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Hello, we are thinking about moving to Livingston but are concerned about the commute to NYC...if we live too far from any of the bus stops along rte 10, are there any jitney services offered to those stops?
My gf lives in florham park and whenever i stay over i usually take the train which is in Millburn. It is a shor 35 minute ride. I would look into that before the bus
I live in Livingston and commute to midtown Manhattan.
LIVINGSTON IS NOT IDEAL IF YOU WANT A DECENT COMMUTE INTO NYC.
Livingston's only in-town commuter option into NYC is the #77 Community Coach bus. There is no 'jitney' service to bus stops. Haha! I wish!
The ease of your commute via the #77 depends totally on:
A. How close your house is to one of the bus stops. (But keep in mind that if there is a bus stop only steps away from your house, it probably means you are living in a high traffic/noisy/busy part of town, and that might be a downside.) All the stops are on SOUTH Livingston Ave, EAST Northfield Ave, and Mt. Pleasant Ave. Note: The #77 has several different routes. Not all routes service all 3 roads. The bus schedule that you can download off the Community Coach website can be misleading.
B. How close your office is to the Port Authority bus station.
If there is a bus stop steps away from your house, and you work in midtown, on the WEST side of Manhattan (6th Ave. and westward, in the 40s), your commute can take as little as an hour, one way. However, I have NEVER heard anyone in Livingston claim to have a commute like this, and I’ve lived here for 25 years.
The vast majority of people in Livingston have an average one-way commute time of about 1.5 hours (and that's on a GOOD day when there is no traffic, weather, or other mass transit issues). My commute takes over 2 hours one way (I have no bus stops near my house, and my office, although in midtown, is on the east side).
So, how do you get to a bus stop if you don’t live close to one?
Many people who do not live near bus stops get to a bus stop by:
1. having someone drop them off/pick them up 2. walking (I walk 1.25 miles to the nearest bus stop) 3. parking 'illegally' in various privately owned lots in town, e.g. super market parking lots, restaurant parking lots (you can NOT park on any side streets), or 4. driving to the Park & Ride lot at the South Mountain Arena bus stop in West Orange.
Although some fellow commuters have told me that they have been going with option #3 for years, without a problem, I don't think it's a terrific option. I'm sure not all the proprietors of these lots are completely OK with commuters using their lots so you can't really leave your car there all day with a 100% free conscience. But, like I said, some folks have been doing it for years 'without a problem'. I, personally, am hesitant to try this method because I asked a local proprietor once if I could chain my bicycle to a guardrail at the back of his parking lot (there are no bike racks in town) and his answer was "NO", even after I stressed that it was a cheap old bike, and I understood that the bike could be stolen, vandalized or struck by lightening at any time, and I would never hold him liable. I also tried asking the Livingston police department if I could chain my bicycle up to trees, sign posts or telephone poles on public property (in inconspicuous areas) in town (their answer was "maybe for a couple of hours, as a one time thing, but you can't do that on a daily basis"). I mean, if the town feels that way about a measly bicycle, imagine how they feel about your car.
As for option #4, I think this is the worst option of all. It's ridiculous to have to drive past all the bus stops in your own town, to a whole different town, to take a bus. The whole point of taking a bus in the first place, is so that you don't have to drive. Plus, it's not like the parking is free. I think it's $500 for a yearly permit (but I've heard that if you get on some kind of priority list, first come/first serve, you can get it at a 'discount' $300/year). That's absurd, if you ask me. I don't think you should have to pay ~$3,000 a year for the bus ($7.50 one way trip; $67.50 for a 10-trip book), and then $10,000 a year (and that's a low estimate) for property taxes just for the privilege of living in Livingston, and then be expected to pay additional for commuter parking in a whole different town. Not only that, but by the time the bus sweeps the stops in Livingston and gets to the West Orange Arena, many times the bus is packed, and the people at that stop get the 'standing room only' treatment. In fact, there have been times where the bus just bypasses that stop altogether because there is not even room to stand (and I'm talking about the ~6:30 AM bus…that's not even real rush hour).
With the #77 bus, you're really at the mercy of the bus schedule, which is subject to change at any time, depending on whatever madness is happening at the Lincoln Tunnel, the Lincoln Tunnel helix, the turnpike, and Rt. 280. The door-to-door 2-hour one-way commute time is ridiculous. Livingston is only 25 miles away from midtown. To put it in perspective just how ridiculous the commute time is, consider the following:
-I have a coworker that lives in Poughkeepsie, NY which is 85 miles away and he and I have almost the same commute time to midtown.
-the guy that won this year's NYC Marathon ran 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 8 minutes (so basically, it's possible to run to midtown from Livingston in the same amount of time it takes the bus to get you there).
