Back to Commuting to Work in NYC
by Mary Ellen Dawkins
Although many people are still working from home, there is an increasing number of New Jersey residents who have resumed the commute into Manhattan and other NYC locations. My husband works in midtown and started back to the office in May, though many days he might be the only person there. He has been commuting Monday-Thursday and then working from home on Fridays.
Being a just-in-time kind of person, he drives to/from the train station each day. He 
has had the pick of parking spots since he resumed commuting. This has remained true even now that Durrell Road has been closed due to the work on the bridge there.
Pre-pandemic, many of our neighbors relied on jitneys to get to the trains. They are slowly but surely resuming their schedules. Here is the skinny on some local jitney services that will get you to the train on time!
The Township of Maplewood resumed jitney service in September – they started with five routes but had to reduce to three because of low ridership. You can find the routes here. There is also lower, pro-rated parking rates if you need to get a parking permit.
South Orange also announced this week it was announced that its Jitney Service will resume operations on Monday November 15, also with fewer routes. You can find the details here, and the permits from 2020 will be honored through August 2022. You can also pay for rides with $2.00 exact change.
I’m not as familiar with West Orange Jitneys but I do see them – it seems like they resumed service last summer. West Orange jitneys go to South Orange, Mountain, Orange and/or Brick Church stations. There is also a Facebook group and you can find a real time tracking app and the schedules here.