Category: irl

New Jersey Transit is a weird bus network with its main draw for weirdness coming from its fare system. What the hell is an override, and why are buses using zonal fares rather than a flat one like any sensible bus network?! In fact, this bus trip was MORE expensive than a NJT Rail ticket between Hoboken and Newark Broad(!!!). Why? Because it went to the PABT. Anyways, here’s the 126: one of Hoboken’s local routes that crosses into NY via the Lincoln Tunnel.

So, the bus was crowded and, surprisingly, was of the inaccessible variety (high-floor boarding?! In 2025?!). There weren’t any fareboxes either, that I noticed, so all tickets and fares had to be handed to the driver directly. Did the driver even check the ticket? Probably not. Do they have a way of memorizing who’s going where? Also, probably not. At least, I wouldn’t count on it for a busy route like the 126. With that aside, it’s a straight shot from here to the Lincoln Tunnel. About 2.2 miles down the streets of Hoboken and (barely) Weehawken. Plenty of people both got on and off, suggesting it’s used for local travel. As for land use around the route, it’s actually pretty decent with mixed-use buildings! After crawling the streets of Hoboken for a decent bit, we enter Weehawken for a short period, and hop on the highway into the Lincoln Tunnel, pick up speed a little bit (even though we were still subjected to the tail end of Manhattan rush hour traffic), and soon enough we were weaving into the PABT.

The good: It’s very frequent! During daytime hours, it shows up once about every 8-10 minutes. Even on weekends, it manages to maintain frequencies, at worst, of half-hourly. It also serves places people want to go in Hoboken and Midtown!

The bad: Why the hell does it cost $4 and change to ride this through the Lincoln Tunnel? What the hell is an override fare? And lastly, it doesn’t run overnight.

Nearby points of interest: The area it runs through is very walkable inherently. It’s one of the closest routes to the Hoboken Historical Museum, as well as the Stevens Institute of Technology. It can also get you close to Lincoln Harbor. However, I’d suggest asking Avery the Cuban-American for more insight as he knows a lot more about the area than I do.

Overall though, it’s not a bad route, and it’s a powerhouse (& maybe one of the most-used NJT routes?) that serves a lot of people in relatively little mileage. However, WHAT THE HELL IS AN OVERRIDE?! It’d be better if they used low-floor buses with better accessibility though (does NJT not know what a low-floor bus is?)

Rating: 8.5/10

Okay, so many rail terminals oftentimes aren’t located on prime waterfront real estate. Boston’s two termini are on the edges of downtown, New Haven is in an industrial wasteland, and New York’s Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal are both in the heart of Midtown. And, for that matter, LI City and Atlantic Terminal are both in the hearts of lesser city centers (though not really a “city center” in practice), being LI City in the case of, well, LI City, and a neighborhood usually aptly referred to as “Downtown Brooklyn” in the case of Atlantic Terminal. However, there IS one major rail terminal in the metropolitan area that IS on prime waterfront property, and it’s actually quite beautiful. Meet: Hoboken Terminal.

Starting off in the PATH section, the station is pretty nice-looking, with green poles and what looks like vaulted ceilings to an untrained eye. While the platforms don’t have much in the way of amenities, you DO have countdown clocks at least. Outside fare control, you also have ticketing machines for PATH. Neat! Generally, a little barren but for a terminal, you probably don’t need much when you can just wait on the train.

Moving on up to the NJT Rail and bus section, and my GOD. This. Is. BEAUTIFUL!!! Easily among the most beautiful rail terminals, if not THE single most beautiful rail terminal I’ve ever seen, so far, in my personal opinions. Now, I’m not saying Grand Central is bad. It really isn’t, and I can see why many people say that’s the most beautiful rail terminal (in the country). However, I personally think the waterfront scenery gives Hoboken the edge over Grand Central here.

The platforms are unfortunately low-level, however you DO have a fully functional departure board listing every departure to Waldwick, Mt. Olive, Port Jervis, Gladstone, among other places. There’s wastebaskets, ticketing machines, a ticket OFFICE and waiting room (which is rather beautiful!), a ferry dock with connections across the Hudson, and even a Dunks! There were also restrooms in the waiting area, however I didn’t take a look. Overall, this really isn’t bad!

