Commute from Bloomfield: Is DeCamp timetable too "optimistic"?? (Montclair: home search, neighborhood)
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Hi all,
We've narrowed down our home search to Rutherford and the Brookdale section of Bloomfield. Commute to Midtown NYC is a big factor. DeCamp claims that Bus #33 gets you from Watchung & Broad in Bloomfield to PABT in morning rush hour in 25 minutes. Is this realistic?
Contrast that with the NJT 190 bus that is supposed to take 28 minutes from the Rutherford train station. I don't see how this would be a longer trip than the DeCamp from Bloomfield, since the Rutherford stop is both closer to Route 3 and puts you on a part of Route 3 closer to NYC. If I'm not mistaken, both buses take Route 3 directly into the Lincoln Tunnel.
Does anyone have experience with either bus route? I understand that rush hour is unpredictable and both trips might be longer than the published time. But I'm interesting in comparing the two. If NJT 190 from Rutherford is actually faster, that may sway our decision. Thanks.
Hi all,
We've narrowed down our home search to Rutherford and the Brookdale section of Bloomfield. Commute to Midtown NYC is a big factor. DeCamp claims that Bus #33 gets you from Watchung & Broad in Bloomfield to PABT in morning rush hour in 25 minutes. Is this realistic?
Contrast that with the NJT 190 bus that is supposed to take 28 minutes from the Rutherford train station. I don't see how this would be a longer trip than the DeCamp from Bloomfield, since the Rutherford stop is both closer to Route 3 and puts you on a part of Route 3 closer to NYC. If I'm not mistaken, both buses take Route 3 directly into the Lincoln Tunnel.
Does anyone have experience with either bus route? I understand that rush hour is unpredictable and both trips might be longer than the published time. But I'm interesting in comparing the two. If NJT 190 from Rutherford is actually faster, that may sway our decision. Thanks.
NJT 190 has superexpress from rutherford at rush hour and even has its own lane into the tunnel. 190 is better beacause the rail pass can be used on 190 any 5 zone or higher plus 190 is 24/7!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't speak directly for the #33 Decamp, but Decamp buses are much, much, MUCH better for a few reasons:
1) There are rules against talking on cell phones or talking too loudly on the bus, and the drivers actuall enforce them
2) The buses arrive more frequently on time, at least they did on the #32 line in Nutley and Lyndhurst
3) The Decamp departure area isn't a crowded sardine can and the departure gates are clearly marked, with schedules posted at each gate
4) Decamp will send you text message alerts to your phone for any incidents or delays
5) Less people use Decamp, so you aren't going to be crammed next to people too often
Decamp buses get to use the bus lane into the tunnel during morning rush, too.
Seriously, if you have the option, use Decamp. Yeah, it's around $40-$50 more per month, but for all those reasons above it's worth the money.
I can't speak directly for the #33 Decamp, but Decamp buses are much, much, MUCH better for a few reasons:
1) There are rules against talking on cell phones or talking too loudly on the bus, and the drivers actuall enforce them
2) The buses arrive more frequently on time, at least they did on the #32 line in Nutley and Lyndhurst
3) The Decamp departure area isn't a crowded sardine can and the departure gates are clearly marked, with schedules posted at each gate
4) Decamp will send you text message alerts to your phone for any incidents or delays
5) Less people use Decamp, so you aren't going to be crammed next to people too often
Decamp buses get to use the bus lane into the tunnel during morning rush, too.
Seriously, if you have the option, use Decamp. Yeah, it's around $40-$50 more per month, but for all those reasons above it's worth the money.
Along with MJByron's points, You have the option of taking RR and rush hour Bloomfield or Glen Ridge shuttles if there are major Bus delays. DeCamp can actually make it to Brookdale in less than 22 minutes if there is no congestion.
Hi all,
We've narrowed down our home search to Rutherford and the Brookdale section of Bloomfield. Commute to Midtown NYC is a big factor. DeCamp claims that Bus #33 gets you from Watchung & Broad in Bloomfield to PABT in morning rush hour in 25 minutes. Is this realistic?
Contrast that with the NJT 190 bus that is supposed to take 28 minutes from the Rutherford train station. I don't see how this would be a longer trip than the DeCamp from Bloomfield, since the Rutherford stop is both closer to Route 3 and puts you on a part of Route 3 closer to NYC. If I'm not mistaken, both buses take Route 3 directly into the Lincoln Tunnel.
Does anyone have experience with either bus route? I understand that rush hour is unpredictable and both trips might be longer than the published time. But I'm interesting in comparing the two. If NJT 190 from Rutherford is actually faster, that may sway our decision. Thanks.
It can be done, but the bus commute depends largely on what the traffic is like on Route 3. Plus Decamp schedules are a joke. I stopped taking that bus line years ago in favor of the NJ transit train. If you are in the Brookdale Section, then you are probably no more than a 10 minute drive to a number of train stations in Upper Montclair. Best thing to do is to try using the bus, and gauge the reliability, then try the train. There are obvious addtional parking costs with driving to a train station. After being stuck in traffic, commute times ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, and dealing with DeCamp bus drivers with the professionalism of a street vendor, I switched. The train isn't for everybody, but it at least gives you more than one option to get in and out of the city.
It can be done, but the bus commute depends largely on what the traffic is like on Route 3. Plus Decamp schedules are a joke. I stopped taking that bus line years ago in favor of the NJ transit train. If you are in the Brookdale Section, then you are probably no more than a 10 minute drive to a number of train stations in Upper Montclair. Best thing to do is to try using the bus, and gauge the reliability, then try the train. There are obvious addtional parking costs with driving to a train station. After being stuck in traffic, commute times ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, and dealing with DeCamp bus drivers with the professionalism of a street vendor, I switched. The train isn't for everybody, but it at least gives you more than one option to get in and out of the city.
the rail pass works on local buses so ya can take NJT locals to the train ststion instead of driving its cheaper
Anyone have more recent experience with DeCamp Route#33 or #88?
We're looking into the Brookdale neighborhood as well.
25 minutes would be amazing but sounds like a complete lie hah.
What's the real commute time?
They didn't just make up a "lie" and put it on the timetable... but the schedule certainly reflects good conditions, which is often not the case during peak rush hours. Traffic, weather (rain/snow), and everything else has an impact. It's only common sense, yet people complain when the buses don't run right on schedule. Mornings are better because the buses start out generally on schedule in NJ and the bus-only lane operates approaching the tunnel. In the evening, there's no bus-only lane and you have traffic outbound PLUS the buses have to sit in bad traffic just to get back into the city- which adds to delays. Some nights will be great, and some nights you'll get home an hour late, and there's no way of knowing which type of night it will be ahead of time.
Some will point to the train as better, but it has issues too. Train runs much less frequently, you have to drive/get to the train station (and many area stations have no parking available), and they run into problems too. For example, the Montclair line was majorly messed up for days recently due to a derailment and track repair... and then that affected the buses because people switched over from riding the train during that time and lines were extra long.
Bottom line- People who choose this commute should just expect 10+ hours a week, every week, will be spent dealing with lines and transportation and everything that goes with it.
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