Closter - Commuting to NYC (Ridgefield: house, taxi, live)

[NoLiquidity]

Hello everyone - someone asked this question several months ago, but it never got answered as far as I could tell.

From someone who lives or has lived in Closter (or a nearby area):

What's the best way to commute into NYC? I work @ 50's and 5th Ave, Wife works @ 30's and 10th Ave). How does driving, bussing it, and other options compare in terms of time, cost, convenience, etc? I typically need to be in the office in midtown by 7am or 7:30am. My wife has a more flexible schedule and can get to the office later around 8:30 or 9am.

Thanks!

[macpat55]

Originally Posted by NoLiquidity

Hello everyone - someone asked this question several months ago, but it never got answered as far as I could tell.

From someone who lives or has lived in Closter (or a nearby area):

What's the best way to commute into NYC? I work @ 50's and 5th Ave, Wife works @ 30's and 10th Ave). How does driving, bussing it, and other options compare in terms of time, cost, convenience, etc? I typically need to be in the office in midtown by 7am or 7:30am. My wife has a more flexible schedule and can get to the office later around 8:30 or 9am.

Thanks!

Check out Coach USA's site and put in Closter NJ and look at the busses However, 7am is pushing it esp with the Lincoln tunnel traffic to the bus term 7:30 is more doable from closter You can drive to the Park and Ride Near ext 18 on the Turnpike and get more busses there into the city

[NoLiquidity]

Thanks macpat55.

So this is what I've figured out so far....

OPTION 1: COACH USA
20T: Railroad Crossing -> Port Authority
6:07am->7:00am
6:40am->7:38am
6:52am->7:50am
7:04am->8:04am
7:17am->8:17am
7:30am->8:30am
7:43am->8:43am
7:48am->8:00am

84,84L: Railroad Crossing -> GW Bridge Bus Station
I'm not familiar with the GWBBS, but apparently you can take busses here or also take
the "A" train
5:21am->5:55am (84)
6:05am->6:47am (84L
6:33am->7:15am (84L)
6:59am->7:45am (84L)

14ET: Knickerbocker Road & High Street -> Port Authority
5:56am->6:54am (14ET)
6:14am->7:10am (14ET)
6:32am->7:28am (14ET)
6:52am->7:50am (14ET)
7:12am->8:15am (14ET)
7:32am->8:35am (14ET)
7:52am->8:55am (14ET)

Coach fares are $6.10 each way, $101.80 for a 20 pass.
Total time to P.A. is about 1 hour using 20T or 14ET. Obviously have to be walking
distance from one of these routes.
Total Cost $12.20 + nyc subway, bus or taxi fares.

OPTION 2: DRIVE TO PARK AND RIDE, TAKE BUS 321 TO PORT AUTHORITY
Vince Lombardi Park and Ride. NJ Transit website says its on Exit 16 of NJ Turnpike.
Other sites say Exit 18 (is this the one you were talking about macpat55?). Google maps distance from Closter, NJ to Vince Lombardi Park & Ride at 13.1 miles - about 28 minutes.
Take Bus 321 (Ridgefield to Port Authority) from VL Park and Ride.
6:20am->6:38am
6:40am->6:58am
7:00am->7:25am
7:10am->7:35am
7:18am->7:43am
then every 8 to 6 minutes or so until 8:15am-8:40am

Daily Fee: $7.75 for 2 one-way tickets and use of Park and Ride Parking Space. No idea on how easy/hard parking is at this Park and Ride (let alone any other since I've never used one).
Total time to P.A. is about 45-50 minutes early in the morning (25-30min to get to station + 20min bus ride)
Total cost: $7.75 + nyc subway, bus or taxi fares

OPTION 3: DRIVING TO NEW YORK CITY
Anecdotally, I have heard it will only take about 30-35 minutes very early in the morning to drive into NYC (leaving Closter around 6:30 or 7am - confirm anyone??). I also knew someone who lived around there that said if they left their house before 6:30am, they could get into the city in about 30 minutes, but if they left around 7am, it could take 45min to well over an hour. Any comments here?
Total cost: ~$30 / day. Gas (roundtrip ~32 miles, so ~1.5gallons or $2.25 today, $6 a few months ago, who knows 1 year from now!) + $8 toll for I-95 + ~$20 parking (earlybird specials - obviously depends where you park!).

Hope this helps, still need to find out more - any additional color from people that actually take this route or use another way to get into the city (i.e. driving) would be extremely helpful. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of nuances here (rush hour implications, etc).

not responsible for typographical mistakes on the schedules!