Exiting out of the station one way, there’s access to the bus terminal. It’s okay, I guess. Nothing special. But, adjacent to the station is Pier A Park. You can get a view of the station building and the signage reading “LACKAWANNA” overlooking the river. And, holy SHIT, the views of NYC are unmatched. Just take a look.

The HBLR station is pretty standard as well. You have ticket readers on the platform, benches, two tracks, inaccurate countdown clocks, the usual affair. There was also a ticketing machine here as well as a nice view of lower Manhattan. Not bad! In terms of land use nearby, it’s actually REALLY GOOD as well. I mean, Hoboken in general (& also neighboring Jersey City) are very good with making roads safer and following through on Vision Zero initiatives and making the bike lanes they implement actually be safe to use. (including various tactics to QUITE LITERAQLLY HAVE ZERO TRAFFIC DEATHS IN 8 YEARS including higher visibility crosswalks, curb extensions, daylighting methods, lowering speed limits, among others)

The good: It’s BEAUTIFUL. Holy SHIT, this is easily among the most beautiful stations I’ve ever seen. There’s also a waiting room, a rather scenic view of Manhattan, a Dunks(!), ferry connections, a bus terminal, among others. There’s also a staffed ticket office and machines, which is nice. Furthermore, the sheer amount of traffic that comes through here makes it a railfan’s paradise as well.

The bad: Low level boarding. That’s it. That’s literally it. Give it a high level platform makeover and it’ll be a 10/10 station.

Nearby points of interest: Newport is a relatively short walk from here, though the mall itself isn’t that close by. A couple of nearby piers got converted to parks, and if you’re into transit history, you can even see old trolley tracks outside on Hudson Place. If you’re into that stuff, I suggest reading up about the North Hudson Co. Railway. I was also told by Avery (the Cuban-American – you probably see him in the comments of some transit videos sharing some relevant and cool info). There’s also a waterfront walkway, built as part of a state-mandated master plan, to link local communities with a park and provide waterfront access. Neat!

Transit connections:
NJT Rail (Montclair-Boonton, Morristown, Gladstone, Main & Bergen Co., Raritan Valley)
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail
Metro-North (Pascack Valley, Port Jervis)
PATH (Hoboken-WTC, Hoboken-33rd St.)
NJT bus (22, 23, 85, 87, 89, 126)

Overall, it’s one of the best stations I’ve ever been to, and is a 10/10 in scenery. However, the fact it doesn’t have level boarding is LITERALLY THE ONE THING KEEPING ME FROM GIVING THIS A 10/10 BLOODY HELL. However, I do recommend, even if to just appreciate how beautiful a station it is.

Rating: 9.75/10

WELCOME TO BEAUTIFUL LONG ISLAND CITY!- wait, waht? it’s just a railyard? Ugh…..duty calls, I guess.

Long Island City is located in the heart of, well, Long Island City in Queens, and is a stone’s throw from the #7 subway line (at Vernon/Jackson). There’s also a ferry connection at the Hunters Point South ferry terminal. However, I am not going to cover that on this blog (presently). As for the station itself, however, it is essentially a bunch of platforms built in a rail yard. In fact, platforms B and C (serving tracks 6-9) aren’t in regular use and if they ARE used, ARE IN THE SECURE AREA OF THE YARD. I REPEAT – IF YOUR TRAIN IS BOARDING ON TRACKS 6, 7, 8, OR 9, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SECURITY ESCORT. Anyways, the ticketing machines broke when Honaj tried using them to buy the LIC-Jamaica offpeak CityTicket. There’s not really any amenities here otherwise, and I don’t think there’s even any benches. There was a wastebasket though! Now, Honaj and I were here to buy a ticket, so where did the train board? Well…..IT BOARDED FROM THE SECURE AREA!!! WOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! And, yes, security was watching. This was a moment of all time. Meanwhile, amid all this, the platform couldn’t even fit all the cars (only the last two cars platformed). Lovely!

