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The HBLR is great - I can usually get to my office in 50 minutes, tops, regardless of the time, and I try to take it as often as I can. On days when my knees are giving me trouble I just can't deal with the '100 Steps' to the 2nd Street station - oddly, worse going down them - and take the bus.

Wishful thinking, how could you say that? The Hudson/Bergen Light Rail comes to mind . . .

On that note - we were almost pushed out from the street by an angry-attitude American coach bus yesterday.
It is a bit packed on the street, yes. Happy holidays too!

Until NJ Transit and / or Academy makes their services better and more reliable, their ridership levels will not jump...

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The main reason I HATE commuting by bus it seems to always get stuck in traffic.

As a pedestrian and user of Mass Transit, I would have to echo the OP - in the 5 years I've lived in the Heights, the traffic along Palisade and Central Avenues to JSQ, Grove Street, and Newport seems much worse, at least in my experience being on the bus trying to get to the PATH station. Luckily, I was able to adjust my work hours to 10:00am - 6:00pm - on the few occasions I've needed to be at work by City Hall in Manhattan, the commute jumps from 50 minutes to 1 1/4 hours.

IMO, Jersey City/Hudson County et al have not done enough to discourage car ownership and driving and enhance mass transit use, or even minimal traffic planning and calming strategies to make the surface transit network (as pathetic as it is) more effective.

To me Downtown is getting worse, in the AM especially. No matter which way you go there is traffic build up and trying to exit DT is impossible. It seems that traffic patterns are getting more and more congested it is creeping up on us in very small increments. I bet in a matter of 5 to 10 years we will be used to it but to an outsider it will be daunting trying to muddle through the maze of traffic routes throughout J.C. The cure all...buy a bicycle.

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Manhattan Ave. stinks go up Secaucus Rd. straight to Kennedy Blvd. and cut through the Heights, it moves.

I agree, it had to be a special situation. I left Lowes yesterday in Bayonne and got caught in a traffic jam as soon as I entered JC. So no one panic.

I think last night was a special situation. All the traffic was caused by massive backup of the cash lanes for holland tunnel. Marin was affected all the way down to Grand. I've never seen it that bad. Can't wait for that hotel to be built on Columbus&Marin!

This will be thought of as the good old days after they begin the Pulaski Skyway reconstruction in the spring . . .

Was thinking the same thing today. Was on 1/9 south from 3 and decided to take it all the way to the Tonelle circle instead of getting off at Manhattan like I usually do. Got stuck sitting forever. Ended up being quicker to take 1/9 trucks all the way to communipaw to get to downtown.
Was also on Pulaski south tonight. At that time the Pulaski northbound was backed up all the way from the tunnel to nearly the on-ramp from 1/9 local.

One of many social costs to high rise, high density, inner city living that cityhall is totally accountable for (good or bad). It would be interesting to know where all our city planners ended up and with whom they now work for after causing this social gridlock and reduced social services and infrustructure.

Wait 'til they close the Skyway eastbound in March...

Got out of the Grove Str PATH train station around 6pm, and see tons of traffic on Grove / Christopher Columbus and surrounding areas. Anyone know if something happened, or just the usual saturday evening traffic?

Regardless, I feel that I'm seeing more and more traffic around the area in the last year - is it just me, or it's really just getting worse?

Happy Holidays!