commuting from NJ

to work in NYC. Let me tell you, I have tried EVERY POSSIBLE method, at one point or another. I have driven, ridden bus & train, mixed the two together along with walking, etc, etc, etc. Believe me, it is set up in such a way that you’re best bet is just taking the train, even though it is expensive and rarely runs (NJ transit). At least you won’t have to deal with traffic, and it runs pretty regularly without many mishaps (though they do happen).

Before I had a car here in Paterson, NJ, I had to walk downtown (almost 30 minutes) and take either the ‘guaguita’ to Port Authority for $4 one way (which could take forever, doesn’t run at night, is uncomfortable, and is not totally regular) or take NJ transit which costs $5.25 one way and transfers at Secaucus Junction on route to Manhattan (where if you miss your train, you typically have to wait an hour). Note: there is a cheaper $9 off-peak round-trip option, but off-peak means coming home before 3:30pm or after 7:30pm, and you can’t save by going off-peak in one direction and not in the other. (Both directions have to be off-peak)
After getting my car back (my sister had it for a while), I tried out other options, even though my downtown Paterson commute was easier (no walking or waiting for a bus that never came). Of course just driving directly to Manhattan is not an option during rush hours, since there’s always traffic, and it is next to impossible to find parking.

One idea was to drive to Fort Lee and park in their municipal parking a couple blocks from the guaguita pick-up right before crossing the George Washington Bridge. The parking was not free (and you had to foretell the future to know how many hours you will be away in order to not overpay parking), and the cross-bridge cost is $1. You get dropped off sort of inside this terminal where you can walk to the subway. Of course that ride is another $2, and this is all just one-way, so you can see where the fees add up. On top of that, you’re constantly waiting and riding, so the commute really does take up to 2 hours 1-way. Not worth it.

I also contemplated driving the other direction toward Secaucus. Secaucus Junction would be a great place to drive and pick-up an NYC-bound train running at least every 15 minutes. But no, they don’t allow that. Only certified Secaucus residents are allowed to do this. Another possibility, to beat the traffic & $6 Lincoln Tunnel toll would be to ferry across like my friend who lives in Hoboken. But on further thought, I realized this would be akin to the treacherous commute through Fort Lee & the GW Bridge, so I didn’t even venture on that one. Likewise, I could consider driving to the PATH train in Jersey City, but again, this would only give me more fees and headaches…for that I should drive all the way to Manhattan, right?
So it comes down to this: my best option is driving downtown to the local NJ Transit train stop, hoping for free parking, and praying to not miss my train, then paying a total of $10.50 to go to Penn Station and back.