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we are thinking of buying a house in berkeley heights ... but due to the parking wait list issues in bh for train, i am planning on driving to summit,nj and park at Lot #15 (Summitt Park n Ride) to board the lakeland bus to nyc. (i do not want to park at the NP lots - as non-resident parking is quite expensive). I am ok with taking the bus.... my question is .. does this park n ride fill up ? and if it does, by what time? who else uses this lot besides the lakeland bus riders?
we need to make an offer in a couple of days, so please please any advice. we r also thinking of driving to summit one morning from hoboken (where we live now) to gauge how the lot is, and what the commute will be like.
we are thinking of buying a house in berkeley heights ... but due to the parking wait list issues in bh for train, i am planning on driving to summit,nj and park at Lot #15 (Summitt Park n Ride) to board the lakeland bus to nyc. (i do not want to park at the NP lots - as non-resident parking is quite expensive). I am ok with taking the bus.... my question is .. does this park n ride fill up ? and if it does, by what time? who else uses this lot besides the lakeland bus riders?
we need to make an offer in a couple of days, so please please any advice. we r also thinking of driving to summit one morning from hoboken (where we live now) to gauge how the lot is, and what the commute will be like.
thanks in advance!
why would you take the lakeland bus from summit when you could take the train from summit?
nj transit round trip penn station: 18.50
lakeland bus round trip: 21.20
lakeland bus does not have monthly fare- a ten trip costs 91.70, so around 366 a month. nj transit is 273 monthly. plus, depending on where is berkeley heights you move, you can take bus 986 to summit for free with your monthly pass (http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/bus/T0986.pdf).
slope95 - i already stated in my original post that I do not want to take the train from summit ( i guess people don't read the entire post, don't quite get that! ) , because i have to pay for non-resident parking which is a LOT of money - compared to park n ride, it's only $40 a month.
also, i can't take the bus #986 because the house i want to buy isn't near that route, and if i drive to the bus, SAME PROBLEM - where am i going to park my car? Any answers to that? I know people are trying to be helpful, but i already know the train option is not possible due to the permit issues, and non-resident parking costs.
Please posters - do not tell me take the train, because that is not an option (due to above issues). Anyone who has information on the park n ride - per my original question - please respond to the post. thank you!
slope95 - i already stated in my original post that I do not want to take the train from summit ( i guess people don't read the entire post, don't quite get that! ) , because i have to pay for non-resident parking which is a LOT of money - compared to park n ride, it's only $40 a month.
also, i can't take the bus #986 because the house i want to buy isn't near that route, and if i drive to the bus, SAME PROBLEM - where am i going to park my car? Any answers to that? I know people are trying to be helpful, but i already know the train option is not possible due to the permit issues, and non-resident parking costs.
Please posters - do not tell me take the train, because that is not an option (due to above issues). Anyone who has information on the park n ride - per my original question - please respond to the post. thank you!
i am sorry, but you said in your post "i do not want to park at the NP lots - as non-resident parking is quite expensive". you made no mention of the summit lots, which was why i made my post.
summit non-resident parking is also quite expensive - thought i was clear in the fact that cost was an issue for non-res parking, ( whether in NP or summit, or any other town). thanks anyway.
summit non-resident parking is also quite expensive - thought i was clear in the fact that cost was an issue for non-res parking, ( whether in NP or summit, or any other town). thanks anyway.
my mother grew up in new providence, so i know a good amount about the area. consider parking at the berkeley heights library, and walking down the street and taking the train. or, depending on where in b.h. you are moving, consider driving to mountainside library and taking nj transit bus to port authority, more reliable than lakeland.
Why don't you just drive to Newark and park there. My monthly parking in Newark is only $100 and we drive electrical car (no gas needed and monthly electrical cost is around $30). I work in Newark so no additional transfer for me. My husband works in downtown NYC, he can simply hops on WTC PATH from Newark. We carpool to Newark every morning. I take the car in the evening and my husband will take train home because he works late. I can just drive to BH train station to pick him up if needed. Or he can walk home (about 25 minutes) as exercise. It works well for us with only one car in the family which also saves a lot.
We got permit for BH parking after on waiting list for a year but we gave it up because driving to Newark makes more sense for us. Traffic on 78 is normally good for both morning and afternoon rush hours.
Saw this post and I think my experience might be helpful for future readers.
I know some people would prefer bus over train for various reasons. For example, the Port Authority Terminal easily connects to N/Q/R and 7 trains. No luck for train riders.
So I did check both the Summit Station Parking Lot #13 and the Park and Ride Parking Lot #15 at various time during the morning. The train station parking lot fills up easily by 7AM. After 7:10AM you would need valet parking and the on-site staff would park your car on driveways inside the parking lot.
At 9AM the parking lot is filled with cars. If you change your plan, say return by noon instead of after 6pm, it is highly possible that you cannot get your car out without help. OUCH!
By comparison, the #15 for the Lakeland bus is quite empty. At 9AM you can still find your spot. And that's the last bus to NYC.
Now the con for the Lakeland bus is that it is usually running full. If you arrive 3 minutes before the bus leaves, chances are that you have to stand for the trip. It is also worse for return trips.
Even worse, the last west bound bus leaves Port Authority at 8PM. If you decide to stay late in the city, you're stuck and have to take the train to Summit and maybe then take a cab to the parking lot.
Does the bus actually take only 38 minutes on a day to day basis? What is the variance on that time?
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