Lastly, every Wednesday, you have to deal with the Broadway theater crowd. There's some kind of discount matinee every Wednesday on Broadway…which is right outside the Port Authority. So, each Wednesday you get a bunch of confused people on your bus. It's not their fault, really. Community Coach is really disorganized. There's confusion on the lines for the #77 at Port Authority on a daily basis. People are always getting on the wrong #77. Plus, sometimes, they combine buses & routes (if there aren't 'enough' people to fill a bus)…so that adds to the confusion. Then on Fridays, you get weekenders with luggage that must be stowed in the underbelly of the bus and when these people get off, the bus driver has to get out and retrieve their luggage, and that just adds to the lag.
You can also count on at least 1 traffic incident a week taking the bus.
As you probably already know, the closest NJ Transit station is in Millburn, and it's not a good option either, unless you have someone that can drop you off & pick you up daily (parking permits of $300/year are given only to Millburn residents).
Your other choice is to drive to Harrison or Newark and take the PATH train.
Are you moving to Livingston for the school system? I am a product of that school system: 2nd grade all the way to LHS graduate. While I do feel that I received a great education here, I’m not sure that it’s quite worth the property taxes and other issues in town (if you’ve heard that we have a newly built ‘nice downtown’ area, we don’t…it’s merely a giant monstrosity of a mini mall in the town center). Anyway, your child can certainly get a great education in other towns. Or, if you have the money, send them to private school. It’s not like the Livingston school system is some golden key to college admissions and future success in life. Believe me, there are also plenty of kids that get a Livingston education and never amount to all that much.
I am interested in taking the bus from Livingston to NYC. In addition to South Livingston Ave & Route 10, does/can it stop at Mount Pleasant/Rt 10 and Shrewsbury Drive?
Parking at South Mountain (Codey) Arena still sounds like a deal compared to the thieves at the MetroPark train station. It's $65 a month ($780) a year to park there..now that's highway robbery.
Parking at South Mountain (Codey) Arena still sounds like a deal compared to the thieves at the MetroPark train station. It's $65 a month ($780) a year to park there..now that's highway robbery.
The west orange arena had different thieves. I don’t know how it is now but In the 90's it was a car thief’s shopping mall. It may have cleaned up now that they have th new multi level garage but back then it was pretty bad 2 sometimes 3 cars a week went missing in the summer. It was easy for the thieves to pull off because they knew that a car will be unattended for several hours since the owner is an NYC commuter. They also had lots of different cars to choose from. They were very opportunistic. But Im sure the new multi level lot is much safer.
I moved to the Bel Air at West Orange (near Livingston) recently and have been pleasantly surprised by the commute. It was one of my major concerns moving to West Orange (along with property taxes). Every day I drive 2 miles to Codey Arena, take the 7:25am bus (they run every ten minutes or so then). It has NEVER been too crowded to find a seat. Usually there are over a dozen empty seats. Once I arrive at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, I take the E train 3 stops to work. Total door-to-door is about an hour. A couple times a month there might be a traffic or the subway will be delayed and it'll add 10 or 20 minutes to the trip. If I get an express bus on the way back before peak rush hour, it's usually pretty quick, but I have to leave work 20 minutes before the bus departs because I'm relying on the subway.
Regardless of how you commute, you're looking at an hour or more each way. The bus works out great; just watch out when you leave from work before a 3 day weekend or other holiday. The express bus lane works pretty well for getting through the lincoln tunnel and on the way home, the port authority has a ramp that leads practically right into the tunnel. I enjoy sleeping on the bus most of the time. It's pretty comfortable and I keep a book handy as well. Talking on cell phones is heavily discouraged.
As for cost, it's expensive at $67.50 for a work week of round trips. You can buy a monthly train pass for $200 or so. However, you might save on parking if you live near one of the many bus stops (there are many more than listed on the coachusa.com site). Parking permits are valid for one year from purchase date at $535 IIRC, but you can buy 6 month or 1 month for a worse deal. They can be purchased from the security office at the garage. Bus tickets are purchased in the south wing of the bus terminal at port authority, but bus leaves from the north terminal #305.
Is there anywhere online to get an accurate list of 77 bus routes and stops? As several people have noted, the information on the Coach website is really incomplete.
Also how are people finding the parking at Codey Arena now - is there still a problem with car theft and breakins or has it improved? Also are there plenty of spots or does it fill up early?
Every time I drop off and pick up my car at Codey Arena there is at least one police car in the lot. I believe the security office is staffed throughout the day as well. Between the commuters and Zoo visitors, there are usually people milling about the lot. I'm not sure how safe parking your car there overnight would be, but it seems very safe during the day.
There are usually a ton of spaces available when I show up for the 7:25am bus. Only the spots on the first level are filled. The ramp up to the second level is where I always park. When I catch an early bus back to the Arena at a time when its packed the fullest there seem plenty of spots left on the second level.
I'm not sure where to find a list of the bus stops, but since they are the same as the NJ transit stops, you can use one of those schdules. You can call community coach to see which of those stops are along the route of the bus. Most of the stops are on Northfield (508) or Mt. Pleasant(US10).
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Livingston is a commuter's nightmare
