At yesterday’s NJ Transit board meeting, the agency announced that ridership had hit all-time records in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008 (July 1 – Sept. 30, 2007): 40.6 million bus trips, 18.9 rail trips, and 5 million light rail trips. In many cases the ridership gains are attributable to service expansions and improvements on light rail and commuter rail lines. The agency has managed to achieve these gains despite frequently using capital dollars to shore up its operating budget because of underfunding from Trenton (see MTR # 549).
Growth in rail was up 5.4 percent over the first quarter of FY 2007, led by the Main/Bergen County Line and the Northeast Corridor. About 80% of NJ Transit rail trips originated or terminated at New York Penn Station, underscoring the need for the ARC Tunnel to relieve pressure on the rail network. In the meantime, the agency is gradually adding more double-decker cars to its fleet.
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail ridership shot up 18.4% over the same period last year after a station at Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen was added to the line and the MTA began bus service connecting Staten Island to the 34th St. Bayonne station (see MTR # 562). Growth of 9.1% on the Newark Light Rail was also fueled by a system expansion, the Broad Street Extension.
NJ Transit Chairman and NJDOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri also said the agency would seek to add parking to the Secaucus rail transfer station. However, adding park-and-ride capability to a station that was not designed to be used as such could attract drivers who would otherwise park at stations further away and exacerbate the already intense traffic around the Meadowlands (see MTR # 541). Local elected officials have opposed adding parking to the station because of the added traffic it would bring to the Turnpike and local roads (see MTR # 554).
Should Secaucus be more than a passenger rail transfer station? If so, the better way to go is for the station to anchor a transit village development of residences and offices within walking distance of the station, plans which have gone nowhere since the station’s completion but are still theoretically on the table. Either way, the station is too close to NYC to serve as a commuter lot attracting distant drivers.
[…] the fare hike, gas prices and a number of recent system expansions sent NJ Transit ridership to record levels, with average weekday ridership reaching 865,000 trips on the agency’s bus, rail and light […]
There are more than a majority of stations on the NJ TRANSIT system that have inadequate parking. A parking facility at Secaucus using Exit 15X would add additional parking that is desperately needed on the system. Also, it might provide a mass transit opportunity for those that do not live in a community with a station such as East Windsor Township. Resonable alternatives for residents of East Windsor are Princeton Junction (parking shortage) and Metropark (parking shortage) or Newark (have to get off Turnpike at Exist 13A or 15E and drive to Downtown Newark). I have a neighbor that parks at Newark Airport and takes RailTrain to NYC because he frequently gets turned away from Princeton Jct. and Metropark and will not drive local streets to Woodbridge, Rahway, Linden, Elizbeth or Newark. A Secaucus Transfer Station would be much better for him.
The Secaucus Station parking lot might lead to a better alternative for that particular commuter, but it would also probably become the alternative of choice for people in Hudson and East Bergen to drive to the parking lot and then take the connection to the city to avoid using a bus. Also, there is an NJT shuttle from the major residential development who’s name escapes me at the moment, in Secaucus to the Junction that would probably become obsolete as people would drive on the local roads to the station.
The best case scenario of major parking at the junction would be more traffic on the turnpike and local roads and a net increase of VMT for the region. The worst case scenario is that its the beginning of creating a Metropark for the Meadowlands.
Anyone knows what happened to the ambitious Transit Village project in Secaucus??
I was at the scoping sessions for building the structure in the 1980’s. Not only did many people not want parking there, but even the town residents did not want a proposed extension of the Meadowlands Parkway from Route 17 at Paterson Plank Road with a new bridge across the Hackensack River and into the proposed complex. Which was fought in its entirety by environmentalists. Once it did open, I did not see any of the built space for vendors to rent get used. I heard there was a plan to build another Parking Garage in Wayne, New Jersey; Just like in Ramsey, New Jersey. I heard that the attendance there is so bad, That the top floors of the structure was rented to a car dealership looking for space; I guess that they were hoping to get the New York State Thruway crowd, except Harriman Train Station’s Parking lot got bigger.
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1 Parking at Secaucus station will attract many to use it in peak when trains are already packed. To solve this NJT would have to provide more capacity that it does not have.
2. The site will encourage many transit riders to drive many miles on already overcrowded highways.
3. Ramsey / Rte 17 station is doing very well, with ridership growing rapidly. More stations like it are needed in local areas, but outside villages.
4. At Secaucus the parking should be limited to those using it in the off peak and for reverse trips only. this can be accomplished by a joint ticketing of train ride and parking that is so high in peak direction and peak time that it will not be used much and so reasonable in the off peak and reverse that it can be a boon to intra NJ travel.
Jeff, did you just propose congestion pricing for Secaucus Parking? While I like the idea, I somehow doubt we’d find many folks willing to run/construct that lot without there being more of a transit village in the area.
[…] Transit, which raised fares in June and announced all-time ridership records last week, also plans improvements. In addition to already implemented improvements like the doubling of […]
“About 80% of NJ Transit rail trips originated or terminated at New York Penn Station…”
No, that is not correct. Details here: http://www.nj-arp.org/blog/2007/12/njts-80-versus-58/
[…] In part because of these efforts, NJ Transit’s ridership has soared in recent years, reaching record levels in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008. A TSTC report found that more than 10 percent of New […]
There isn’t nearly enough daily weekday parking at any of the stations I need to travel from, particularly if I need to get on a morning train. The South Orange and Millburn lots are packed or permit only till noon or one and I don’t feel safe in Orange after dark. I don’t travel to NYC every day so a parking permit isn’t an option, which means I have to struggle to find a daily spot. A difficult task which usually ends with a drive into the city. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven past the Secaucus station wishing it had parking on my way through the Lincoln tunnel. Which creates more traffic and more pollution, driving to Secaucus or driving all the way into Manhattan? (Not to mention driving and parking in NYC is nearly 5 times the cost for this already over burdened tax payer)