Hoboken Access to Manhattan

This morning I read an article that mentioned that the EL quit the ferry business in 1967. After that, how did commuters on the Hoboken division reach downtown until ferry service started again? Was it PATH trains or buses exclusively?

IIRC the only access to Manhattan from DL&W Hoboken terminal was via PATH until NY Waterways resumed ferry service in circa 1989. I'm sure there was also bus service, but not sure if direct one seat ride to Manhattan.

Tadman wrote:This morning I read an article that mentioned that the EL quit the ferry business in 1967. After that, how did commuters on the Hoboken division reach downtown until ferry service started again? Was it PATH trains or buses exclusively?

I was on the last ferry in 1967. The boat was met by the Hoboken High School band, TV coverage, and many spectators. I took PATH to Journal Square and thence bus to my home in Bayonne. I don't think there was any direct bus to NYC.

I have an idea there was a bus route one hundred and something between the Hoboken Terminal and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, but since I never considered using it I never looked into the details. If anybody has an EL public timetable from that period it may have some information about Hoboken connections.

I believe when the ferry service ended in 1967, is when they cut back track one and added the 2nd PATH entrance that is now kinda where track one ends.

ExCon90 wrote:I have an idea there was a bus route one hundred and something between the Hoboken Terminal and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, but since I never considered using it I never looked into the details. If anybody has an EL public timetable from that period it may have some information about Hoboken connections.

NJT's 126 bus runs between Hoboken and PABT - I'd imagine some sort of incarnation of it was available once upon a time.

Yes there was Public Service bus service, No. 63, between Hoboken Terminal and PABT. It was shown in all the Erie Lackawanna suburban folders too. [See below] The running time was given as twenty minutes but I'm sure that varied. I've always wished that I rode it but I never did. As I recall it used to load right opposite the north-facing terminal doors in the open area where the ferries used to load vehicles, instead of further west in the local bus station area. I could be wrong about that though. It's been a while! However, because of the traffic conditions getting in or out of Manhattan and the reliability of PATH service I don't think many people took the bus.

This is from the April 24, 1966 Greenwood Lake-Boonton Line schedule:



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In 1970-73, I commuted via PATH & the EL. When PATH employees went on strike in 1972 or 1973 (can't remember), I took the bus from PABT to Hoboken and then train #59 to Mahwah. The bus, of course, was very crowded, but, no doubt, a number of commuters chose to drive or take buses. To accommodate commuters, the EL delayed the departure of train #59 from 5:42 p.m. to about 6:00 p.m., and sent it via the Main Line instead of the Bergen County Line. Since the first westbound stop was Ho-Ho-Kus, it mattered not if the train went via the Main Line or BC Line.

Very interesting. I have a question but since I don't want to get this thread locked I'll ask you privately.