Proposed Jitney Could Improve Commute to NYC

New York City commuters can take a jitney bus from the to the under a six-month pilot plan that may soon be offered by Livingston. 

Residents would be charged a $2 fare per ride.  There are also plans to introduce a monthly pass at $70 a month.

Alan Karpas, chairman of the township's Vision 20/20 committee, gave an update on Monday about the proposal, which would cost the town $54,000 over a 6 month period.  The service is expected to cost about $450 per day for the driver, vehicle and insurance.  Livingston Mayor Stephen Santola said the cost was already built into this year’s budget if the plan is enacted before the end of the year.

A jitney bus would run from the Livingston mall to the South Orange train station starting at 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.  The Livingston Mall will allow 100 residents to park at the mall at no charge.

With the recent , it is expected that many commuters will want to try this new service.  Karpas assures residents that the size of the jitneys can be adjusted almost daily to hold how many residents it has to.

In February, South Orange Village President Alex Torpey told Patch that and hoped Livingston residents would also take a moment to check out the businesses in South Orange.

"I think that people, not just in South Orange, but in surrounding towns, see our town as kind of a transit destination and so I think we'll be happy to have Livingston residents come use our train station,” said Torpey.  “We have a lot of West Orange residents that do so also, and that will hopefully be good for business in South Orange as well."

Santola said that the town needs to send out a bid for the jitney contract and that he hopes the service will be available by Labor Day.