This guy is a national treasure for America and I'm not even American. Incredible creativity and dedication to improving transit for people. Amazing work
I work for njt and I will say the bus fare structure is utterly ridiculous. Man embarrass the company they are in the stone ages and refuse to upgrade.
Secaucus junction: limbo Walter Rand Transit center: *the thunderdome* AC Bus terminal: "it's in a casino?!" The NJT app: complex captcha test Riverline: 32 miles for $1.60 The dinky: 2 miles for $1.50 ??????????????????????????
As a person from New Jersey this is so accurate, our transit is super confusing. The part on the transfers and buses is super accurate. Most drivers dont really care but others are assholes and hassle you over small stuff.
I'd be fine with it being even worse if every bus ran at least half-hourly. Though if I'm making demands I should probably start my haggling at 15 mins and settle where I can
Every time you put out a video, it is spectacular. The override fare chart and website are so well put together and helpful. And I appreciate the cameo!!
@@cut_and_cover It shows the full fare because you can just pay with the app. The code on the e-ticket covers all rides. Just show your screen to the driver
My favorite thing: An 18 zone Interstate fare from Stone Harbor to Philadelphia is about $20. A 17 zone Intrastate fare from Stone Harbor to Camden is about $10. A ticket from Camden to Philadelphia costs $1.95.
Laughed so hard at that HBLR annual visit by the inspectors. Used to live in Jersey City for a few years and took the HBLR often. We always paid for the fare because it was the right thing to do and helped towards better transit. But one time we were heading to the mall and decided "F it, let's not pay for it, what's the worst that could happen?"...the inspectors literally got on at the next station. Luckily instead of fining us, they just told us to get them from the machine
my sneaky trick lately has been to not buy a ticket but have it ready to buy in the app so that if they do board, i can buy it in 20 seconds but still get free rides most of the time
Newark Light Rail does indeed have another anomaly you didn't mention--it's cheaper if you stay underground UNLESS you are traveling on a weekday between 4:00pm and 6:00pm, then you aren't allowed to use the underground fare tickets, you have to pay the full fare ticket.
Yes, that is so true. I should have put a little asterisk on the video for that line. I guess it's because of crowds, which make enforcement harder? Or maybe it's just a subtle form of peak pricing.
Oh and you can't buy that underground ticket on the app, but oh if you buy a senior ticket which is the same fare, those cops will have issues too because they have been inspecting folks like crazy at Penn
When I first saw the title of this video, my immediate thought was, "You can't right a song about NJ Transit fares. You need an entire concept album." Anyway, this is a great video, although I wish you would have covered cross honoring, using monthly rail passes on busses, and paying NJ Transit fares for private bus operators (mostly because I have no idea how any of those work and I need an explanation on them).
the fact that you made a website beyond the caliber of any govt website to do their job for them is legendary. NJ residents are lucky to have you! ✌greetings from Worcester MA, where our buses may be fare free, but info about routes and schedules is un-intuitive, hard to find, and often out of date. maybe i oughta make a song and website about it too haha!
This is exactly the content that I want from UA-cam. Fantastic. Also what the hell, this system is actually insane. A fare system that requires a TABLE to understand without using a computer is ridiculous.
They randomly closed ONE DIRECTION of a stop near my apartment with no warning (that the bus still announced). It took me about three months, two missed busses, and four messages to customer service to figure it out...and I moved two months later.
I'm curious. Would buses still stop if you stood where the sign used to be? In other words, did the municipality officially close the stop, or did they just lose the sign?
Okay, you don't have to share the stop. I'm thinking it may have been the municipality, which controls stop locations and often doesn't much care for the convenience of bus passengers.
I legit got this stuck in my head for over a month, but it was the best song I’d ever gotten stuck in my head! Additionally, It still shocks me that NJT still doesn’t have a fare-card system, despite being in the most populous region of the country
@@ratedpz9461 OMNY supports debit/credit/mobile wallet last time I heard. You still want a physical card as an option for people without smartphones or who are underbanked. OMNY currently supports all that to my knowledge so just adopt it.
Oh my god. You are a godsend. I just moved to NJ & I thought I was really dumb for not understanding the transit system. I'm glad it's not just a me problem.
I'm trying to help a friend understand the bus fares, and no joke this is the most useful source of information I've yet found in my searches for them. Thank you lmao.
Dude, you are so multi-talented. Just 5 videos in, you’re making some of the best content on the site. I get the feeling this isn’t even your final form.
Ahh I feel this was like a trip to when the internet was young, full of hope, free useful tips and amazing creativity. Nostalgia at its best. Thank you dear sir!
♥️♥️♥️ I love daily caps. That way you can get rid of passes. TriMet in Portland, OR does that too. Every transit authority should start doing it once they get a reloadable fare card.
NJ Transit may be complicated, but that is a price to pay for ✨everything is legal in New Jersey ✨ Let's face it, the Princeton Dinky carries the whole system on its back, it's the little train that could
you don't even have to select the origin for commuter rail if you're buying a ticket at the station because that station is pre-programmed as the origin. So all you have to do is select a destination and pay. It's a great system but its existence shows how little care has been given to the bus system
This song is Definitely An Amazing Masterpiece! It helps reduce anxiety and it’s also pretty funny too, even if still feeling so confused about trying to understand NJ Transit’s complicated fare system. Especially their bus fares are what literally everyone has trouble understanding in many different ways!
Dude you are my hero. I am not a Rutgers kid, just a hub city local who uses your website every single day! The bus schedule is so confusing - and what's worse is they don't have em printed anywhere in the bus stops! Thanks for everything you do!
