NeezyDeezy

Would you just give up commuting and take the PATH?

If not, what's the best route, specifically?

zowie

Sorry my friend. The only way to do it without using the train or the ferry is to go all the way up to the GW. That may make a decent weekend ride -- I've done it -- but as a commute it'd be murder, ridiculous number of extra miles, a lot of heavy traffic, a few formidable hills. Using the ferry is not a lot better, you either have to almost as far out of the way or take dangerous Route 7 through the swamps and industrial parks. If you want to get some ride in, you could get a folder and ride to the Path and take it aboard, which might be worth it if you live further out in bklyn, but I could see it not being worth the trouble if you live close to the bridges.

NeezyDeezy

Damn year long lease!

JunkYardBike

Nothing wrong with the train. Ride up to Penn Station and take NJ Transit to Broad Street Station.

gregtheripper

i've seen people bring full size bikes on the PATH before... maybe it was just a weekend/off peak thing? i know NJ Transit only allows full size bikes during off peak times.

JunkYardBike

NeezyDeezy would be traveling outbound in the morning, inbound in the evening (I assume).

https://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servl...=BikeProgramTo

geo8rge

https://www.humanpoweredboats.com/

Bike Newark to Jersey city, Path to WTC, Bike to Brooklyn might be possible for you.

Dahon.Steve

Agreed.

I look at route 7 with great sadness because it was designed for motor traffic ONLY even though the bridge has a pedestrian cross walk. That road is way too dangerous to ride a bicycle.

HOWEVER! The Port Authority recently completed repairs on the Gothals Bridge but they NEVER reopened the bike path! I'm going to start a campaign to open the bike path because crossing it would leave you in Elizabeth which is 2 miles away from Newark!

The OP could ride into Manhattan, take the free ferrry to Staten Island, ride over the Gothals bridge and into Newark. His entire trip would be free.

BigMacFU

verrazano doesn't have an mup does it?

Laika

no, it doesn't. it's opened to bikes a couple of times a year and to foot traffic for the marathon, but it was designed without any sort of permanent facilities. thanks bunches, robert moses!

Scorer75

Send a message to a user named Tim Haan.

He rides from Brooklyn to Downtown Manhattan and takes a train from there to Jersey. He says it's not a bad commute and at least he still gets to ride.

timmhaan

hey, NeezyDeezy - as scorer mentioned i also have the same commute.

i can't tell you how many times i've poured over maps, agonized about the trains, ferries, etc. to come up with a way to bike commute.

from what i've seen, the roads around newark are not friendly places. tons of trucks and high volumes of traffic. it would be a miserable commute at best.

i got a folding bike with the idea that i would take it on the PATH train and into my office in Newark. however, at 30lbs the bike was annoying to hoist around everyday. i found a good place to park, however, so i just ride to the world trade center area, lock up, and take the path in.

the total ride from WTC to my apartment is about 5-6 miles each way. i wish it were longer, but on those days when you just want to get home it's really nice. plus, i can avoid taking the NYC subway, so i'm saving a little money too.

good luck and let us know what you end up deciding.

zowie

[QUOTE=Dahon.Steve]

I look at route 7 with great sadness because it was designed for motor traffic ONLY even though the bridge has a pedestrian cross walk. That road is way too dangerous to ride a bicycle.

[QUOTE]

It's especially sad because a lot of the road is excessively wide. It's got great potential for having a bike path. But without one it's something only to be ridden in emergencies.

It'd also be quite useful, but I'd guess quite costly, to have be a bike/ped lane on the part of route 3 that goes through the Meadowlands betw Rutherford to Secaucus. They don't have to do the whole thing, just through the swamp and over the Hackensack river. There are plenty bikeable roads to get to lots of points on either side of the swamp, but there's no decent way across it short of going all the way up to Hackensack/Teneck/Bogota, or even further north for roads with less noxious traffic and fumes. AFAIK it is legal to ride on Rt 3 and a couple times I've seen cyclists on it -- walking their bikes along the tiny edge looking terrified. I'd ride on 7 if I couldn't avoid it, but never ever ever on 3.

The hundreds of thousands (maybe a million?) people in the densely populated and traffic-clogged cities and towns of Essex and lower Passaic counties have no reasonable unmotorized access to J.C., Hoboken, their ferries, their direct PATH link to midtown, the new Secaucus train hub, even though they are 6-12 car miles away (excellent biking distance), and on down to Bayonne and the bridge to S.I.

I am now, after formerly being a long-time commuter from Bklyn, 10-11 car miles from work in Manhattan, but the shortest all-bikable route for me is 24 miles, some of them quite unpleasant. This is a dumb situation, but no doubt would cost many millions to fix.

NeezyDeezy

just to follow up I turned down the job offer in newark

and yes, a small part of my consideration was the commute

timmhaan

well, i wouldn't consider it a small part at all. i've been going out to newark for over 5 years now. anywhere from 1 to 1.5 hours each direction adds up to a large chunk of your life. if i look for another job, the commute will be a huge part of the decision.

splytz1

I've taken my bike on the PATH before, but it was a reverse commute, NY --> NJ. It was, however, during peak hours, and no one ever said anything.

Dahon.Steve

[QUOTE=zowie]The Hackensack river can be crossed by bridge but it would have to be far north, Old Bridge is safe and no traffic. It's actually a wooden bridge made during the Revolutionary war and still working!

If you see a cyclist riding on route 3, they must be REAL lost or crazy because that road is practically restricted for motor use.

As I said before, we need to start a campaign on getting that pedestrian walk way on the Gothals bridge open.