It turns out, though, the reason this station even exists to begin with when Penn Station exists, is this was the original terminus of the LIRR mainline between here and Greenport, and the Montauk Branch to Montauk. However, while the East River Tunnels opened in the early 1900s, the LIRR still continued to operate out of here, albeit in a limited manner.

The good: It exists, I guess. It serves LI City giving a one-seat ride towards Port Jeff, Oyster Bay, and …Patchogue??? It’s also an accessible station (can’t say the same about Hunterspoint Ave., however…) and has water transportation connections.

The bad: UNLESS YOU HAVE ACCESSIBILITY NEEDS, WHY WOULD YOU USE THIS OVER HUNTERSPOINT AVENUE OR PENN STATION?! JUST, WHY?! THE TRAINS CRAWL SO SLOWLY THAT IT ALLOWS FOR THE ONLY SMOKE BREAK I KNOW OF ON A COMMUTER RAILROAD, WHAT WENT WRONG?! I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE GRADE CROSSING – YES IT MAKES FOR COOL PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AND WHILE THE LIRR ENGIS ARE SCARED TO USE THE HORN I DON’T CARE. BUT LIKE, WHY?! THE TICKET MACHINES BROKE OR DON’T EXIST. TRACKS 6, 7, 8, AND 9 ARE IN SECURE SECTIONS OF THE YARD SO GOOD LUCK BOARDING IF IT ISN’T UNLOCKED. THE TRAINS GO ALMOST AS SLOW AS THE GREEN LINE HERITAGE RAILWAY. AND THEY COULD ALSO USE F*CKING ELECTRICS THROUGH HERE TOO TO GIVE THIS PLACE MORE FREQUENT SERVICE – SEND HEMPSTEAD LINE TRAINS HERE OR SMTH IDK. HELL, YOU CAN PROBABLY WALK FASTER THAN THE DAMN TRAIN!

Nearby points of interest: There’s a bagel shop (Bricktown Bagels & Cafe) nearby! There’s also a ventilation shaft for the Lincoln Tunnel, various offices and apartment buildings, and also some skyscrapers (but none as iconic as those in Manhattan).

Transit connections:
LIRR (Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Montauk)
MTA bus (Q103)

Overall, why? Just, why? Run more trains, run offpeak trains, and Jesus knows what they were thinking as time has NOT treated this place well.

Rating: 3/10

Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the heart of the Bronx, at 161st St. & River Avenue. It’s home to a rather shitty baseball team, but more importantly is the home to an MLS team – New York City FC. The stadium, in its two incarnations, is overall pretty timeless and has hosted many a baseball game (& in more recent years, at least since the 2015 MLS season, soccer too). Either way, setting aside my anti-Yankees and pro-NYCFC biases, I do have to acknowledge the fact that this stadium is a pretty big deal in NYC – enough so to where it had to be replaced for the 2009 baseball season with what exists presently. That aside, it’s not going to be the home of NYCFC forever – that will be covered when I cover Willett Point on the LIRR and the 7 line. With that said…

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS IMPORTANT STADIUM HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING I WRITE ABOUT?! Well, I’ll tell you what: there’s a subway station here!

So, the station is located right outside the stadium, and there’s a connection between the elevated ex-IRT platform (the #4 line), and the underground ex-IND platforms (the B and D lines – not an express station as this station predates the stadium). There’s elevators and stairs connecting each set of platforms, a station agent in the mezzanines, an NYPD presence (no MTA PD??? Weird.), OMNY machines, and the usual countdown clocks and benches and wahtnot. The IND mosaic even has it listed as “161ST ST-RIVER AVE”. Neat! I will admit though, architecturally, Yankee Stadium actually looks pretty beautiful and apparently it’s supposed to resemble the old stadium quite a bit. As for bus connections, there’s a few on 161st St. in front of the stadium. Overall though, it’s not a terrible station.