I live in New jersey, and because of health reasons I don't drive. Having to deal with NJ Transit is a nightmare. I once did a research project about the system. The whole thing was laid out in the 60's when the lower 2/3 of the state was mostly farmland. The Suburban neighborhoods were just starting to be built. So the focus of the system is on getting people in and out of New York city for the "9 To 5" shift. No thought was put into getting around within the state. and the fact is no one in the state sees a point in putting money into expanding the system. And if there's an attempt to build a new train station, the people in that town scream bloody murder and it doesn't happen.
Nice song and great explanation for this system. Although commuter rail is my preferred form of public transport, the local busses connecting these lines deserve some appreciation and ease of use too. Also, permission to ping New Jersey Transit's UA-cam channel in a community post so that they can view this quicker? I don't have twitter and wouldn't be able to ping them there.
Seeing how buses have double the ridership then the commuter rail network. Buses are vital to New Jersey, without them the Garden state won’t be the same.
@@Maunico0809 Really need improvement though, many routes badly need better frequency. the 815's the descendent of a full railroad(ok a small one) and a frequent street car, they should at least be able to run it half-hourly.
In Comparison, TTC's fares in Toronto are like deadly simple. On PRESTO farecard , ticket, or debit/credit card, you get a two-hour transfer for every payment. Transfer and tap to your hearts content, thou shalt not be charged again within 120 minutes. If you pay by cash, get a paper transfer in case a fare inspector appears in the one-in-a-million chance they decide to do their job. Transfers are free but only valid for a continuous journey, so better not make any stopovers or walk to the next stop. Again, if your not using cash, doing all of the above is perfectly fine because its just a two-hour pass!
And Sydney NSW has fare by distance on buses but even it is simple. If paying by Opal card or contactless, just tap on when boarding and off when alighting. Keep the card handy incase an authorized officer or the public transport command wants to check your ticket. If you're paying by cash you have to tell the driver your destination when paying him, so you pay the right amount but note that many buses are Prepay only or Opal only, in which case you cannot pay by cash with the driver and must use Opal or contactless
I was legit about to make this exact same video but without the music aspect. So now if anyone asks me how I feel about NJT's fares I'll just link this video. Also, on this topic, you're right. The commuter rail IS the only one that's simple (and it's technically cheaper because there's less zones on it as well, if you compare the rails to the buses that cover the same distance). That's sad.
One thing I like about NJ Transit commuter trains better than the MTA LIRR or Metro North is that they don’t do peak fares on rush hour NJ Transit trains and that the fares stay flat while MTA Railroads charge a little extra when riding trains in rush hour peak directions. And even worse, MTA Metro North specifically charges those same unnecessary peak fares on their rush hour reverse peak morning trains. While I feel safe to ride with crowds out of NYC on NJ Transit before or after 3 PM on weekdays, I try to leave NYC by 3:30-4 PM at the latest if riding Metro North or LIRR on a typical weekday.
In my small town and throughout the surrounding region, we have a tap and ride system. When you get on and off the tram or bus, you tap your visa/master card and after midnight, the correct amount is deducted for the last day, including any discounts. We have this system for years. I have never seen easier system... I can't imagine how I would pay as a tourist in NJ.
@@Nhkg17 That's really interesting. My home transit authority SEPTA has a tap in tap out system for Regional Rail. But you need like $8 on the card to even open a trip, and it's deducted right away after you tap out. They're paranoid about people not having enough money on their cards. But on the other hand, the Ostrava system would save on transaction fees.
@@cut_and_cover Nope, just had a tough time with the website, and complicated things for myself by throwing in yet another transfer (by taking PATH to Newark instead of just getting on NEC at NYP. Total savings: ~$2 😐) So it was PATH -> NEC -> River Line -> PATCO
In Denver, CO, they simplified fares about a year ago, and a standard 3-hour fare is $2.75, which can get you FAR, as distance DOES NOT MATTER. If you can make it from Parker to Longmont via Boulder in 3 hours, the fare doesn’t change. Additionally, people under 19 ride for free on all routes, even to the airport.
This is brilliant. WOW In Vienna you buy 1 365 euro ticket for the entire year. That you will only need when driving the metro because in realty ther are no controllers on busses anyway. And Vienna is 1 big fair zone.
Zurich, Switzerland is two zone. I live a bit outside of zurich and need four zones. My subscription costs me 1500 Swiss francs a year. You better pay for a ticket. They do regular checks and if you don't have a ticket, you get a 100 swiss francs fine. The fine increases each time. After some time you'll get a record in your criminal record.
You are a scholar and a saint. The riverline tickets you missed, need to be stamped with a time upon arrival to the station. NJT needs a lot more funding and a lot of restructuring... Been riding it for years still don't understand it all.
Even though the night schedule on the SEPTA train I ride is not the most convenient thing, I just flash, I mean tap my Senior fare card and don't have to mess with paying. I like being old! I ride for free!
LIRR is also annoying because after you put in your origin/destination, you need to select the type of ticket, which can give you deals when travelling to certain places, but it doesnt tell you which types of tickets you are eligible for and which types you cant get.
I’m glad when I used NJT the busses just had a card reader to tap your credit card, I’ve got no idea how much it charged me, but I didn’t have to deal with this mess
Ya know, I live in NJ, and I have no damn idea how to use the bus system. I'm so intimidated by it. I've ridden the bus system in different states and all is fine and easy, but over here, holy shit. There's too much math in my head, and I can't keep up
@@cut_and_cover thx man! I actually decided to ask on reddit how it works and some guy gave me essentially a book on NJTransit, and now I feel like I'm a professional xD I do appreciate the offer tho I believe I got it all figured out now.
