An independent company that operates nearly all public transportation to Jersey City’s West Side abruptly decreased its services over the weekend, creating a transit nightmare for residents who rely on the bus to get Downtown.
The No. 31 bus line from Danforth Avenue to Newport Mall is now running on a modified Sunday schedule, and, according to the company’s website, its other three bus routes are also running on modified schedules.
A&C Bus Corp., which operates the buses through an agreement with NJ Transit, cited financial challenges when explaining the cuts in service, elected officials said.
NJ Transit has not shared CARES Act funding with A&C, they said. However, the state agency received $1.4 billion from the federal government in pandemic relief, they added.
A&C Bus Corp. declined to comment for this story.
“NJ Transit has supported and continues to support the private carriers' efforts to obtain emergency relief funding from Congress,” said NJ Transit Senior Public Information Officer Lisa Torbic. “We have written a letter of support to our federal delegation and briefed them on this issue, and we continue to work with the trade association that represents the private carriers as Congress debates further aid. Unfortunately, NJ Transit does not have the resources to absorb additional routes.”
The No. 31 bus that started its route at 5:30 a.m. on weekdays is now delayed until 8:30 a.m.
The Nos. 30, 32 and 33, which all run to Journal Square, are also operating on modified schedules, according to the bus company’s website. The 30 starts at Society Hill, the 32 on Danforth Avenue and the 33 on 53rd Street in Bayonne.
From Monday to Saturday, they are all running on a Saturday schedule, it says, which means less frequent buses and shorter hours.
“The 31 Newport mall is the only bus leaving the Newport Mall area to transport me and others back and forth to work, doctors appointments, shopping, visiting family and friends and not to mention the home health aides who have patients,” said rider La-Trenda Ross.
The bus schedule modifications happened on a short notice and without a major public alert, officials said.
The company first told the city the No. 31 route would be cut altogether last Thursday, officials said, but after pushback A&C decided to retain it with a modified Sunday schedule.
This is at least the second time in less than two years that A&C bus riders have seen their service cut. In March 2019, the company eliminated a route that ran from Greenville to Newport mall.
The city launched the low-cost ride share service Via in February, but cannot patch every public transportation issue, said Ward A Councilwoman Denise Ridley.
“There’s only so much we can do to subsidize the bus lines that we are missing,” Ridley said. “It is imperative that my residents in Ward A have access to the rest of the city.”
Sustaining public transportation in every neighborhood is a matter of equity, elected officials emphasized Monday.
“I grew up in the housing authority,” said Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro. “I know what it’s like to struggle to get from job to job to keep the hustle going, to wake up and to find out that your bus line, your only bus line, is going to be gone and you don’t know that until you wait at the bus stop.”
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October 07, 2020 at 02:32AM
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