NJ Transit Bus Operations is the bus division of NJ Transit, providing local and commuter bus service throughout New Jersey and adjacent areas of New York State (Manhattan in New York City, Rockland County, and Orange County) and Pennsylvania (Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley). It operates its own lines as well as contracts others to private carriers. In 2024, the bus system had a ridership of 143,957,400.
History
Prior to 1948, most public transportation in New Jersey was provided by the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, a utility company that also operated the Public Service Railway division. In 1948, the Public Service Corporation was divided into two entities: the Public Service Electric and Gas Company, which inherited the utility operations, and the Public Service Coordinated Transportation Company (PSCT), which inherited the transit operations. PSCT provided service throughout New Jersey, originally using trolleys and then transitioning to trolley buses, and buses. During the 1970s, the New Jersey Department of Transportation began funding the routes of Public Service, now renamed Transport of New Jersey (TNJ), contracting with TNJ and other companies to operate local bus service throughout New Jersey.[3]
NJ Transit came into being as the result of the New Jersey Public Transportation Act of 1979 to "acquire, operate, and contract for transportation services in the public interest". NJ Transit Bus Operations came into being the following year, when it acquired Transport of New Jersey from PSE&G.[4] Other purchases and buyouts in the 1980s expanded the bus division of NJ Transit, including the assumption of service for Somerset Bus Company in 1982 and the acquisition of the Atlantic City Transportation Company in 1987.[5] In 1992 NJ Transit Mercer, Inc., which was the successor to the former "Mercer Metro" operation in the Trenton and Princeton areas, was folded into NJ Transit Bus Operations.[6] In 2010, PABCO Transit (Passaic-Athenia Bus) taken over under the subsidiary NJ Transit Morris, Inc.
Routes are numbered by where they operate in the state of New Jersey, however, there are a few exceptions to the general rule due to subsequent changes to some routes operating in Central and North Jersey. Fare and route can also be further elucidated on some of the individual route schedules[9] or the trip planner.[10]
100-199: Routes from central and northern New Jersey to New York City.
200-299: No routes with these numbers; a few existed in the 1980s but were soon renumbered.
300-399: Special-event and park services, school tripper services, park-and-ride services, long-distance suburban routes from Philadelphia, New York-Atlantic City express. Beginning in 2010, numbers in this series are also assigned to North Jersey intrastate routes formerly suffixed with an X.
400-449: Short-distance suburban routes in southwestern New Jersey and to Philadelphia.
1 (split with Big Tree, Ironbound, Orange), 13 (split with Big Tree), 24 (Split with Ironbound, Orange), 25, 26, 27 (split with Big Tree, Orange), 31, 37, 39, 52, 70, 90, 107, 108, 126 (split with Greenville, Ironbound, Meadowlands), 250 (go25), 361, 375
New garage opened in 1989, built on the same site after the old Maplewood Garage was demolished. Upgraded and electrification planned for 2025.[13][14][15]
Newly built garage that replaced the old garages in Lakewood and Old Bridge in 1985.
Ironbound
601 Doremus Ave,
24 (Split with Hilton, Orange), 48, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 65, 66, 102, 109, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 119 (Split with Greenville, Meadowlands), 126 (Split with Greenville, Hilton, Kearny Point, Meadowlands), 355 (Split with Meadowlands)
Newly built garage and main shop complex replacing the old garages in Newark at Ferry Street Shops and Lake Street Shops, and the old Elizabeth garage in 1997.
Located next to Kearny Point Garage.
Kearny Point, opened on August 17, 2024. Formerly an abandoned factory, it was made into a garage for NJT when CoachUSA's ONE Bus stopped operations in 2024.
313 (split with Washington Twp), 315 (split with Washington Twp), 316 (split with Newton Av, Washington Twp), 319 (split with Howell, Meadowlands), 501, 502, 504, 505, 507, 508, 509, 510, 552, 553, 559
Newly built garage replaced the old Atlantic City, Inlet, and Wildwood Garages in 1998.