This is awesome!! :D Catchy song and incredibly useful facts! Wish I could've enjoyed this while at Rutgers, it would've made NJ Transit much less confusing.
song and so true; I had so much trouble several years ago trying to figure out how much a bus from the Port Authority to Northern NJ would cost. The only way to deal with, sorry NJTransit, are either to fix it or make satiric songs about how stupid the fare structure is.
I started riding NJ Transit as of the early 2010s and independently as of 2017-2018 but it took me a few years to get the whole fare system in mind, based on where I ride and what mode of transportation I use. Zoned fares of course are necessary for commuter trains and it’s good that the light rail fares are pretty flat but some of those bus routes are just a bit too hard to understand with fares as there’s so many different logics, rather than just a structure of a few fares based on type of bus route it is. It’s even more confusing that some bus routes charge extra for peak destinations that don’t even rely on distance as much, and not everyone is gonna know about that fare difference reasoning all the time. Like $9 one way from NYC to American Dream on the 355 compared to $4.50 on the 163 from NYC to East Rutherford, it’s understandable in some ways to do that but it’s still very hard to understand why that is. Or even more confusing, I almost thought it was $10 one way from PABT to Walmart Harmon Meadow on the 320 but it was actually just $4.25 but they charge $10 on that Same route from NYC to North Bergen but yet Walmart Harmon Meadow is a little bit more west of North Bergen.
Man, I'm thankful for our fare system in Minneapolis. Pay your $2 and ride as much as you want for 2.5 hours. Salt Lake City is the same way except I think it's 90 minutes. In Dallas you pay $3 and it's good for all morning or all afternoon/evening. Way less confusing than this.
No idea why am still surprised by these prices. You wouldn't get very far with that amount of cash in Switzerland. I think two stops with the bus are around 4$. You either pay for 2h or 24 hours.
@@Leenapantherat least you guys have a superior transit system that's covers the entire country so every small town and village can be accessed by either bus tram or rail. Here in the US most transit systems don't even exist outside of major cities.
They are working on one actually! Though I kind of wish they'd just do Omni, most NJT riders will at least occasionally use a omni system(either MTA or Path)
honestly as someone from jersey it never bothered me how fares were set up until i commuted to ny and realized how fucking complicated every other system was
The Newark Light Rail's main line used to be called the Newark City Subway. Until fairly recently, it used ancient rolling stock. Oddly, it's one of the oldest metro systems in the USA (before it was re-designated into "light rail"
Geeze be glad you get that amazing transit system there are constant buses and trains I moved out of nj recently and I wish SEPTA ran nearly half as well as nj transit and they provide absolutely nothing to connect Philadelphia and the Lehigh valley which are only 40 minutes apart at the Philly suburbs most north point with a septa metro and Allentown they could easily connect the 2 via bus but don’t be glad you still have that amazing transit service that nj transit provides because I really miss it I would give anything to have it back
So glad I subscribed when I first binged your stuff, this made my day! that payment system for the busses really is way more confusing than anything I've seen, but at least the busses are (presumably) reliable and have somewhat frequent service. Although, I usually just carry a roll of quarters when I plan on using the bus around here, so it isn't as bad for me to have to pay on the fly, but still. Come on NJ. I love you for operating half of the remaining branch lines from the PRR, but apperently your busses are complete nonsense. I love the busses around my college, it's a dollar for the first bus, and then another 50 cents covers all the transfers you need to get anywhere in the county. Sure, they only run hourly, but they are at least simple, affordable, and reliable. Their website is BS too, though, it's so incredibly out of date.
lol as a New Jersey resident myself, I find this amusing lol I totally agree....even from my experience with NJ Transit it's always like that back in the 90s everything was so nicely cheap
This is so true. I’ve ridden every njtransit rail line light and commuter and found it seamless. I’m also no stranger to buses, notably Pittsburgh. But until last month I had never ridden a njtransit bus. Funny the local buses (somserset county buses) are sinple; flat fare $2 and they go all the way to New Brunswick. I spent literally all night before trying to figure out my fare for njtransit bus. Pay by zone; where to find the zones….(two hours later) oh wait it’s on the route brochure. I wasn’t even sure about the whole ticket thing so I brought exact change (spends one hour counting nickels and quarters), twenty dollar bill, and the bus ticket on phone…just in case. The bus experience was actually great when I actually got on it since it was a coach bus. But oh boy this video is so true.
When I was staying in South Florida, a couple years ago, I took the Tri-Rail up and down a lot. It has a simpler zone based fare, but I still disliked it, especially when I barely had to cross a zone😢
I was confused with NJ transit, when I got a paper ticket to get it invalidated on a German style invalidator and then the conductor came along and took my ticket after he also invalidated it another time...
I never knew the Newark Light Rail had a cheaper underground only. I think I have only using the light rail to go to Bloomfield and back, so it never applied to me anyway. How convenient they don’t mark which sites are underground on the map either.
I have never seen someone work so hard and so creatively to dunk on their own local transit system. This is the types of acts we should all learn to aspire and do for our own communities. Anything less is not worth persuing and anything more will just turn as an act of defiance. ride on 😎🚃
551 Bus from Philly to Atlantic City is $18 one way. You can buy a round trip ticket on app or machine for $20 or use a one way train ticket that costs $10.75
Very helpful, informative, and entertaining song. I will actually argue that this is the opposite of how SEPTA fares work. While NJ Transit makes commuter rail seem simple while complicating busses and light rail, SEPTA flips them. SEPTA bus and light rail fares are only $2 with the key card and the first transfer is free. Regional rail...... Don't bother calculating the price, just buy an independence pass.
