LV commute to NYC "brutal" (renting, school)

[jfaith1230]

I am in Saucon Valley.

Originally Posted by meli722

Hi jfaith! Thanks for your response. Where in LV did you move to?

[jfaith1230]

1/1/2 to 2 hours leaves between 4-5am

[meli722]

What time does your husband leave the city to come back home? Mine needs to be in nyc by 7am, so he would leave around that time also going

[JohnZ963]

Don't forget that even if it's 1.5 hours on the bus (at best), you have to allow time to drive to the bus lot and get in line there, get from the bus terminal to your workplace, get back to the bus terminal, and drive home from the bus lot. That would probably add at least 30-45 minutes for most people.

[Detale]

I'm actually closing on our new home tomorrow morning and we cant be more excited. We're moving to Palmer township in Easton and I'll be trying the "brutal" commute very soon. I looked up the Trans Bridge schedule and I live 13 min from the Bethlehem Sunoco (4440 Easton Avenue) The site says this stop runs 24 hours. I still don't completely understand the bus schedule. I don't know which stop this is.

I a union carpenter and I generally have to be at work at 7 as well. Do you think if I leave by 4am i should e there on time? I get out between 2:30-3:30, what time should I expect to be home? I have a few friends who moved to the Stroudsburg area and they gripe about the commute but say its doable once you get used to it. I'm doing this for my kids to have a better life, not myself.

[workingstiff]

The Sunoco is pretty close to the William Penn Park and Ride, which is where you'd board the bus. Barring unpredictable traffic you shouldn't have any issue getting to PABT at 6 AM, so that's an hour to get where you need to.

Depending on how long it takes you to get from work to PABT you're probably looking at a bus that's scheduled to get to the Park and Ride around 6-7.

[Gettingouttahere]

Originally Posted by Detale

I a union carpenter and I generally have to be at work at 7 as well. Do you think if I leave by 4am i should e there on time? I get out between 2:30-3:30, what time should I expect to be home? I have a few friends who moved to the Stroudsburg area and they gripe about the commute but say its doable once you get used to it. I'm doing this for my kids to have a better life, not myself.

LOL, I know those guys! They're on my Martz!

Lots of trade union workers have the same hours as I do, so I see them coming and going. Yes, we all gripe, because who wants to spend 4 hours a day commuting, but the tradeoff is the place you create for your family, not your commute.

It is doable if you work off-peak -- leave on a 4-5 a.m. bus, return on a 2-3 pm bus. (Union workers often have 7-hour shifts so this is normal )

From the Delaware Water Gap, I take a 5:20 a.m. bus and am at the Port at 6:45 a.m. Your commute is a tad longer from the Valley, but not by much. Depends where your workplace is as to how much earlier you would need to leave

Leaving the city, the 2:15 bus gets me to the Gap at 3:45 pm.

Even on that shift, there will be times the bus breaks down or the weather is horrible or there's a bad accident and you get stuck.

But because of your hours you will be having a better commute than 100% of the folks working 9-5 that day -- the ones coming from Central or North Jersey with the "closer" commute. You can count on it.

[IBEW3]

Originally Posted by meli722

Hi everyone, I keep reading on these threads that the lv to nyc daily commute is brutal. To my understanding its 1.5-2 hours away. Commuting in public transportation & even a car in NYC from one borough to another takes about that same amount of time, depending how far in the borough youre going. I attended college in Flushing Queens and from Lower Manhattan took me 2 hours on public transportation 2 buses and 2 trains daily.
I am curious to know how the commute is? Why are people calling it "brutal"?
also, can anyone tell me if finding a teaching job in LV or the neighboring counties would be hard? (Early childhood/elementary). Some posts Ive read say you need to know someone to get into most districts there
Thanks!!!

They call it "brutal" because average commute times in the area are 25 minutes. I am considering relocating to LV. However, I wouldn't need to commute regularly - I work from home and may need access to Jersey City / Manhattan approx. once a month.
When people hear it can be a 1.5 to 2 hour drive, I have to remind them that where I am now (a suburb 30 miles outside of NYC) if I have to get to Manhattan or Jersey City I need to leave 3 hours before I am due there. The difference is mileage as opposed to strictly slow navigation due to congestion, crowding and overall volume.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by IBEW3

They call it "brutal" because average commute times in the area are 25 minutes. I am considering relocating to LV. However, I wouldn't need to commute regularly - I work from home and may need access to Jersey City / Manhattan approx. once a month.

Commuting is brutal, period. Sometimes in Washington DC a 20 miles drive would take 2 hours. The distance is difficult on the car. They just need the facts

People that ask these questions are all adults, and they know they have to add time to get to the P&Ride and be early enough not to miss the bus. They also have to add subway time.

It is 80 miles from the Park and Ride at Rte 33 and Freemansburg Ave to the Manhattan Port Authority Bus station, and the 5 Am bus takes 90 minutes because it is the only one that has no intermediate stops. Other buses take longer dependent on stops or traffic.

There are buses from about 7 locations in the valley, and midweek during work hours there are 7 buses that go to Wall Street. Two of of them stop in Jersey City


Round trip one time fares only are $46.30 normal adult and $12.15 each way for seniors, persons with disabilities and military personnel.

Commuter prices are much cheaper per trip. For 10/20/30/40 one way trips in a month are $161.25 $300.50 $417.50 $513.75 .

The 40 trips in a month are $513.75/40=$12.84 per trip which is only 69 cents higher than senior citizen fare.

[meli722]

So I went to LV a few weekends ago & I got to Easton in 1 hr 10 minutes, it was a sunday, no traffic & I have a heavy foot. With that being said, I liked Palmer Twnsp & Bethlehem, not Easton. But I really cant see my husband doing that commute daily, I do see it as brutal. I think he needs his santity before a big house. It works for some, but for us just not worth it. He gets out of work from midtown between 4:30-5, height of rush hour & I rather him be home earlier and involved in my kids life then spending that traveling. I also spoke to some people where their spouse does do the commute and they did say its sometimes like being a single parents when the other does the commute five days a week because they werent home for alot of family time/childrens sports events/school events during the week. Thanks everyone for your responses! Although nj has higher property tax we are looking there to be closer to nyc