NJT/New "BRT" route to airport starts 10/17/09 Options

[KevinKorell]

NJ TRANSIT started a new bus connection to Newark Liberty International Airport today, dubbed "go28". The line runs on the same corridor along Bloomfield Avenue as 4 other local bus routes, but makes limited stops. It then runs nonstop between downtown Newark and the airport. With this "BRT' route starting, the existing #62 bus to the airport will see reduced service.

This is a change in the thinking from when the Newark Airport Rail Station opened in that they are not trying to funnel all airport passengers through the rail station and hit them with the monorail surcharge. Instead, people from a busy bus corridor now get a one seat faster ride at the same fare as local service.

It's quite expensive to take the train option to the airport from points in Essex County, considering one rides the train only 2 or 3 miles between Newark Penn and the airport, and then has to pay a surcharge that far exceeds the base rail fare (which itself is much higher than a bus fare). This "BRT" route has a chance, and I fear it could hurt ridership through the Airport Rail Station, causing a further increase in the monorail surcharge for those who come from other points in the state.

I should add that the new service will NOT go to Penn Station; it will run right down Broad Street 4 blocks to the west. It will interface with the Newark LRT at the Bloomfield Avenue station.

http://www.njtransit.com/var/var_servlet.s...ction=GoBus28To

[AlanB]

This "BRT" route has a chance, and I fear it could hurt ridership through the Airport Rail Station, causing a further increase in the monorail surcharge for those who come from other points in the state.

Actually if this is successful enough, I think that it could actually go the other way and force the PA to stop gouging those who ride the rails to reach the airport.

[KevinKorell]

Actually if this is successful enough, I think that it could actually go the other way and force the PA to stop gouging those who ride the rails to reach the airport.

If it served Newark Penn Station directly, it might end up doing just that. But somebody who is already at Newark Penn having come off another NJT train, or PATH, or Amtrak. isn't first going to walk 4 blocks or take another bus or Newark LRT over to Broad Street to get the "go28" bus. So one could say that the new route serves a different market than those served by the trains.

I should have mentioned above that the go28 bus meets the Newark LRT not only at Bloomfield Avenue station in Newark, but also Military Park station (Broad & Raymond) downtown.