What I think is messed up is that the NJ Transit mobile app does not list the 400 nor 500 bus routes for ticketing and schedules, and many NJ Transit ticket machines around Philadelphia don’t list for those bus routes either.
It does. It just has a very stupid feature that is stopping you from seeing them right now. Go into the app, click on the profile icon, open up your profile settings and change your ZIP code to one within the city limits of Philadelphia.
1:38 Meanwhile in HK actually every bus service has their own unique fare scale (& different operators' may use the same route number for different routes, while other routes are jointly operated by 2 operators), where you're charged a fare when you board, & it generally gets cheaper the further down the bus' route you board. Transfers to other buses at stops further down the route are often free though (like in 1:43), so you could say this system approximates to having distance-based fares, with the advantage that it is harder for passengers to underpay their fares. Their MTR (subway/metro) strictly sticks to distance-based fares however (plus an extra ~HK$20/US$2.50 if you're travelling to the border crossing with Shenzhen in mainland China), while trams charge a flat rate, & their light rail (like a high-floor tram that have dedicated lanes in the middle of the road) uses zone-based fares
I think I've found an exception that no one has mentioned yet: the 355, from Port Authority Bus Terminal to American Dream Mall costs $9, which doesn't match up with any interstate fare anywhere else.
Yes, or on the 72, the location of the Paterson zone boundary changes depending on whether you're traveling within Paterson or to/from outside Paterson. It just goes deeper and deeper.
Looking at it, it basically puts part of the route in two zones at once to give people better fares, so at least I can understand why they do it that way.
Alex Davis - can you please write a song about the mysterious but exciting Newark De train station? It is a brand new station that got lost in the Covid era, it never properly opened, and it never connected to Baltimore, like it was supposed to for some reason it was never fully completed. It remains a mystery to this day.
Wait so this guy legit built a transit website from scratch simply to show the transit company that one guy could do it better? This guy is the goat!
This guy is a national treasure for America and I'm not even American. Incredible creativity and dedication to improving transit for people. Amazing work
America is a continent dude.
@vivadjango Erm, achtualeyyy, it's two continents.
@@cut_and_cover erm actually it's one continent made up of two subcontinents divided by a land bridge.
@@vivadjango erm, actually continents are a social construct
@@vivadjangoStill, he’s not wrong.
I work for njt and I will say the bus fare structure is utterly ridiculous. Man embarrass the company they are in the stone ages and refuse to upgrade.
The true victims are the bus drivers expected to memorize and enforce this ridiculousness.
Secaucus junction: limbo
Walter Rand Transit center: *the thunderdome*
AC Bus terminal: "it's in a casino?!"
The NJT app: complex captcha test
Riverline: 32 miles for $1.60
The dinky: 2 miles for $1.50
??????????????????????????
Some say Secaucus Junction is like purgatory, but I think it's heaven where flipboards are reincarnated after Amtrak kills them.
THANKK YOUUU
Alan Fisher posting letsssss gooooooooo
When a single person does a better job at explaining fares than the state governmnet
One exception- Chris Christie: "Cancel it."
As a person from New Jersey this is so accurate, our transit is super confusing. The part on the transfers and buses is super accurate. Most drivers dont really care but others are assholes and hassle you over small stuff.
I'd be fine with it being even worse if every bus ran at least half-hourly.
Though if I'm making demands I should probably start my haggling at 15 mins and settle where I can
Every time you put out a video, it is spectacular. The override fare chart and website are so well put together and helpful. And I appreciate the cameo!!
Yes, I couldn't mention the 317 without a nod to your 19 zone odyssey. I'm also honored to know newbrunswickbuses.com is Miles Taylor approved.
It's funny. Now that it's a loop route, the 317 is even longer than when you rode it.
@@cut_and_cover It shows the full fare because you can just pay with the app. The code on the e-ticket covers all rides. Just show your screen to the driver
My favorite thing: An 18 zone Interstate fare from Stone Harbor to Philadelphia is about $20. A 17 zone Intrastate fare from Stone Harbor to Camden is about $10. A ticket from Camden to Philadelphia costs $1.95.
Laughed so hard at that HBLR annual visit by the inspectors. Used to live in Jersey City for a few years and took the HBLR often. We always paid for the fare because it was the right thing to do and helped towards better transit. But one time we were heading to the mall and decided "F it, let's not pay for it, what's the worst that could happen?"...the inspectors literally got on at the next station. Luckily instead of fining us, they just told us to get them from the machine
my sneaky trick lately has been to not buy a ticket but have it ready to buy in the app so that if they do board, i can buy it in 20 seconds but still get free rides most of the time
Clever, but it won't work. If you tap it to activate, there's a 3-minute delay till it's valid.
@@cut_and_cover Then just be like oh shoot I bought but forgot to activate it, I've done that on St. Louis light rail a couple times.
Newark Light Rail does indeed have another anomaly you didn't mention--it's cheaper if you stay underground UNLESS you are traveling on a weekday between 4:00pm and 6:00pm, then you aren't allowed to use the underground fare tickets, you have to pay the full fare ticket.
Yes, that is so true. I should have put a little asterisk on the video for that line. I guess it's because of crowds, which make enforcement harder? Or maybe it's just a subtle form of peak pricing.
