Boxcar Blog

Starting Tuesday, October 13, Boxcar is running a new commuter bus from Glen Ridge and up Grove St to Midtown Manhattan: the Gaslamp branch of Essex Express, named for Glen Ridge's lamps.

This route will run while NJ Transit's Portal Bridge work sends Midtown direct trains of the Montclair-Boonton line to Hoboken.

More than 450 of you answered our survey about where to stop and when. This schedule is built on those answers and on real Essex Express trips at the same hours.

If you ride Essex Express today, your bus isn't changing. The Gaslamp branch adds three more buses to serve as an extension of the Essex Express and an entirely new route for Glen Ridge/Grove St commuters.

New to Boxcar?

Boxcar is reserved seating. You book a seat on a specific bus in the app before you ride, and that seat is yours. Nobody stands, and the bus doesn't fill up before your stop. Show your ticket to your driver as you board your reserved seat and let us take care of the rest of your commute.

The route:

Morning buses start on Ridgewood Ave in Glen Ridge, stop at Bay St, then run up Grove St to Route 3 and the Lincoln Tunnel. They drop off at Port Authority, Bryant Park and Madison Ave at 43rd, 47th, 52nd and 57th. Evening buses pick up down Lexington Ave and across 42nd St at the same stops Essex Express uses, then come home the same way.

Morning Pick Ups:

Evening Pick Ups:

Morning buses:

Three buses leave Glen Ridge each morning:

• 6:05 AM from the Glen Ridge Post Office (starts 6:01 at Ridgewood & Linden). At Port Authority about 6:53.
• 7:12 AM from the Glen Ridge Post Office (starts 7:07 at Ridgewood & Linden). At Port Authority about 8:23.
• 8:20 AM from the bus stop in front of the Glen Ridge Municipal Building. At Port Authority about 9:31.

The 8:20 bypasses the Ridgewood Ave stops so buses stay off Ridgewood Ave once school traffic starts.

Evening buses

Three buses leave Lexington Ave starting between 57th & 58th St:

• 4:05 PM. At Grove & Charles about 5:12 and Ridgewood & Linden about 5:41.
• 5:25 PM. At Grove & Charles about 6:32 and Ridgewood & Linden about 7:02.
• 7:15 PM. At Grove & Charles about 8:04 and Ridgewood & Linden about 8:31.

Each bus picks up at Lexington & 52nd, Lexington & 48th, Grand Central (42nd St under the Park Ave bridge), the Grace Building (42nd St between 5th & 6th) and 42nd & 8th. It drops off down Grove St, at Bay St and the Municipal Building, then along Ridgewood Ave to Linden.

The Glen Ridge stops:

• Ridgewood Ave & Linden Ave: first stop for the 6:05 and 7:12 buses.
• Ridgewood Ave & Winsor Pl
• Glen Ridge Post Office: 225 Ridgewood Ave, at the Glen Ridge train station.
• Glen Ridge Municipal Building: the 6:05 and 7:12 stop at the Ridgewood Ave curb beside the building. The 8:20 starts at the NJ Transit bus stop sign on Bloomfield Ave in front of the building (825 Bloomfield Ave). In the evening, buses stop across Bloomfield Ave from the building.
• Bay Street: Bloomfield Ave at Pine St, Montclair.

The Grove St stops:

Walnut (north of the rail crossing), Chestnut, Dodd, Watchung, Mt Vernon, Bellevue, Inwood and Alexander, then the Water Treatment Plant and Grove & Charles. Those last two are Essex Express stops too.

Already ride Essex Express?

Nothing about your bus changes. Gaslamp adds three more morning buses at Grove & Charles and the Water Treatment Plant, landing between the Essex Express times, and three more evening buses home. With both routes, buses leave Lexington & 57th at:

• 3:40 PM
• 4:05 PM
• 4:30 PM
• 5:00 PM
• 5:25 PM
• 5:50 PM
• 6:40 PM
• 7:15 PM
• 7:40 PM

The 4:05 PM, 5:25 PM and 7:15 PM are Gaslamp. This route uses the same Lexington Ave and 42nd St stops, at the same fares, that are currently live in the Boxcar app.

How to book:

Every seat is reserved ahead of time in the Boxcar app, so a ticket guarantees you a seat.

1. Download the Boxcar app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android). You can also book on the web at platform.boxcarapp.com.
2. Create an account, or sign in if you already ride Boxcar.
3. Find Essex Express, choose your Gaslamp stop and time, and reserve. Morning and evening are booked separately.

A note on costs:

Tickets are $24.49 for morning trips into the city and $22.49 for evening trips home, the same as Essex Express. If you reserve on the first day of booking (Tuesday 10/13) you get a $10 credit.

Most riders don't pay full fare. 95% of Boxcar tickets are sold to members, who save a third on every ticket. Membership is $39.99 a month, and members pay $16.33 in the morning and $14.99 home, so a round trip is $31.32. Ride three round trips a month and the membership has paid for itself. Memberships are available in the app now.

That's still more than the train. But the bus goes door to desk: it drops you on Madison Ave instead of Hoboken or Penn Station, so there's no PATH or subway fare on top, no transfer, and you have a guaranteed seat both ways.

You can also pay for tickets with pre-tax commuter benefits. Boxcar is an approved vendor for WageWorks, HealthEquity, TransitChek, CommuterCheck, Edenred, Beniversal, GoNavia and MyChoice. Add your commuter card in the app and your tickets come out of pre-tax dollars. (IRS rules mean the membership fee itself has to go on a regular card.)

Questions:

Can I cancel?

Yes. In the app, swipe left on your ticket and tap Cancel. Bus tickets can be canceled up to 1 hour before the bus's first stop, and members can cancel up to 10 minutes before. Refunds go back to your account as Boxcar credit.

What if traffic is bad?

The times above are based on real Essex Express trips at the same hours. On the worst traffic days, allow an extra 5-15 minutes. Evenings vary more than mornings. You can follow your bus live in the app.

Why doesn't every bus stop on Ridgewood Ave?

The 6:05 AM and 7:12 AM come through before the school day starts. The 8:20 AM starts at the Municipal Building on Bloomfield Ave so it stays off Ridgewood during school traffic.

How long will it run?

THE Gaslamp route starts October 13 and runs during NJ Transit's Portal Bridge work, which is scheduled to end November 15th. Boxcar is commited to running this route until at least November 15th. The expectation for us is to make this a perminent route and serve commuters for years.

My question isn't here.

Most answers are on our FAQ page. Or write to us at support@boxcar.com or reach us in the app. We read every message.

See you on the bus,

Team Boxcar