Hawaiitiki wrote:F40 wrote:trainzrok wrote:Looks to me like it would defeat the purpose of Secaucus Jct. It's not like the transfer is THAT painful. God forbid someone has to get out of there seat and walk to the upper level.
With a mega-budget project such as the Gateway, wouldn't it be nice to upgrade the commuter experience for more passengers as well, instead of leaving them stuck in the early 2000's era of (transferring) commuting for the forseeable future because if this doesn't, what will? There are many folks on the Bergen lines who ask why isn't there a direct train into NYP.
I'd say that it is a fair estimate that about 40% of Main/Bergen/PJ/PVL riders STAY on the train past Secaucus. What about all of them if this loop comes to pass? The amount of people commuting to Hoboken and Jersey City is increasing every year. The number of folks commuting to the city is flat.
Having ridden these trains regularly during the non-peak and peak hours, I think 40% is a bit optimistic. Some of these may be taking the ferry or PATH to Lower Manhattan. Frequently, off-peak trains out of Hoboken often leave with few people, with most getting on at SEC. In any case, the loops will be there as a diverging route while trains can still physically be routed to HOB. The kinks will need to be worked out but they can devise some sort of scheduling where every other train goes directly to NY as an example.
NJT should be funding sending NJ residents into NJ employment centers. Let the feds, NY, or the PA pay for this loop, certainly not NJ/NJT.
In a perfect world, that would be true but sadly that is not because you look at where the demand is. Just by looking at the schedules, they favor those going into NYC many more hours of the day than those taking intra-state connections. They do not even guarantee connections which are not published in the timetable (although sometimes they do try) and most if not all of them are to/from NY. NJT by catering to the NYC crowd leaves NJ commuters on the back seat. This has been discussed before at length why there is not much incentive for businesses to open in other parts of the state (besides Hoboken and Newark) because the schedules simply are too difficult to work out (imagine having to schedule yourself tightly for 1 or 2 trains before waiting 45 minutes to an hour for the next one). Most people would rather drive in that case. In addition, having commuted to Hoboken in the past, those going
toward Hoboken Terminal to catch a train or ferry is sizeably greater than those leaving. I do agree with you that NY should pay for the loop, though in NJT's current mantra, I would not be surprised if they pitch in to cater to their riders as well.