Oh and you can't buy that underground ticket on the app, but oh if you buy a senior ticket which is the same fare, those cops will have issues too because they have been inspecting folks like crazy at Penn
As a New Jerseyan I feel so validated
When I first saw the title of this video, my immediate thought was, "You can't right a song about NJ Transit fares. You need an entire concept album."
Anyway, this is a great video, although I wish you would have covered cross honoring, using monthly rail passes on busses, and paying NJ Transit fares for private bus operators (mostly because I have no idea how any of those work and I need an explanation on them).
I mentioned rail passes on buses 1:33, but yeah. This song could get veeerrryyy long.
@@cut_and_cover Sequel?
@@agwatts Well, now I work for NJ Transit, so trashing them on the internet is no longer the most effective way of doing things.
@@cut_and_cover you could do a song about how you’re making it better?
the fact that you made a website beyond the caliber of any govt website to do their job for them is legendary. NJ residents are lucky to have you! ✌greetings from Worcester MA, where our buses may be fare free, but info about routes and schedules is un-intuitive, hard to find, and often out of date. maybe i oughta make a song and website about it too haha!
Hey, maybe you could. Are the PDF schedules at least up to date?
This is exactly the content that I want from UA-cam. Fantastic. Also what the hell, this system is actually insane. A fare system that requires a TABLE to understand without using a computer is ridiculous.
Actually, there are five tables.
@@cut_and_cover Wack.
Reminiscent of Jay Foreman, I love it!
They randomly closed ONE DIRECTION of a stop near my apartment with no warning (that the bus still announced). It took me about three months, two missed busses, and four messages to customer service to figure it out...and I moved two months later.
I'm curious. Would buses still stop if you stood where the sign used to be? In other words, did the municipality officially close the stop, or did they just lose the sign?
@@cut_and_cover There never was a sign (was told that it's a courtesy stop) , but even if I stand there and wave, the bus just passes me.
@@tf_9047 Courtesy stop? Hmmm. Did it have an id number on MyBus?
@@cut_and_cover Yes, but I don't want to make it public. It calculated the times of the next busses on the app too.
Okay, you don't have to share the stop. I'm thinking it may have been the municipality, which controls stop locations and often doesn't much care for the convenience of bus passengers.
Absolutely brilliant. You deserve some sort of internship at NJ Transit for doing this, but they'd never go for that.
I legit got this stuck in my head for over a month, but it was the best song I’d ever gotten stuck in my head! Additionally, It still shocks me that NJT still doesn’t have a fare-card system, despite being in the most populous region of the country
Well they should just adopt the OMNY fare card from MTA.
@@jacktattersall9457 yeah true it should be region wide, even better it could be fares paid through debit or credit or apple pay, like in london
@@ratedpz9461 OMNY supports debit/credit/mobile wallet last time I heard. You still want a physical card as an option for people without smartphones or who are underbanked. OMNY currently supports all that to my knowledge so just adopt it.
Oh my god. You are a godsend. I just moved to NJ & I thought I was really dumb for not understanding the transit system. I'm glad it's not just a me problem.
I'm trying to help a friend understand the bus fares, and no joke this is the most useful source of information I've yet found in my searches for them. Thank you lmao.
www.njtransit.com/fares
Dude, you are so multi-talented. Just 5 videos in, you’re making some of the best content on the site. I get the feeling this isn’t even your final form.
Some places are discussing fare integration between different services, NJ transit can’t even integrate fares with itself
Ahh I feel this was like a trip to when the internet was young, full of hope, free useful tips and amazing creativity. Nostalgia at its best. Thank you dear sir!
This video was ridiculously well done and very educational! Awesome work!
I'm working at a engineering firm, two of my superiors worked in NJT for over a decade
Im sending this too both of them tomorrow
Wow, here in Hawaii, the bus is $3 with 2.5 hours of free transfers, a daily cap of $7.50, and a monthly cap of $80.
♥️♥️♥️ I love daily caps. That way you can get rid of passes. TriMet in Portland, OR does that too. Every transit authority should start doing it once they get a reloadable fare card.
Makes SEPTA look good by comparison
Also getting strong Jay Foreman vibes from this one!
SEPTA's fare payment system may be just a bunch of bootleg credit cards, but at least they have a card.
Who's Jay Foreman?
well at least SEPTA and NJ transit are kinda consolidated
meanwhile the SF bay area....
@@wavesnbikesa British UA-camr who has made songs about similar topics.
NJ Transit may be complicated, but that is a price to pay for ✨everything is legal in New Jersey ✨
Let's face it, the Princeton Dinky carries the whole system on its back, it's the little train that could
Yet they still wanna kill it, instead of double tracking it and investing in that branch...
@@wavesnbikes they wanna convert it into LRT and BRT doesn't sound like that's gonna kill it.
@@_SP64_ What's the current top speed on the dinky?
Nothing is legal in New Jersey 💀
you don't even have to select the origin for commuter rail if you're buying a ticket at the station because that station is pre-programmed as the origin. So all you have to do is select a destination and pay. It's a great system but its existence shows how little care has been given to the bus system
very fun, and you didnt go looping the chorus all lazy, you through-composed this thing. awesome video
Mad props for doing research and making that pdf.
Please keep making UA-cam content. There is NO way you wont get big. Your production quality is too great to flop. Just subbed.
This song is Definitely An Amazing Masterpiece! It helps reduce anxiety and it’s also pretty funny too, even if still feeling so confused about trying to understand NJ Transit’s complicated fare system. Especially their bus fares are what literally everyone has trouble understanding in many different ways!