The good: It’s accessible and it serves the stadium that hosts a rather decent MLS team (presently). There’s also adequate service here to handle the game-day crowds, between both the B/D lines and the #4 elevated. Furthermore, there’s also some green spaces to add to the variety of land uses.

The bad: I can’t think of too much that’s bad – I’m more surprised there isn’t a direct entrance from Yankee Stadium into the subway itself.

Nearby points of interest: A few parks, but more importantly, NYCFC’s home stadium (Yankee Stadium)! Also, the Bronx’s borough hall is nearby.

Transit connections:
Lexington Ave. (Line #4)
6th Ave. (Lines B, D)
MTA bus (Bx6, Bx6-SBS, Bx13 at 161st & River, Bx1, Bx2 at 161st & Grand Concourse)

Overall, it’s not a terrible station. And, in fact, the stadium itself looks quite beautiful on the outside. Though, there was a lot of construction, all things considered.

Rating: 7/10

…

…

…what? Did you really expect me to heavily slander the baseball team that plays here as well? Oh please…I’m saving that for another blog entry. Now, go. Go away. Get outta here!!!

The Rockaways is a peninsula located at the southern end of Queens, and is rather isolated from the rest of the city. It also happens to be pretty well-known as a summer getaway within NYC, along with the likes of Coney Island and Brighton Beach. Now, with all that in mind…

WHAT THE HELL DOES ANYTHING ABOUT A BEACH GETAWAY DESTINATION HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING I WRITE ABOUT HERE?! Well, I’ll tell you what: there’s a wholeass subway (ex-LIRR) line here! And, with that, here’s the first of several (on this blog, chronologically as of me writing this) entries: Beach 25th St.-Wavecrest.

So, Beach 25th. It’s an elevated station – albeit on a concrete viaduct (ala 33rd/40th/46th on the 7 line). Is it accessible? Not really. It’s also one of the least-used stations on the system (however not THE least-used, the awards go to Beach 105th and Broad Channel). The platforms have countdown clocks, wastebaskets, benches, the usual amenities. Street level surprisingly doesn’t have bus connections within a block or two of the station – but rather within a 10-12 minute walk. So, this is one of the rare stations on the system WITHOUT a direct bus connection. As for land use around here, it’s mostly residential with a Chinese restaurant, liquor store, and convenience store at the station entrance. If you walk a little ways south, though, you’ll reach the Atlantic Ocean and apartment complexes. (I did not do this as I was planning to meet up with Honaj). There’s also a couple of parks, a high school, a couple of synagogues, a couple of churches, but by and large the area is residential. It’s also an okay place to railfan the A line.

The good: It serves the local neighborhood, and the walkshed is mostly residential! And, the beach isn’t TOO far away

The bad: It’s not accessible. No bus connections(!!!). One of the countdown clocks doesn’t seem to work correctly, either.

Nearby points of interest: The beach, but that’s a bit of a ways away and there’s some stops considerably closer. There’s also some churches and synagogues, a high school, and some parks.

Transit connections:
8th Ave. (Line A)

Overall, it’s not a bad station. The vibes are a tad weird, but it’s not too terrible a station for what it is. But, for beach access, better stops exist.

Rating: 6/10

So, after a quick hop on the L line from Arrott to Frankford, Honaj (& Ranya – go check out her blog!) and I ended up at Frankford’s busway. So, why the hell am I doing a blog entry about a bus that goes all the way out to the city line and almost into Bensalem Township (but doesn’t leave Philly)? Well, I’ll tell you why: much like the 59, it uses trolleybuses instead of normal buses!

Wait, what’s this? EXPRESS?! You mean to tell me they put catenary on I-95?!

…no, not quite. While that would be quite funny to see a trolleybus on overhead wires running down I-95 at the legal max speed (55 miles an hour), that isn’t what’s happening here. Allow me to explain.

