Ridgewood bus - is it really 35 mins to Port Authority? (hotel, price)

[Ann77]

Originally Posted by EBWick

Just based on experience it sometimes takes 20 minutes to get through the tunnel and up the ramps to P.A. to your gate. It's possible, just not likely.

I haven't rode from RW, but I have rode CoachUSA from Mahwah, and the times were always right.

[U510545]

Ann77- thank you for the input. Were you riding during traditional rush hour timeframes? (7-8am, 7pm?).

[Ann77]

Originally Posted by U510545

Ann77- thank you for the input. Were you riding during traditional rush hour timeframes? (7-8am, 7pm?).

Yes.

[airace]

If anyone has any experience with the Coach USA/Shortline Park and ride in Ridgewood, please post. We also are interested to learn how fast it fills up, parking rates etc. and how long is a typical 8AM commute to Port Authority (as compared to their posted schedules).
The Ridgewood PnR appears to be the better option when compared to the train and NJ Transit (even the "express" ones).
TIA

[Ann77]

Originally Posted by airace

If anyone has any experience with the Coach USA/Shortline Park and ride in Ridgewood, please post. We also are interested to learn how fast it fills up, parking rates etc. and how long is a typical 8AM commute to Port Authority (as compared to their posted schedules).
The Ridgewood PnR appears to be the better option when compared to the train and NJ Transit (even the "express" ones).
TIA

From Bergen County, bus service often ends up being the best way to get to NYC, depending on where you are going in NYC.

I would call the Park N Ride and ask them how the parking lot is, etc and about the timetables.

[Marc Paolella]

Originally Posted by U510545

Thanks for the feedback. The 35 minutes that I suggested above were simply for the bus ride itself- not the rest of the commute. And I also drew the timings right from the Coachusa website. I'm just wondering if anyone has experience commuting on this or a similar short line bus and are willing to comment based on that experience- thank you!

I will just tell you that you are not going to have a 35 minute ride from Ridgewood to Midtown. I really don't care what any schedule says, it's just not going to happen in the real world of traffic tie ups, accidents, and bad weather.

Furthermore, the helix that approaches the Lincoln Tunnel will be going through a multi-year construction project. The dealys will only magnify once the work starts.

But even without it, Ridgewood to Midtown will usually be an hour.

[tahiti47]

Not sure if everybody posting has every actually rode on the bus. I lived in Ridgewood for years commuting to midtown mostly on the 163 (NJ transit) but sometimes on the shortline bus. If you take a bus around 7 AM it is a 35-40 minute ride on the shortline, however, if you leave even half an hour later at 7:30 AM you can probably tack another 10 minutes onto that (and probably another 5-10 minutes more if you leave around 8 AM). These times are for the bus ride only.

During rush hour buses going into the city have their own dedicated lane into the tunnel so you don't have to deal with the traffic that someone driving a car does, but there is traffic at the entrance to the bus lane off of the turnpike as all of the buses merge into that lane. Hence the later you leave the more likely you are to get caught at the entrance to the bus lane and the additional time I quoted above. For what it is worth accidents in the bus lane are very rare so large delays are unusual if you are on a 7 AM bus (unless there is heavy snow then the buses probably won't run at all but you can take the train from Ridgewood then).

For what it is worth I have lived in Summit for the past few years and travel by train now. If you catch the 7 AM from Ridgewood, the train from Summit is not any quicker (and leaves me with a longer walk than I had from the Port Authority). Granted the scheduling and general comfort of the train is better; and it is quicker when I catch a later train.

[qjbusmaster]

Originally Posted by U510545

Hi all, we are doing some due diligence trying to figure out which town in Bergen County (or Westchester) is best for us. One important aspect in our search is certainly commute, and my husband has to go to midtown Manhattan every day (8-7 are his general hours, so he'd be riding in the 7am timeframe, and back in the 7pm timeframe).

A colleague told him about a 35 min bus (Coachusa) into Port Authority, but reading this forum the general consensus is that the commute into the city is much longer. So is this bus time not really accurate? Would it typically take much longer?

Also, for those who know of these buses, is there parking near them (I know there are two drops)? Or is parking pretty much out of the question? I'm just wondering if there is a "catch".

Finally, can anyone give pointers into other towns in NJ that can get you into the city (midtown) in 30-40 minutes, that still have really good schools?

(We'd far prefer NJ to Westchester, but the commute from Westchester seems to be much better. But I'm just wondering if there is something I don't know...)

BULL the coach usa bus is the fastest way into NYC!!! plus click here for detailed transit info NJ Bus map for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Union, and Warren Counties

[airace]

Thanks Tahiti, thats great to know.
We experience the same LT bus lane merge delays or Helix delays on a daily basis (from East Rutherford) and expect the same if/when we move to Ridgewood.
Hence adding another 10-15min on top of the scheduled times is default.
Of course this is only the drive time to Port Authority, not including time to get to the PnR etc.
But we'd still like to learn how fast the Ridgewood Coach/Shortline-PnR fills up by 8AM if anyone is in the know.
Tnx.

[bagelland]

The Coach USA Bus goes down Route 17. The Park & Ride is located on Route 17 South near Ho-Ho-Kus. I use to take the NJ Transit 164 express from Fair Lawn into the Port Authority & that took about 50 minutes.