Dude you are my hero. I am not a Rutgers kid, just a hub city local who uses your website every single day! The bus schedule is so confusing - and what's worse is they don't have em printed anywhere in the bus stops! Thanks for everything you do!
I live in New jersey, and because of health reasons I don't drive. Having to deal with NJ Transit is a nightmare.
I once did a research project about the system. The whole thing was laid out in the 60's when the lower 2/3 of the state was mostly farmland. The Suburban neighborhoods were just starting to be built. So the focus of the system is on getting people in and out of New York city for the "9 To 5" shift.
No thought was put into getting around within the state. and the fact is no one in the state sees a point in putting money into expanding the system. And if there's an attempt to build a new train station, the people in that town scream bloody murder and it doesn't happen.
Nice song and great explanation for this system. Although commuter rail is my preferred form of public transport, the local busses connecting these lines deserve some appreciation and ease of use too.
Also, permission to ping New Jersey Transit's UA-cam channel in a community post so that they can view this quicker? I don't have twitter and wouldn't be able to ping them there.
Yes, of course. Thank you!
Seeing how buses have double the ridership then the commuter rail network. Buses are vital to New Jersey, without them the Garden state won’t be the same.
@@Maunico0809 Really need improvement though, many routes badly need better frequency. the 815's the descendent of a full railroad(ok a small one) and a frequent street car, they should at least be able to run it half-hourly.
Another great video, Alex! Hopefully NJ Transit can-can make a change!
In Comparison, TTC's fares in Toronto are like deadly simple. On PRESTO farecard , ticket, or debit/credit card, you get a two-hour transfer for every payment. Transfer and tap to your hearts content, thou shalt not be charged again within 120 minutes. If you pay by cash, get a paper transfer in case a fare inspector appears in the one-in-a-million chance they decide to do their job. Transfers are free but only valid for a continuous journey, so better not make any stopovers or walk to the next stop. Again, if your not using cash, doing all of the above is perfectly fine because its just a two-hour pass!
And Sydney NSW has fare by distance on buses but even it is simple. If paying by Opal card or contactless, just tap on when boarding and off when alighting. Keep the card handy incase an authorized officer or the public transport command wants to check your ticket. If you're paying by cash you have to tell the driver your destination when paying him, so you pay the right amount but note that many buses are Prepay only or Opal only, in which case you cannot pay by cash with the driver and must use Opal or contactless
I was legit about to make this exact same video but without the music aspect. So now if anyone asks me how I feel about NJT's fares I'll just link this video.
Also, on this topic, you're right. The commuter rail IS the only one that's simple (and it's technically cheaper because there's less zones on it as well, if you compare the rails to the buses that cover the same distance). That's sad.
You can still make the video. I'll link it as a card in this one.
I really liked your video from last week.
Also, I just downloaded the Override table. It brings a smile to my face that you also put in the senior disabled fares as well.
One thing I like about NJ Transit commuter trains better than the MTA LIRR or Metro North is that they don’t do peak fares on rush hour NJ Transit trains and that the fares stay flat while MTA Railroads charge a little extra when riding trains in rush hour peak directions. And even worse, MTA Metro North specifically charges those same unnecessary peak fares on their rush hour reverse peak morning trains. While I feel safe to ride with crowds out of NYC on NJ Transit before or after 3 PM on weekdays, I try to leave NYC by 3:30-4 PM at the latest if riding Metro North or LIRR on a typical weekday.
Alex, you've done it again! I love this!
“We don’t need a smart card”
In my small town and throughout the surrounding region, we have a tap and ride system. When you get on and off the tram or bus, you tap your visa/master card and after midnight, the correct amount is deducted for the last day, including any discounts. We have this system for years. I have never seen easier system... I can't imagine how I would pay as a tourist in NJ.
Which region? (If you don't mind me asking.)
@@cut_and_cover Europe, Czech Republic, Ostrava. I think London was the first city to introduce this system and we were the second.
@@Nhkg17 That's really interesting. My home transit authority SEPTA has a tap in tap out system for Regional Rail. But you need like $8 on the card to even open a trip, and it's deducted right away after you tap out. They're paranoid about people not having enough money on their cards. But on the other hand, the Ostrava system would save on transaction fees.
I once tried to get from New York to Camden via NJ Transit.
I was institutionalized as a result of the planning.
Was it pre-River Line?
@@cut_and_cover Nope, just had a tough time with the website, and complicated things for myself by throwing in yet another transfer (by taking PATH to Newark instead of just getting on NEC at NYP. Total savings: ~$2 😐)
So it was PATH -> NEC -> River Line -> PATCO
@@YourLocalCatboy Sounds like my kind of transit journey. More transit authorities means more intrigue!
In Denver, CO, they simplified fares about a year ago, and a standard 3-hour fare is $2.75, which can get you FAR, as distance DOES NOT MATTER. If you can make it from Parker to Longmont via Boulder in 3 hours, the fare doesn’t change. Additionally, people under 19 ride for free on all routes, even to the airport.
This is brilliant. WOW In Vienna you buy 1 365 euro ticket for the entire year. That you will only need when driving the metro because in realty ther are no controllers on busses anyway. And Vienna is 1 big fair zone.
Zurich, Switzerland is two zone. I live a bit outside of zurich and need four zones. My subscription costs me 1500 Swiss francs a year.