There’s actually two ways a bus can run “express”, so to say. The first is the obvious answer: use the damn highway. RIPTA does this for a number of routes that run express for at least part of the run. The MBTA does this for routes like the 111, the Silver Line, the 501/504/505, the 354, among others. CTtransit does this mainly with their commuter coach routes (in the 900s), but some (such as the 201) do have limited highway running. And, lastly, the MTA does this with their commuter buses and things like the M60-SBS and Q70-SBS to get in/out of LaGuardia Airport. The other way…….is to just use the inner lanes of traffic. I guess this is more “limited stop” than a true express, if anything. RIPTA’s QX and 24L are the only other examples I can think of, where in parts of it, it’s a local route on paper, but in practice it makes zero stops. The 66 does this for its “express” runs.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, how the hell do trolleybuses overtake each other then?! That’s literally one of the biggest downsides of trolleybuses, is that they can’t overtake one another. Well, the Philadelphia Transportation Corporation (SEPTA’s predecessor) thought about this and did the “well no shit, Sherlock!” solution: just install a second pair of wires in the same direction each way. And thus, for a section of Frankford Ave., you have 4 sets of catenary: one for each lane. Anyways, let’s check out the route itself!

The route itself is largely relatively unremarkable other than the equipment it uses, being a straight shot down Frankford Avenue to either the Gregg St. loop, or the City Line loop on the Philly/Bensalem Township border. Trips heading towards either bus turnaround have to do a weird maneuver to get out of the Frankford TC’s general vicinity, though. Other than that, all is pretty normal. The road is rather stroady, though, but there’s also some degree of density to be had. In fact, some of the areas even seem rather nice at face value. Hell, the closer you get to Bensalem Township, the more suburban things get. I’m not sure how to make of it, though. But, there IS something cool along this route: Pennypack Creek! One of the oldest bridges in the country – and it has overhead catenary for the trolleybuses. Neat! Moving along, Gregg Street is where some runs will short-turn, while others will continue on to City Line Loop. The rest of the way there, however, is largely unremarkable – and gave off increasingly suburban vibes. NIMBY vibes too? Maybe? The fact a trolleybus even runs out here throws the vibe detector off. Either way, we pass a strip mall with a Dunks, what looks like cookie cutter housing, and enter the City Line loop short of the Bensalem Township boundary. And with that, concludes the 2nd of 3 trolleybus routes. (yeah, sorry, I didn’t ride the 75 on this trip)

The good: It’s frequent! (every 7-12 minutes during peak hours, every 15 otherwise, and every half-hour overnights!!!!!!!) Furthermore, it serves some somewhat dense areas, goes all the way to almost Bensalem Township, and isn’t even noticeably loud. Furthermore on top of that, did I mention it runs 24/7? Yeah. It also runs “express” service!

The bad: I…..genuinely don’t have much to say that suggests this is bad.

Nearby points of interest: Housing. A diner. If you’re willing to walk a mile or so, Four Seasons Total Landscaping (if ya know, ya know). Some churches and cemetaries. A golf club. Torresdale’s Regional Rail station, and the Frankford TC.

Overall, it’s not that bad. If anything, dare I suggest it’s possibly even a 10/10 route?! Because, truthfully, this has the makings for a 10/10 route.

Rating: 10/10

Ah, golly, a SEPTA bus route review! Well, Honaj dragged me all the way to the Bells Corner bus loop at Castor & Bustleton Avenues, after taking a ride down the Fox Chase Line (entry on Fox Chase Station coming at some point!), going to a Wawa (THE HOLY LAND), and a quick ride to Castor & Rhawn, and we got off and walked the half-mile to the Bells Corner Loop. Wait a second, what the hell?!

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. DAMN YOU, HONAJ!!!!!!!!!!! WHY WOULD YOU LEAD ME RIGHT INTO A TRAP?! NOT THE GODDAMN TROLLEYBUSES!!!!!!!!!

HONAJ: “TROLLEYBUS! TROLLEYBUS! TROLLEYBUS!!!”
ME: *stares in horror*

*sighs, blinks twice for help*

Okay, okay, I guess I have to answer the call of duty here with these shit buses. Well, rather than being garbage Neoplans, at least we have….let’s see…..New Flyer E40LFRs. Well, maybe New Flyer actually knew what they were doing. The buses…….were largely dead silent, even moreso than RIPTA’s BEBs (which were already pretty much dead silent to begin with!!!), these suckers REALLY took off when given a chain of green lights and negligible requested stops/boardings (which is not too common seemingly given the REALLY, REALLY TIGHT stop spacing on SEPTA – every single block!), and furthermore it……….actually didn’t crawl like absolute dogshite. But, before I continue, I have to review the route itself.

