Bethlehem to Wall Street NYC bus (dangerous, buses, airport)

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by PacoMartin

But the insanity of working five days a week and having the same number of working hours as commuting hours has another problem. If you leave at 1PM you will have to take the subway to PABT to return. The Monday-Friday buses from downtown don't leave until 3:30 PM. So in addition to the increased commute time, you now have the expense of an MTA pass.

Looking at MTA pass
30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard Cost: $116.50,
Per ride is $3.

William Penn
$404.25 (30 trips |$13.4750 per trip)
$497.50 (40 trips |$12.4375 per trip )

Extra $16.5750 per week for bus fare (8 trips vs 10 trips)
So even if you only have to charge $3 for the subway trip to PABT that is still an extra $15 every week

Needless to say it would be nice to have Wednesday as a break. Maybe you could work from home for a few hours.

[meli722]

Thanks for the info! I dont pay for the MTA bus so im good with that I just need the pa to nyc bus fare

[meli722]

yes I agree working five and having the same time commuting as working is crazy but I honestly wont be able to survive on PA salary in my field. So I have to do it. I wil try to just do four days a week. And maybe drive one day a week, the day of the week where in manhattan theres no alternate side of street parking to worry About so I can park anywhere

[Gettingouttahere]

do not drive. I cannot stress this enough.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

do not drive. I cannot stress this enough.

There is really no reason to drive. The bus fares are lower than gasoline + tolls without even considering parking.You just have to get noise cancelling headphones and a nice neck pillow so that you can sleep on the bus.

There is some advantage of getting on the bus at the terminal by the ABE airport instead of at the park and ride. Your car will be safer plus you are more likely to get a window seat. When you go to the PABT there are more buses, but all the buses that go to downtown stop at both places.

Always get a commuter book if possible. They come as low as 10 one way trips per month if you are on travel. The worst thing is to pay cash directly to the driver. That is $30 each way.

There is a second bus company, but they only pick up at Hellertown in Northampton County. They also only go to PABT, and do not have working buses to Wall Street.

[meli722]

Thanks so much for your help guys! The bus system in PA is complete opposite of nyc so it can be confusing. Are cars not safe at William Penn bus stop?

[meli722]

Originally Posted by Gettingouttahere

do not drive. I cannot stress this enough.

I hateeee driving haha which isnt good since ill be in PA now. Just thinking of other options, but the bus is my #1 for sure especially because I can sleep

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by meli722

Thanks so much for your help guys! The bus system in PA is complete opposite of nyc so it can be confusing. Are cars not safe at William Penn bus stop?

I don't know the stats, but personally have no reservations about leaving my car all day/ overnight at William Penn. It's pretty bright at night and seems safe.

[meli722]

Thank you!

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by blazerj

I don't know the stats, but personally have no reservations about leaving my car all day/ overnight at William Penn. It's pretty bright at night and seems safe.

Most people who leave a car in a public parking lot all day are driving an old car. It's just a poor use of money. I wouldn't call it a dangerous lot, but there have been articles about thefts in the Morning Call. The police simply say they can't spend the resources to have full time guards. The issue is during the day when a car can be stolen from a crowded lot. Buses stop around midnight, and I am not sure what the rules are for 24 hour parking.

Personally, If I had a nice car, I would prefer the main bus terminal near the Airport parking lot. They make no guarantees either, but there is a guard. If I was taking a bus to the airport (they have buses to Newark and JFK airport) and I was leaving my car for a week, I wouldn't leave it in a Park and Ride.

Originally Posted by April 25, 2011|Dan Hartzell | The Road Warrior

Q: PennDOT's Park and Ride lot on William Penn Highway in Bethlehem Township has been plagued with automobile break-ins and theft of property inside the vehicles for years, and was targeted again April 4 when three vehicles were broken into. Multiple windows were smashed and electronic equipment such as GPS units stolen. It's a situation where hard-working people wake up early in the morning and rush to the Park and Ride to commute to New York, leaving their vehicles vulnerable for extended periods of time. This particular Park and Ride is being expanded and will be one of the largest in the state. Will the problem grow when construction is completed?
— Bryan Barndt, Bethlehem Township

A: Not if Bethlehem Township police have anything to say about it, Bryan.

Truth be told though, I'm not sure how much more they can do than patrol regularly and otherwise try to keep an eye on the burgeoning parking lot as much as they can, and that's always been the approach, according to Chief Daniel Pancoast. The township obviously can't afford to post an officer there around the clock. "We're too small a department in too large a township" for that, Pancoast said. (At least they have a municipal police force, which is more than Lower Macungie Township can say. I would assume state police can afford to pay far less attention to the Lower Macungie Park and Ride off Route 222 near the Bieber Bus Terminal. But that's an issue for consideration by Lower Macungie, which levies no property tax.)

Park and Ride lots across the state would seem to leave users' vehicles particularly vulnerable to break-ins and thefts. In the William Penn example, New York/New Jersey commuters leave their cars there for eight-hour work shifts plus 90- to 120-minute bus trips on both sides of those shifts. They might as well post signs on their windshields announcing their absence for about 12 hours.

However, Bethlehem Township's statistics don't seem to back up the anecdotal expectation of a great many vehicle break-ins or damage.

"We have recorded a total of 11 thefts from vehicles and seven [incidents of] criminal mischief to vehicles at the William Penn Park and Ride" since 2006, Pancoast reported in an email. He told me later that those numbers include the three thefts of April 4-5 that you cited, Bryan. The criminal mischiefs are instances in which cars were damaged but to the owners' knowledge nothing was taken.

That's 18 incidents reported over a period of just over five years, or 3.4 per year. Perhaps not every act of vandalism or attempted vehicle break-in is reported to police, but it's likely the major ones are, if only to verify the owners' insurance claims.
"It's not startling," Pancoast said of the number of incidents, and I'd have to agree that it's pretty underwhelming. I would have guessed higher. He added of the Park and Ride, "I wouldn't call it a problem area; no more than any parking lot at a shopping center."