You better pay for a ticket. They do regular checks and if you don't have a ticket, you get a 100 swiss francs fine. The fine increases each time. After some time you'll get a record in your criminal record.
lovely stuff! the care and attention you put into your videos really shows, thank you for taking the time to make these!
You are a scholar and a saint. The riverline tickets you missed, need to be stamped with a time upon arrival to the station. NJT needs a lot more funding and a lot of restructuring... Been riding it for years still don't understand it all.
Even though the night schedule on the SEPTA train I ride is not the most convenient thing, I just flash, I mean tap my Senior fare
card and don't have to mess with paying. I like being old! I ride for free!
NJT and SEPTA Fares
Legit are the main thing
keeping me from crossing those
2 off my transit bucket list
LIRR is also annoying because after you put in your origin/destination, you need to select the type of ticket, which can give you deals when travelling to certain places, but it doesnt tell you which types of tickets you are eligible for and which types you cant get.
This video made me believe that comedy songs can be listenable.
Broadway, here I come!
I’m glad when I used NJT the busses just had a card reader to tap your credit card, I’ve got no idea how much it charged me, but I didn’t have to deal with this mess
This dude walked around Camden with a guitar for a video that’s real dedication
NJ Transit: The last public transit agency with a significantly sized fleet of high-floor buses.
I don't remember subscribing and hitting the bell, but I'm glad I did :)
Ya know, I live in NJ, and I have no damn idea how to use the bus system. I'm so intimidated by it. I've ridden the bus system in different states and all is fine and easy, but over here, holy shit. There's too much math in my head, and I can't keep up
What's a trip you're trying to complete, maybe I can help.
@@cut_and_cover thx man! I actually decided to ask on reddit how it works and some guy gave me essentially a book on NJTransit, and now I feel like I'm a professional xD I do appreciate the offer tho I believe I got it all figured out now.
This is awesome!! :D Catchy song and incredibly useful facts! Wish I could've enjoyed this while at Rutgers, it would've made NJ Transit much less confusing.
song and so true; I had so much trouble several years ago trying to figure out how much a bus from the Port Authority to Northern NJ would cost. The only way to deal with, sorry NJTransit, are either to fix it or make satiric songs about how stupid the fare structure is.
I didn't know I needed this, but it's awesome
Good lord this kid is a genius. Great job.
I started riding NJ Transit as of the early 2010s and independently as of 2017-2018 but it took me a few years to get the whole fare system in mind, based on where I ride and what mode of transportation I use. Zoned fares of course are necessary for commuter trains and it’s good that the light rail fares are pretty flat but some of those bus routes are just a bit too hard to understand with fares as there’s so many different logics, rather than just a structure of a few fares based on type of bus route it is. It’s even more confusing that some bus routes charge extra for peak destinations that don’t even rely on distance as much, and not everyone is gonna know about that fare difference reasoning all the time. Like $9 one way from NYC to American Dream on the 355 compared to $4.50 on the 163 from NYC to East Rutherford, it’s understandable in some ways to do that but it’s still very hard to understand why that is. Or even more confusing, I almost thought it was $10 one way from PABT to Walmart Harmon Meadow on the 320 but it was actually just $4.25 but they charge $10 on that Same route from NYC to North Bergen but yet Walmart Harmon Meadow is a little bit more west of North Bergen.
Man, I'm thankful for our fare system in Minneapolis. Pay your $2 and ride as much as you want for 2.5 hours. Salt Lake City is the same way except I think it's 90 minutes. In Dallas you pay $3 and it's good for all morning or all afternoon/evening.
Way less confusing than this.
No idea why am still surprised by these prices. You wouldn't get very far with that amount of cash in Switzerland. I think two stops with the bus are around 4$.
You either pay for 2h or 24 hours.
@@Leenapantherat least you guys have a superior transit system that's covers the entire country so every small town and village can be accessed by either bus tram or rail.
Here in the US most transit systems don't even exist outside of major cities.
Insane how there's not just a fare card that handles all of this automatically
They are working on one actually! Though I kind of wish they'd just do Omni, most NJT riders will at least occasionally use a omni system(either MTA or Path)
@@Joesolo13 i got bad news... path plans on using something separate from omni and njt planned card so get ready to be switching between all three
@@warhead811 you make me sad :(
@@warhead811 god damn it PATH
Well done!
honestly as someone from jersey it never bothered me how fares were set up until i commuted to ny and realized how fucking complicated every other system was
I love it. Love it!
Definitely could be an entire college course!
The Newark Light Rail's main line used to be called the Newark City Subway. Until fairly recently, it used ancient rolling stock. Oddly, it's one of the oldest metro systems in the USA (before it was re-designated into "light rail"
Hey just to let you know your content is amazing. I just got recommended one of your videos so I think the algorithm is
starting to pick up on you
Geeze be glad you get that amazing transit system there are constant buses and trains I moved out of nj recently and I wish SEPTA ran nearly half as well as nj transit and they provide absolutely nothing to connect Philadelphia and the Lehigh valley which are only 40 minutes apart at the Philly suburbs most north point with a septa metro and Allentown they could easily connect the 2 via bus but don’t be glad you still have that amazing transit service that nj transit provides because I really miss it I would give anything to have it back
So glad I subscribed when I first binged your stuff, this made my day! that payment system for the busses really is way more confusing than anything I've seen, but at least the busses are (presumably) reliable and have somewhat frequent service. Although, I usually just carry a roll of quarters when I plan on using the bus around here, so it isn't as bad for me to have to pay on the fly, but still. Come on NJ. I love you for operating half of the remaining branch lines from the PRR, but apperently your busses are complete nonsense. I love the busses around my college, it's a dollar for the first bus, and then another 50 cents covers all the transfers you need to get anywhere in the county. Sure, they only run hourly, but they are at least simple, affordable, and reliable.
