NewBus Newark

NewBus Newark is an initiative to reimagine local bus service in the Newark region.

Focused on 38 local bus routes in and around the City of Newark, NewBus Newark evaluated how well the existing network serves customers by assessing where people live and work, how they travel, and how they use today’s system.

Why is NJ TRANSIT changing the bus network? Even before COVID-19, ridership was declining on local bus routes, suggesting that the system no longer serves Newark’s residents, businesses, employees, and visitors as well as it could. The COVID-19 pandemic has also changed travel patterns throughout the region, requiring a rapid response to emerging and future mobility needs. Together, these factors present a unique opportunity to rethink bus service, identifying how the network can better serve the community.

These findings, combined with community input, were used to identify implementable recommendations for a new system that better meets the region’s mobility needs.

Keep scrolling to learn more about the proposed changes and provide your feedback.

In early 2021, NJ TRANSIT conducted a survey asking people about the types of improvements they would like to see in local bus service. The survey collected over 1,500 responses from around the Newark area. Current and former bus riders overwhelmingly stated that their most desired service improvement was to have buses run more often. More frequency was three times more important than lower fares or longer hours. Respondents who do not ride the bus felt that having shorter travel times was most important. The NewBus Newark Plan adds frequency across the entire network and works to make service faster to make it more attractive to both current riders and future riders.

In spring 2021, NJ TRANSIT held public meetings to discuss how it should prioritize the investment of its limited resources. The NewBus Newark Plan uses NJ TRANSIT’s existing resources, meaning it must use the same number of buses as it does today. This means that in order to make any improvements, NJ TRANSIT must make difficult decisions about how to balance out those changes. The following are important tradeoffs the Plan considered in order to improve the bus network. Click on the arrows to learn more about each tradeoff.

The NewBus Newark Draft Plan includes a lot of new changes intended to improve the customer experience and make riding the bus attractive to more people for more purposes. Click on the arrows to learn more about the new features of the Plan.

View the proposed new system map below. You can click on each route to read about the proposed changes, frequencies, and spans.

Each route in the NewBus Newark Plan is assigned a Type which determines how often the service runs and the level of bus stop and travel experience improvements.

While the NewBus Newark Plan can be implemented using the existing road system, NJ TRANSIT believes that prioritizing buses on key corridors will help further transform the customer experience over the long term. Capital improvements that prioritize buses to reduce trip times and improve reliability include dedicated bus lanes, better traffic signal timing, and changes to bus stops that reduce boarding time and minimize time spent at red lights. In the Plan, these investments are recommended for high frequency corridors (Type 1A/1B and Type 2), where they would benefit the greatest number of riders.

NJ TRANSIT will need to work with local municipalities, counties, and state government to identify funding and plan any changes to streets, intersections, and bus stops, so these improvements will occur over a longer period of time. Design and construction will need to be undertaken by local partners in most cases.

The Plan greatly increases the number of routes, riders, residents, and jobs with access to frequent service from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Click and drag the slider back and forth to see the change in frequent routes between the Existing Network and NewBus Newark Plan.

Weekday Network – 15 Minutes or Better

Under the Plan, 88% of riders in the service area will be within a 5-minute walk of 15-minute or better service, and 23% of riders will be within a 5-minute walk of 5-minute or better service. Half a million people and almost 200,000 jobs will have access to frequent service, a 56% increase over today’s service.

Today, there are only three routes that operate all-day 10-minute service on Saturdays. Under the Plan, there will be a 150% increase in the number of people and a 50% increase in the number of jobs within a 5-minute walk of 10-minute service. Two-thirds of riders in the service area currently use one of these routes proposed for 10-minute service on Saturdays.

Today, there are no routes that operate all-day 10-minute service on Sundays. Under the Plan, 250,000 people and 100,000 jobs will be within a 5-minute walk of 10-minute service, and 70% of riders in the service area currently use one of these routes on Sundays.

The comment period on the NewBus Newark Draft Plan ended on September 9, 2021. If you have additional feedback and would like to stay involved in the project please  click here .