NJ Transit Bus Operations

NJ Transit Bus Operations

NJ Transit #5510 operates along Prospect Street in western Trenton.
Slogan	The Way to Go
Parent	NJ Transit
Founded	1980 (purchase of Transport of New Jersey)
Headquarters	Newark, New Jersey
Locale	New Jersey (statewide)
Service area	New Jersey (statewide)
Service type	Local and commuter bus transit, Newark Light Rail
Routes	267 (See list below)
Stations	26 bus terminals, 19,500 bus stops, 17 light rail stations[1]
Fleet	3,052 buses, 696 leased to private operators 21 light rail vehicles[1]
Daily ridership	567,967[1] (average weekday)
Operator	See operator list below
Chief executive	Dennis J. Martin
Website	New Jersey Transit

NJ Transit Bus Operations is the bus division of NJ Transit, providing bus service throughout New Jersey along with service along one light rail line, with many routes going to New York City and Philadelphia.

History

Prior to 1948, most public transportation in New Jersey was provided by the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, a utility company that also operated the Public Service Railway division. In 1948, the Public Service Corporation was divided into two entities: the Public Service Electric and Gas Company, which inherited the utility operations, and the Public Service Coordinated Transportation Company (PSCT), which inherited the transit operations. PSCT provided service throughout New Jersey, originally using trolleys and then transitioning to trolley buses, and buses. During the 1970s, the New Jersey Department of Transportation began subsidizing the routes of Public Service, now renamed Transport of New Jersey (TNJ), contracting with TNJ and other companies to operate local bus service throughout New Jersey.^[2]

NJ Transit came into being as the result of the New Jersey Public Transportation Act of 1979 to "acquire, operate, and contract for transportation services in the public interest". NJ Transit Bus Operations came into being the following year, when it acquired Transport of New Jersey from PSE&G.^[3] Other purchases and buyouts in the 1980s expanded the bus division of NJ Transit, including the acquisition of the Atlantic City Transportation Company in 1987. In 1992 NJ Transit Mercer, Inc., which was the successor to the former "Mercer Metro" operation in the Trenton and Princeton areas, was folded into NJ Transit Bus Operations.^[4] In 2010, Morris County operations were taken over under the subsidiary NJ Transit Morris, Inc.

NJ Transit Bus Operations owns, leases, or subleases over 3,000 buses,^[1] and many more have been purchased for community shuttles.

Routes

Routes are numbered by where they operate in the state of New Jersey, however, there are a few exceptions to the general rule due to recent changes to some routes operating in Central and North Jersey. Fare and route can also be further elucidated on some of the individual route schedules^[5] or the trip planner.^[6]

• 1-99: Intrastate service originating from Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, or Elizabeth.
• 100-199: Routes from central and northern New Jersey to New York City.
• 200-299: No routes with these numbers; a few existed in the 1980s to be quickly renumbered.
• 300-399: Special-event and park services, park-and-ride services, long-distance suburban routes from Philadelphia, New York-Atlantic City express. Beginning in 2010, numbers in this series are also assigned to North Jersey intrastate routes formerly suffixed with an X.
• 400-449: Short-distance suburban routes in southwestern New Jersey and to Philadelphia.
• 450-499: Local service within Camden, Gloucester, and Salem counties.
• 500-549: Atlantic County and Cape May County local routes.
• 550-599: Long-distance routes from Atlantic City serving points in southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.
• 600-699: Mercer County local routes.
• 700-799: Passaic and Bergen County local routes not entering Newark.
• 800-880: Middlesex, Monmouth, and Morris local routes not running to Newark.
• Wheels Suburban Transportation Services (890 and up).

2012 route cancelations, service reductions, and service expansions

On July 11, 2012, NJ Transit publicly announced that it had finalized plans to cancel service on routes 42, 43, 75 and 93 effective September 1, 2012.^[7]

Combined with changes to service on routes 56, 57, 181, go28, 451 and 604 (which later become part of 624 line on 6/20/15), these changes were forecasted to result in "approximately $2.5 million in annual operating savings."

NJ Transit also intended to split route 62 into two routes and expand route 99. On September 1, 2012, bus route 62 increased service on its northern portion between Newark Penn Station, Newark Airport, and Elizabeth, while the rest of the route south of Elizabeth became route 48.

The company further stated that "most customers will not be significantly impacted" and that the financial gains would allow for service expansion in and around Newark and "help keep fares stable" for NJ Transit customers.

Fleet

Divisions, facilities, and operators

NJ Transit Bus Operations is divided into the Northern, Central, and Southern Divisions, and contract operations.^[8] Below is a list of all facilities and the buses housed in them.^[9]

Northern Division

The Northern Division consists of six garages.

Central Division

The Central Division consists of five garages and one light rail operations facility.

Southern Division

The Southern Division consists of four garages.

Contract operations

These companies operate service under contract to New Jersey Transit. Service is provided using New Jersey Transit-branded buses.

See also

• NJ Transit Rail Operations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NJ Transit Bus Operations.

• New Jersey Transit official website
• Unofficial New Jersey Transit fan page
• Unofficial New Jersey Transit bus map