Their website is BS too, though, it's so incredibly out of date.
"at least the busses are (presumably) reliable and have somewhat frequent service"
That's highly dependent on what part of New Jersey you're in.
Yeah, a couple of the contract operated ones don't show up like a third of the time.
lol
as a New Jersey resident myself, I find this amusing lol
I totally agree....even from my experience with NJ Transit it's always like that
back in the 90s everything was so nicely cheap
Good job on this song
This is so true. I’ve ridden every njtransit rail line light and commuter and found it seamless. I’m also no stranger to buses, notably Pittsburgh.
But until last month I had never ridden a njtransit bus. Funny the local buses (somserset county buses) are sinple; flat fare $2 and they go all the way to New Brunswick. I spent literally all night before trying to figure out my fare for njtransit bus. Pay by zone; where to find the zones….(two hours later) oh wait it’s on the route brochure.
I wasn’t even sure about the whole ticket thing so I brought exact change (spends one hour counting nickels and quarters), twenty dollar bill, and the bus ticket on phone…just in case.
The bus experience was actually great when I actually got on it since it was a coach bus. But oh boy this video is so true.
Will post a video about this experience.
Dude. This is AWESOME. I am speechless
When I was staying in South Florida, a couple years ago, I took the Tri-Rail up and down a lot. It has a simpler zone based fare, but I still disliked it, especially when I barely had to cross a zone😢
I thought Septa was confusing but never mind. I will bow down to NJT
Agreed 👍, NJ TRANSIT president greedy CEO Kevin Corbett should listen to this
I’m trying to figure out how to get to NJ today and I’m about to have a mental breakdown.
I was confused with NJ transit, when I got a paper ticket to get it invalidated on a German style invalidator and then the conductor came along and took my ticket after he also invalidated it another time...
I'm a Rutgers commuter too so I can confirm 😩😩😩😩😩💯 The song reminds me of WKYK, good job bro! Proud to attend the same school as u 🔥
Great video!
I never knew the Newark Light Rail had a cheaper underground only. I think I have only using the light rail to go to Bloomfield and back, so it never applied to me anyway. How convenient they don’t mark which sites are underground on the map either.
I have never seen someone work so hard and so creatively to dunk on their own local transit system. This is the types of acts we should all learn to aspire and do for our own communities. Anything less is not worth persuing and anything more will just turn as an act of defiance. ride on 😎🚃
The people at KAT better look over their shoulders.
That's insane! Great song too!!! 😄
551 Bus from Philly to Atlantic City is $18 one way. You can buy a round trip ticket on app or machine for $20 or use a one way train ticket that costs $10.75
Seriously, what the hell kind of drugs were the people at NJT on when they made that structure w/ override fares, etc?
you should be a paid consultant. excellent and love the guitar and singing.
Makes me appreciate Minnesota's Metro Transit!
Very helpful, informative, and entertaining song. I will actually argue that this is the opposite of how SEPTA fares work. While NJ Transit makes commuter rail seem simple while complicating busses and light rail, SEPTA flips them. SEPTA bus and light rail fares are only $2 with the key card and the first transfer is free. Regional rail...... Don't bother calculating the price, just buy an independence pass.
I hope he gets a million views cause this is wonderful KEEP IT DUDE!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸😀😀😀
What I think is messed up is that the NJ Transit mobile app does not list the 400 nor 500 bus routes for ticketing and schedules, and many NJ Transit ticket machines around Philadelphia don’t list for those bus routes either.
It does. It just has a very stupid feature that is stopping you from seeing them right now. Go into the app, click on the profile icon, open up your profile settings and change your ZIP code to one within the city limits of Philadelphia.
1:38 Meanwhile in HK actually every bus service has their own unique fare scale (& different operators' may use the same route number for different routes, while other routes are jointly operated by 2 operators), where you're charged a fare when you board, & it generally gets cheaper the further down the bus' route you board. Transfers to other buses at stops further down the route are often free though (like in 1:43), so you could say this system approximates to having distance-based fares, with the advantage that it is harder for passengers to underpay their fares. Their MTR (subway/metro) strictly sticks to distance-based fares however (plus an extra ~HK$20/US$2.50 if you're travelling to the border crossing with Shenzhen in mainland China), while trams charge a flat rate, & their light rail (like a high-floor tram that have dedicated lanes in the middle of the road) uses zone-based fares
You could get a whole album out of that.
I think I've found an exception that no one has mentioned yet: the 355, from Port Authority Bus Terminal to American Dream Mall costs $9, which doesn't match up with any interstate fare anywhere else.
Yes, or on the 72, the location of the Paterson zone boundary changes depending on whether you're traveling within Paterson or to/from outside Paterson. It just goes deeper and deeper.
Looking at it, it basically puts part of the route in two zones at once to give people better fares, so at least I can understand why they do it that way.
And this is why I never take the bus even if it is technically shorter. (Lightrail is the way to go)
I absolutely loved this
This is what happens when people who have only ever travelled in cars all their lives are incharge of public transit planning
Great lyrics aside I love this rendition of can can
Alex Davis - can you please write a song about the mysterious but exciting Newark De train station? It is a brand new station that got lost in the Covid era, it never properly opened, and it never connected to Baltimore, like it was supposed to for some reason it was never fully completed. It remains a mystery to this day.