The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) is the federally authorized Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the 13‐county northern New Jersey region. Each urbanized region of the country is required to establish an MPO in order to qualify for the receipt of federal transportation funding. The NJTPA serves a region of 6.5 million people, one of the largest MPO regions in the country. The NJTPA evaluates and approves proposed transportation improvement projects. It also provides a forum for cooperative transportation planning efforts, sponsors transportation and planning studies, assists county and city planning agencies and monitors the region's compliance with national air quality goals. The 20‐member NJTPA Board of Trustees is composed of local elected officials from each of the region’s 13 counties and from the region’s two largest cities, Newark and Jersey City. It also includes representatives of state agencies and the Governor’s office. NJTPA’s host agency is the New Jersey Institute of Technology. More information about the NJTPA is available at www.njtpa.org. This report has been prepared by the NJTPA with financing by the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The NJTPA is solely responsible for its contents. 2 Final Report Table of Contents Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................... 1 Data Collection Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 1 SECTION 1: Existing Non-Jitney Public Transportation Services in Hudson County ......................... 2 Rail Transit Services .................................................................................................................................. 2 Fixed Route Bus Transit Services ............................................................................................................. 4 NJ Transit ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 Bergenline/Palisade/Newark Avenues Corridor ..................................................................................................... 7 JFK Boulevard West Corridor ................................................................................................................................ 7 JFK Boulevard East Corridor ................................................................................................................................. 7 River Road Corridor ............................................................................................................................................... 8 New York City-Paterson Corridors ......................................................................................................................... 8 Union City - 30th/31st Streets Corridor .................................................................................................................. 8 Other Operators ..................................................................................................................................................... 9 Ferry Operators .................................................................................................................................................... 11 NJ Transit Access Link ............................................................................................................................ 11 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 11 SECTION 2: Hudson County Jitney Network Operations ..................................................................... 12 Jitney Network ......................................................................................................................................... 14 Routes and Corridors .............................................................................................................................. 15 Bergenline Avenue Corridor ................................................................................................................................. 16 JFK Boulevard Corridor ........................................................................................................................................ 20 Boulevard East Corridor ....................................................................................................................................... 22 River Road Corridor ............................................................................................................................................. 24 New York-Paterson Routes .................................................................................................................................. 26 Discontinued or Limited Routes ........................................................................................................................... 28 Operators ................................................................................................................................................. 30 Ownership and Operating Structures ...................................................................................................... 33 Termini, Passenger Pick-up Locations and Layovers ............................................................................. 34 Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) ..................................................................................................................... 34 Journal Square Transportation Center ................................................................................................................. 36 George Washington Bridge Bus Station (GWBBS) .............................................................................................. 37 Nungessers .......................................................................................................................................................... 38 Levels of Service ..................................................................................................................................... 39 Ridership Estimates ................................................................................................................................. 39 SECTION 3: Jitney Network Impacts on the Transit System ................................................................ 42 Supply/Availability of Bus Service ........................................................................................................... 42 Summary .............................................................................................................................................................. 42 North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority i Hudson County Jitney Study Final Report Operating Standards ............................................................................................................................... 43 Safety Concerns ...................................................................................................................................... 43 Jitney Service Impacts on Fixed Route Bus Operations ......................................................................... 45 Service Frequency and Span of Service .............................................................................................................. 45 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Issues ...................................................................................................... 46 Fare Issues .......................................................................................................................................................... 46 Historical Impacts on NJ Transit Bus Operations .................................................................................... 48 Removal of Rider Restrictions .............................................................................................................................. 48 NJ Transit Bergenline/Palisade/Newark Avenues Corridor Historical Trends ...................................................... 49 Other Impacts....................................................................................................................................................... 50 Impacts on Other Transit Operators ........................................................................................................ 51 Replacement of Other Fixed Route Operators with NJ Transit Services .............................................................. 51 NJ Transit Rail Services and PATH Impacts ........................................................................................................ 51 Summary .............................................................................................................................................................. 51 SECTION 4: Regulatory Framework Provisions Impacting Jitney Service ......................................... 53 Federal Regulation .................................................................................................................................