Fort Lee to Mid-Town? (Paterson, Englewood: condo, vs, buses)

[amelen]

I need some help with commuting options from Fort Lee to 53rd street in Manhattan. I heard there are buses that run across the George Washington (and then I can just take a subway down). This seems to be a lot faster then the bus to port authority (and then subway north), but I can't seem to find any info on these buses. I think they depart from the 'G.W. Bridge Plaza'. Does anyone know how I can get to it? Do people just walk to it? The condo I'm looking at is 1600 center ave. Is it possible to walk to the G.W. Bridge Plaza from the condo? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[NJ Chutzpah]

if you go to Lemoine Ave right over I-95 there will be stairs that lead you down to a shuttle stop, and you can catch the $1 shuttles across the bridge to the GWB terminal, and then take the A train downtown to wherever

You can take the $1 shuttles back to FL too

[amelen]

How long of a walk is it? Is there an area for pedestrians to walk? Also, do you know if those shuttles stop anywhere else or only from the over i-95?

Thanks!

[NJ Chutzpah]

it is right on lemoine over I-95

It is two flights of stairs and the shuttle stop is right at the base

Where are you in FL

[Bingain]

It should be about 10-15 mins walk from 1600 Center Ave (which is just a few blocks south of Main St.) to the bus stop. The stairs to east-bound stop (to NY) is right behind the Citibank drive-thru ATMs on Lemoine Ave (not the branch itself, they are separated by Bridge Plaza South [street name, not a plaza] which is 2 blocks north of Main St.) There is pedestrian walk all along Center Ave. The west bound stop (from NY) also has stairs leading up to Lemoine Ave, but many people just walk up the ramp to Center Ave (IIRC there is a tiny pedestrian walk on the ramp but not sure.) The bus stops are actually NJ Transit bus stops served by (among others) 171 (Paterson to NYC GWB bus station--with connection to A train subway station), but like other posters indicated, there is a privately operated shuttle bus that also serves that same route and runs more frequently.

[amelen]

Thanks for all the info!! Do you guys think this is faster then taking the bus to port authority? I can't seem to figure out if there is an express bus that runs from fort lee to PA. With going over GWB, my commute would be: 15min walk, 15min to get over the bridge, 15min subway south. So total time of ~45min. If going via port authority, I'd need to get to PA first, and then take a subway north (5min). So the big question is if I can get to port authority in less than 40min from fort lee in rush hour? Which way do most people go that work in upper-midtown?

[Bingain]

There is a #156 bus running from Englewood Cliffs, via Fort Lee, Edgewater, Guttenberg, WNY, UC, etc... to Port Authority. The schedule says it takes approx 1 hour. Check out NJ Transit. I've never taken that (I hate buses). I don't know if the time listed has taken into consideration traffic congestion when it's near Lincoin Tunnel.

I would say the over the GWB route is faster, because you spend more time traveling underground than on motorways and less affected by traffic congestion. The GWB route however involves 2 transits vs just 1 transit for the Lincoln Tunnel route.

[amelen]

Thanks Bingain!