Boxcar adds route to fill gaps as DeCamp's North Jersey commuter bus service ends
Lawmakers and other companies are looking for ways to help the faithful straphangers of New Jersey's oldest private bus company, who are scrambling to find alternative service ahead of DeCamp's last day of commuter bus service.
Boxcar, a tech company that coordinates private commuter bus service to New York City from the New Jersey suburbs, announced Thursday that it would offer a new modified route to service DeCamp's former Routes 33 and 66 through the Caldwells, Montclair, West Orange and other towns starting April 10.
DeCamp announced that its last day of commuter bus service will be April 7 on Routes 33, 66/66R, 44, 99, 88, 32 and 100, a decision it said was made with a "heavy heart" and due to the limited post-pandemic return of ridership, which on average is 20% of the number of riders it had before 2020. The six-generation company, which is 153 years old and started out using stagecoaches, will still operate charter and shuttle services.
Helping stranded commuters
Boxcar, a 6-year-old Chatham-based company, partners with private bus carriers to provide commuter bus service in Morris, Union, Somerset and Bergen counties. Customers use the Boxcar app to reserve seats and parking spots and to track bus movements in real time.
Joe Colangelo, who founded Boxcar, said he wanted to help people get to work when they might otherwise be stranded. He said flexibility in this post-pandemic world is key, as commuter ridership trends have changed, with more people working from home at the start and end of the week and returning to the office midweek more than on other days.
"This is an opportunity for us to leverage our flexibility," Colangelo said, adding that the company tweaks routes or adds and decreases service depending on the needs of the customer base. "If we listen to our riders' needs, we can probably provide something that’s worlds more suited to their commute than what they currently have."
20 trips, mornings and evening
Boxcar will provide 10 trips on weekday mornings from 5:20 to 10 a.m. and 10 trips on weekday evenings from 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. The first week of Boxcar's service, which will be called the Essex Express, will be at a discounted rate, and it then will go up to $13.49 a trip, or $8.99 for members.
Colangelo said about 90% of Boxcar's customers are members, who also receive other perks, like the ability to cancel a ticket 15 minutes before departure and get a free ride on their birthday and better parking.
Bloomfield officials also announced they will add a third shuttle bus route, starting April 10, that will ferry commuters to and from the Allwood Avenue Park & Ride in Clifton.
Relief fund for private bus carriers
Meanwhile, state Sen. Richard Codey proposed introducing legislation Thursday that would create a $60 million relief fund for private bus carriers as they try to recover ridership lost during the pandemic.
“DeCamp is quite possibly the first domino to fall, and we cannot expect NJ Transit or anyone else to fill this void. While ridership is obviously down from pre-pandemic levels, we can expect some rebound, just as we expect an eventual rebound in commercial real estate," Codey said in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, whose district includes areas affected by DeCamp's service termination, said this is an issue her office is closely monitoring, and she penned a letter to NJ Transit to "use all of the tools at its disposal" to help fill the service gaps.
'Assessing the impacts'
NJ Transit has said it is "assessing the impacts" of DeCamp's service termination and identifying "alternatives already available."
Dan Rodriguez, president of the Bus Association of New Jersey, said the members of his organization are all still feeling the effects of COVID.
"The Bus Association members take pride in providing needed and important transportation to the citizens of NJ – but as businesses we simply cannot continue to do so if it is not viable to do so," Rodriguez said. "There are ways to continue to do so in partnership with NJ Transit and the state and hope that we can have discussions on that front."
Zoe Baldwin, of the Fund NJ Transit Coalition, a group of business, environmental and community leaders pushing to improve funding mechanisms for the agency, said if NJ Transit had more predictable funding, it would be better equipped to step in when circumstances like this arise.
“This cancellation is an unfortunate reminder of how fragile our transit system is,” she said. "This is yet another instance that highlights our need to secure dedicated, recurring funding for NJ Transit operations so they’re able to respond to emergent issues and proactively identify vulnerable transit routes and determine how to best support existing service or replace service when needed before it becomes an emergency.”
Private carriers asked NJ Transit in 2020 to share some of the federal COVID aid it received to prevent them from going out of business, saying they were owed some portion because the routes they cover for NJ Transit are used in federal formulas to help determine how much the agency receives in federal aid.
At the time, NJ Transit said the private carriers "have been compensated beyond the value of revenue miles through equipment, maintenance and other subsidies provided by NJ Transit."
For more information about Boxcar's services, visit boxcar.com or download its app.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Boxcar adds route as DeCamp's North Jersey commuter bus service ends