Atsushi

Yes, NJT is yr best bet, is it 100% reliable ???, not really but, gets you to yr destination most of the time.

Beats Traffic jams, and oh of course, cost of gas is on the rise up and up.

So its really a matter of Pick yr Poison....well not that extreme.

Good Luck

CK

If by Somerset you mean the town of Somerset (also known as Franklin Township) and not Somerset County, then you cannot take the Raritan Valley Line out there. You also probably wouldn't want to, as it's slow as molasses to get out to the farther ends of that train line on a reverse commute.

Be aware that if you take the Turnpike, there is major construction on both routes you could take (Exit 10 to 287 North, or Exit 9 to Route 18/New Brunswick). Both roads back up quite a bit in the direction you would be going because of the construction, especially Route 287.

The other option to take would be 78 West all the way to 287 South and take that to Easton Rd. This might be a bit faster but would be technically longer (up to 50 miles each way).

Keep in mind the cost of gas - a 100 mile roundtrip commute would cost you probably about $16 dollars every day.

Quote:

If you do that then you have to add the commute time on the Path to Newark Penn, transfer time, and then the NJ Transit train time. I used to drive from JC to Bridgewater every day and it wasn't bad at all. Took about 45 minutes with a straight shot down 78. Rarely any traffic.

I've commuted to New Brunswick for 3 years while doing my doctorate. I've always taken the train. Buying the pass gets the train ticket down to cheaper than gas (right now) and you get a little discount for a reverse commute (well, you don't pay $3.75 to go to NY Penn Station). The train drops you right downtown. I took a couple of classes at Princeton and they practically carrying right onto campus. The new NJT cars are comfy and you always have a seat to yourself.

Doesn't the Raritan Valley Line go to Somerset from Newark Penn? F driving, I would take that train every day.

I rarely had problems with NJ Transit. If anything, it was me that had a problem a few times when I missed the train because I was seconds late. NJ Transit was very reliable and on time. The seats are not that comfortable though. The backs are too upright. But back to time, you will be able to coordinate the Path and NJ Transit so well that you have very little waiting time at the station. I had a backup plan whenever I did miss the train, I would take Amtrak, which was very expensive, but got me there close to the same time. There may be an express train too. Certain trains make fewer stops.

Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking that I would be able to do!! With wireless broadband, you can get a lot of work done while you are on the train!!

Are the trains reliable most of the time?

Atsushi

I was commuting from JC to Princeton for almost 2 years, both by train and car. It was great. Rarely traffic jambs...except when I got to route 1 in the Brunswick area. But the train was the best because most of my time I was on the train so I was able to do work on my laptop.

Hi there,

I am going to move to JC downtown next month, and I plan to do so called "reverse commute" from JC to Somerset. I have done many test runs, and it seems that at the worst, I can get to work in 50 minutes or so. I think that in NJ standard, that's pretty common.

Anyway, is anyone here reverse commuting? I'm sure that everyone who is doing that has an opinion about it. I would love to hear your opinion.

How about commuting by NJ Transit? I'm sure many people do to NYC, but does anyone do that from JC to other parts of NJ?

Anyway, let me just say that this site is great. People seem to respond very quickly. Thanks!

Atsushi