Montclair Bloomfield Ave commute to Midtown NYC (Clifton, Passaic: transfer to, buses)

[mtoneil]

What's the best way to commute into midtown from Montclair, Bloomfield Ave (near Valley Rd if that helps)? And approx. how long would it be? I have a car and could drive to somewhere else to take a bus or train if needbe. Any thoughts? Would really help me make a decision on moving. Thanks!

[pbergen]

take the train from montclair to new york penn station. montclair has excellent rail access to midtown, with frequent trains during rush hour.

the closest train stations to you are the walnut street and bay street stations along nj transit's montclair-boonton line. not sure how the parking situation is at either station.

nj transit rail system map:
http://www.njtransit.com/pdf/rail/Rail_System_Map.pdf

information about the montclair-boonton line:
Montclair-Boonton Line

schedule of trains to penn station (use this link to see how long the ride will be):
New Jersey Transit Train Schedule

Directions to Walnut Street station

Directions to Bay Street station

[mtoneil]

Great, thanks a lot! If anyone else also has some experience with buses from that area, I'd be interested to hear it.

[njfam]

Just got off the phone with Montclair parking authority. The wait list for permit parking at Bay St. is about 5 years. There are only 60 metered spots there for $5/day. If you commute early, you could get one of those. Otherwise, there is a jitney / shuttle that goes to the Bay St. station:

http://www.montclairnjusa.org/dmdocu...ey_sept_08.pdf

[mattjd]

I always parked at Watchung Ave. without a permit and never got a ticket. I've done the same at South Orange too, without any issues. The closest station to you would by Bay st, but it's small. You might want to go a little bit farther down to Bloomfield station. It has a lot more parking available, but it's in a sketchy area. Don't know how I would feel about being there after dark. It takes me about 45 mins from Watchung, so I'd say 40 mins or less from Bloomfield. Also, DeCamp runs 2 buses through Montclair I believe. One goes from Montclair through Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville, Lyndhurst, etc. The other goes from West Orange, through Montclair, then through Bloomfield and Clifton to Rt. 3 I believe. You should call them and ask about that service.

[Spincycle]

Originally Posted by pbergen

take the train from montclair to new york penn station.

OK.

Originally Posted by pbergen

montclair has excellent rail access to midtown.

As compared to?

Originally Posted by pbergen

with frequent trains during rush hour.

Really, since when?

[pbergen]

^^^

geez, talk about nitpicking.
i'm not sure why you feel like being contentious about this. if you disagree with my points, you can correct the areas where you feel i'm wrong and leave it at that. no need to be snarky.

anyway, to clarify what i already wrote:
there are seven train stations in the township of montclair. that is way more than the average suburban town, which typically have one or two stations at the most (and there are numerous towns in the region that don't have any passenger rail service whatsoever).

from all of montclair's stations, you can take a direct train to penn station, with no need for a transfer in secaucus or hoboken to get to midtown manhattan.

so yes, i'd say that's excellent rail access - about as good as you can get for a suburban commute to the city.

as for "frequent trains during rush hour", there are five trains which stop at the bay street station between 7am and 8:30am. that's plenty of service for a suburban train line.

you can debate whether that's frequent enough for your taste, since the PATH and nyc subway obviously run more far more often. but the fact is that the montclair-boonton line is a long-distance suburban commuter line - not a subway. so there aren't going to be trains every 2-3 minutes, nor are there going to be stops every 1/3 mile. the type of service offered by a suburban commuter line is very different than an urban subway system.

bottom line is, everything that i wrote in the previous post was in the context of suburban commuter rail lines. and in that context, the montclair-boonton line is very convenient and efficient for commuting from the burbs to the city.

[Spincycle]

Originally Posted by pbergen

there are seven train stations in the township of montclair..

The 7th is technically in Little Falls proper (in Passaic Co).

Originally Posted by pbergen

from all of montclair's stations, you can take a direct train to penn station, with no need for a transfer in secaucus or hoboken to get to midtown manhattan.

True but not everyone [who is Manhattan bound] needs to go to (or through) Midtown. Lots of folks still need to go to WFD, WTC, and Wall Street (using PATH/ferry connections).

Originally Posted by pbergen

as for "frequent trains during rush hour", there are five trains which stop at the bay street station between 7am and 8:30am. that's plenty of service for a suburban train line.

At a glance 5 inbound direct trains between 6:10 - 9:10am (plus several trains for downtown connecting folks).

[pbergen]

Originally Posted by Spincycle

The 7th is technically in Little Falls proper (in Passaic Co).

geez, here we go...

yes, montclair state station is technically in little falls. right on the border with montclair, but whatever. duly noted.

does that change the fact that montclair has far more train stations than the typical suburban town? six are within the town limits and a seventh is literally right over the border in little falls. however you slice it, that's excellent rail coverage.

True but not everyone [who is Manhattan bound] needs to go to (or through) Midtown. Lots of folks still need to go to WFD, WTC, and Wall Street (using PATH/ferry connections).

in my first post, i specifically wrote "montclair has excellent rail access to manhattan", which you challenged. now you acknowledge that i'm right, but have changed your point of contention to the fact that commuters who need to go downtown need to switch to the PATH or ferry.

seriously, what's your point? all nj transit commuters need to transfer to another mode of transportation (PATH, ferry, or nyc subway) to get to lower manhattan, not just montclair-boonton riders.

but since the original poster needs to go to midtown, i'm not sure how that's relevant to this discussion. my initial post in this thread was tailored to the OP's specific commuting needs, but you seem to be more interested in contesting every little point, even if it isn't relevant to his/her situation.

At a glance 5 inbound direct trains between 6:10 - 9:10am (plus several trains for downtown connecting folks).

i'm just going to copy and paste what i wrote earlier, with the key points highlighted for easy reading:

"you can debate whether that's frequent enough for your taste, since the PATH and nyc subway obviously run more far more often. but the fact is that the montclair-boonton line is a long-distance suburban commuter line - not a subway. so there aren't going to be trains every 2-3 minutes, nor are there going to be stops every 1/3 mile. the type of service offered by a suburban commuter line is very different than an urban subway system.

bottom line is, everything that i wrote in the previous post was in the context of suburban commuter rail lines. and in that context, the montclair-boonton line is very convenient and efficient for commuting from the burbs to the city."

i have no idea why you're contesting every little fact as if i've spread some sort of misinformation to the OP. i think i did a pretty good job of outlining the OP's rail options for commuting to the city. if you want to correct some minor points, that's cool. but it seems like you're more interested in being a PITA than helping the OP.

anyway, i think the OP's question has been sufficiently answered. no need to get into a pointless, off-topic debate that isn't germane to the original query. if you'd like to continue this discussion, just DM me. otherwise, i'm not going to bother responding to any more off-topic posts in this thread.

[mtoneil]

Cool guys, thanks for all of the info.