>4/10 Update: Shuttle Bus to Start on a Limited Basis
Please be advised that the NJTransit shuttle bus will resume service starting tomorrow, Saturday, using the new hours discussed last night at our Village Council meeting. For the moment it will use the same bus and route as before. NJTransit has agreed to buy a smaller bus asap. It has already earmarked a bus that has 10 seats plus one handicapped space.
However, NJTransit has said that once a bus is bought, we will have to use it for the entire nine months until this portion of the project is complete. Therefore we need to ascertain whether in fact we need a bus with more seats.
To that end we will be noting how many people use the bus on each and every run for a week starting next Monday. So please if you intend to use it at all during these nine months use it this week. Once we get our far-smaller bus we will be stuck with it for the duration, and NJTransit is going to make the Village sign legal papers saying that what we’ve asked for is our final request. No more buses – bigger or smaller – down the road.
So please, if you intend to use this bus service, please use it this week. Someone will be recording all week long the number of passengers on each run. That will determine whether the bus that is bought is a 10-seater, or a bit larger, or a bit larger than that. For that reason, it’s crucial that this survey accurately reflects usage.
Hopefully you now have enough advance notice to plan on using the bus next week if you’re commuting to the city or walking to school. Please share this information with neighbors, and thanks to those who attended our meeting Thursday night. We are trying hard to make this less of a headache for everyone.
Here is a recap of the bus schedule:
Saturday and Sunday: 10am-4pm, once an hour: Leaving Ridgecrest every hour on the hour, and leaving the train station every hour on the half-hour.
Monday-Friday: From 6am-8:30am, making the loop as necessary for the express and other trains during rush hour, and repeating for the evening rush hour between 5-7pm.
In between, from 9am to 4:30pm, it will make a trip once an hour: Departing on the hour from Ridgecrest and from the train station on the half hour.