would improve pavement, correct drainage problems from Rues to Tpke.

BY ADAM JOSEPH DRICI

Staff Writer

The East Brunswick Township Council heard a presentation from the state Department of Transportation on Monday and voted to support plans to resurface and improve drainage on Route 18.

Currently in the concept development stage, officials hope to have a final design for the project, which will run from Rues Lane to the New Jersey Turnpike, completed in early 2015, with construction to start soon after. The estimated time for construction is two years.

Anthony DiMaggio, a consulting engineer for the DOT, explained that two separate projects — one for pavement rehabilitation, another for drainage management to ease constant flooding — have been combined on Route 18 in order to reduce the amount of time the area would be affected by construction.

link to remainder of article

Patch article on East Brunswick Wal-Mart coming to town

Walmart Approved: Here's What You Said.

Despite many people saying they would shop at the new Walmart, Patch readers are not happy about the retail giant coming to town. What do you think?

link 

East Brunswick might add Rt 18 & Rues ticket camera

E.B. considers red-light camera for Route 18, Rues Lane

Officials cite success of camera at Tices Lane, where violations have decreased since last year

BYADAM JOSEPH DRICI

Staff Writer

 

East Brunswick officials are considering installing a second red-light camera system in the township, this one at the intersection of Route 18 and Rues Lane.
Township Council members discussed the possibility during their meeting Monday night.
The township’s first red-light camera was installed at the intersection of Route 18 and Tices Lane in March 2011, and its success is what prompted the administration to look into having a second installed, said Business Administrator Jim White.

Link to article

Toll Brothers Golden Triangle application coming soon

Toll Brothers wants to build a retail center on the Golden Triangle site, though an application in file with the township does not mention who would call the building home.

No mention of specific tenants yet though.

Article in East Brunswick Patch on issue.

link to article

Lawrence hit the jackpot with their red light cameras

Nice to know they are only doing this for our safety and all the money they are collecting has nothing to do with their interest in this.

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee


link to full article

Star Ledger: NJ Transit names new general manager of bus operations

"Joyce Gallagher has been appointed NJ Transit’s vice president and general manager of bus operations, overseeing the second-largest fleet of buses in the nation."

You would never know from media reports, but 2/3 of NJ Transit passengers take buses, not trains.

link to article

WSJ article regarding the PABT problems we all know about

Nearly every decision Stephen Napolitano makes during the evening rush hour reverberates for miles.

If Mr. Napolitano, the general manager of the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, can get buses loaded, through the giant spiral inside the building and headed back to New Jersey without delay, traffic in and around the Lincoln Tunnel will keep moving.

If he can't, things fall apart quickly. Traffic backs up for miles on Northern New Jersey highways that lead to the Lincoln Tunnel's eastbound entrance. Buses are forced to circle on the surface streets of Manhattan's West Side. And lines of would-be passengers grow longer inside the bus terminal.

link to rest of article

Wall Street Journal article re NJT and GSP toll hikes

"The increases come at a time when the authority is already struggling with its finances. Toll revenue was $47 million lower than projected as of October 2011, a drop that the agency attributed to steep gas prices, unemployment and severe weather, according to authority financial statements."

We wonder how much additional traffic they will lose with this toll hike.

link to article

Time vs. tolls: East Brunswick to Jersey City

NY Times article on driving from East Brunswick Holiday Inn to Jersey City.

Which way is faster: NJ Turnpike or Rt 1 and by how much?
 
link to article

Chinese bus that takes 300 passengers

This is supposed to be biggest bus in the world.

It is double articulated and has 5 doors and is 82 feet long.

link to article

Commutes by town

Map of commutes by town for NJ.

12.2% of East Brunswick commutes by mass transit, presumably primarily by bus and to New York and the "Gold Coast" are just across the Hudson River from New York.   

Link to article

NJ Transit Annual Report

Link to NJ Transit Annual Report

Star Ledger: New Year gift from the N.J. Turnpike Authority: Higher tolls

For the drivers who make 600 million trips a year on the Parkway and Turnpike, the New Year brings one thing that is unlikely to make any of them happy: A toll hike.

As of today, there will be a 53 percent toll hike on the Turnpike and 50 percent increase on the Parkway. Beginning at 6:30 a.m., the average passenger vehicle toll will rise from $2.20 to $3.30 on the Turnpike and 70 cents to $1.05 on the Parkway.

The average truck toll will increase from $7.95 to $12.15 on the Turnpike and $1.40 to $2.15 on the Parkway.

A passenger vehicle trip from Turnpike Exit 14 in Newark to Exit 9 in East Brunswick will jump from $2.85 to $4.35.

link to article

NJ Biz: After end of ARC, NJ Transit focuses on privatizing parking, expanding rail lines

Does anyone have any question what this means regarding NJ Transit parking: "It's very clear that we need to be able to generate other forms of revenue besides the fare increases," Weinstein said at the event, at Forsgate Country Club, in Monroe."

Count the ways they have raised costs on commuters over just the last few years. It is a pretty impressive list. Most increases are will into double digit percentages with 50% not unusual.

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee
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The halting of the ARC rail tunnel project last year has allowed NJ Transit to focus on areas such as customer service, expanding existing rail lines and finding alternative revenue sources, the head of the agency told business leaders Friday.

Executive Director Jim Weinstein said the agency is currently in a 14-month process of studying how to privatize or outsource the state's nearly 100 parking facilities. The initiative has drawn interest from several firms and parking operators, along with members of the banking industry, Weinstein said at a New Jersey Chamber of Commerce roundtable breakfast on transportation.

"It's very clear that we need to be able to generate other forms of revenue besides the fare increases," Weinstein said at the event, at Forsgate Country Club, in Monroe.
Link to post

Asbury Park Press: Cost of travel going up on Parkway, Turnpike

If they raise the tolls some more, how many more jobs can they create?

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee

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WOODBRIDGE — Are newly paved roads, rebuilt bridges and widened highways worth the 50 percent to 53 percent toll increases that take effect Sunday?

Before the economic crash in 2008, New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway drivers might have deemed the New Year’s Day toll increase worth it, for the $7 billion in construction projects it funds. Turnpike Authority officials said it will create 70,000 jobs.

But with a struggling economy, high unemployment and stagnant salaries, some drivers said they may opt out of using the toll road where and when they can take a parallel, free, state highway.

John McKeever of Hazlet is among those who are considering changing their routes to a free road such as Route 35, even though it may cost him more time than the Parkway.

link to full article

Star Ledger article regarding reduction in commuter tax benefit as of 1/1/12

In what could amount to a hidden fare hike for more than 100,000 mass transit riders from New Jersey, the federal commuter tax benefit is being reduced from $230 to $125 a month beginning Sunday.

A commuter earning $50,000 a year and spending $230 per month on transit would pay more than $400 extra in 2012 through the rollback.

"For most, the bad economy has led to small or zero wage increases in the working commuter’s paycheck," said Karl Zielaznicki, an NJ Transit rider who commutes from Aberdeen to Manhattan and pays $278 for a monthly bus pass. "By reducing the amount of the credit, it is nothing but a mindless tax increase on the workers who are keeping our economy growing."

For the past two years, workers have been able to set aside $230 a month in tax-free dollars for commuting. Transit benefits go back about a quarter century, but commuters in 2009 began enjoying a higher benefit as part of the federal stimulus program to give people incentive to use mass transit and put dollars back into the pockets of commuters.

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