NJ Transit steps in as private companies drop bus routes

On Jul 19, 2024

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8-minute read

NJ Transit has improved reliability and increased ridership on some of the bus routes it took over after being abandoned by private companies last year, according to data provided by the agency.

At a cost of more than $30 million — amid historic deficits — NJ Transit recently added or modified 11 routes in Essex and Hudson counties that were previously serviced by DeCamp, Coach USA and A&C. These private companies, which have decades or century-old roots in the area, faced significant financial distress after the COVID-19 pandemic, with Coach filing for bankruptcy last month, A&C folding and DeCamp terminating its commuter bus business in the past year.

Weekday ridership is up on all 11 routes since NJ Transit took over, with the biggest gains on DeCamp’s 195D route that is now the 105 between West Caldwell and Manhattan, increasing 145% between April 2023 and April 2024, along with a 136% increase in ridership on DeCamp’s 199D, now the 109, from Newark to Manhattan.

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On Coach’s No. 31, between South Orange and Newark Penn Station, there was a 111% increase in ridership during the same time period.

There was no data available about A&C’s ridership levels, but in just the first six months of NJ Transit’s takeover of what was the 33 and is now the 8 line, which goes from Bayonne to Journal Square in Jersey City, ridership increased nearly 41%. It’s also up 31% on the 14, formerly the 32, which runs through Jersey City.

Residents, riders and public officials from Newark, Jersey City and the surrounding communities who faced a void of service once these routes were terminated, mounted successful pressure campaigns to have NJ Transit take them over.

“People use transit when it’s funded and it’s reliable,” said Zoe Baldwin, vice president for state programs for the Regional Plan Association, a research and advocacy nonprofit.

Resources stretched thin

NJ Transit has not had as much success on seven bus routes it took over in Monmouth County last year, which have seen decreases in ridership.

Unlike in Essex and Hudson counties, the Monmouth routes were not in immediate danger of being terminated and therefore received less attention when Transdev, the private company under contract with NJ Transit to operate those routes, prematurely ended its contract with the agency in September, citing “ongoing contractual losses,” increases in fuel costs and a labor shortage.

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Ridership on the Transdev routes — the Nos. 830, 831, 832, 834, 836, 837 and 838 — went down on average 14.5% in the first seven months since NJ Transit took over, according to agency data.

Competition for commercial driver’s license holders “remains fierce and we strive to keep the staffing levels sufficient to serve the published schedule,” said Jim Smith, a spokesman for NJ Transit. “The Transdev property is no different from the rest of the system relative to staffing…