The 59 originates at the Bells Corner bus loop, at Castor & Bustleton Avenues, and is largely a straight shot down Castor Avenue. Running through northeastern Philadelphia, it goes through the Rhawnhurst and Oxford Circle, before negotiating the rather oversized rotary bisected by U.S. Route 1 (Roosevelt Boulevard locally), and going down Oxford Avenue. Ultimately, the route then terminates rather unceremoniously at the Arrott Transit Center, with the interchange to the L (aka the MFL, Market-Frankford Line, or if you’re weird the Blue Line – this blog will be calling it the L as that’s what SEPTA calls it nowadays). Overall, in terms of scenery, there’s really not a lot exciting going on other than Roosevelt Boulevard. In terms of vibes, though these neighborhoods, I get some Boston vibes, some south Providence vibes, but ultimately I really couldn’t pin anything specific down – Philly is kinda its own thing vibe-wise. In terms of headways, it’s about every 20 minutes for much of the day offpeak, with weekend and night service being half hourly to every 40 minutes (it is not a 24 hour route). Overall, not bad!

The good: It serves a rather dense (if not highrise-ridden) neighborhood! The buses themselves, too! (I’ll elaborate soon) The headways are also okay, for weekday service! It’s also got connections to the L via Arrott!

The bad: Weekend headways could be better. The bus loop terminus does seem kinda weird at face value too, but I’ll save rambling on about that for the entry specifically for Bells Corner (whenever that comes out)

Nearby points of interest: Bells Corner has a shopping center nearby, there’s a Wawa, a few schools and churches along the route, a LOT of housing, and a decent amount of local businesses lining both Castor and Oxford Avenues

Overall, not a bad route!!!

Rating: 8/10


Wait, wait, wait just a hot flippin’ moment…
did……did I find a GOOD piece of trolleybus equipment?! You mean to tell me it’s NOT utter and complete dogshit, is pretty much silent, and actually isn’t horrifically slow?! And my life was a lie!!! Or, at the least, my life was all in misguided anger?! IT’S NOT SHIT?! IT’S NOT SHIT! IT’S NOOOOOOOOT SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!!!!!! Y’ALL FOOLED THE PUBLIC AND TOLD THEM TROLLEYBUSES COULDN’T BE GOOD AS THE WAY OF THE FUTURE, MR. STEVE POFTAK!!! YOUR LEADERSHIP LED THE FREAKIN’ MBTA DOWN THE WRONG PIPELINE, WHY WOULD YOU REPLACE SOMETHING THAT WAS PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL AND VERY MUCH NOT GARBAGE WITH SPARKY SPARKY BOOM MACHINES?! WHAT WERE Y’ALL SMOKING?! WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO MISLEAD PUBLIC OPINION AND THE OPINIONS OF EXECS TOWARDS “let’s dismantle them trolleybuses!!!”?! YA KNOW, MAYBE IF YOU NEED AN EXEMPTION TO BUY AMERICA, THAT’S A BAD SIGN, TO PUT IT LIGHTLY! And with that, I am hereby proposing “throw them wires up at Logan Airport, the Seaport, and in the Chelsea busway – and do NOT let Neoplan rise from the dead to do the deed”

I guess…….my disdain for trolleybuses, should’ve been more “fuck Neoplan” in particular and was horrifically misguided. I hereby retract all the ranting about how garbage they were, in the Harvard Square blog entry. Although, I’ll still keep it and not edit it for old time’s sake and in the name of keeping it as a museum piece of a bygone era of the Chelsea’s Corner blog.

*cries in a corner realizing all the hate for trolleybuses since the birth of this blog is actually all misguided and should’ve been directed towards Neoplan instead*