JerseyJim tests the Secaucus train/shuttle bus en route to see some septuagenarian rockers in Jersey.
Purely for the sake of research, and my growing curiosity about New Jersey Transit, I ventured to The Izod Center of The Meadowlands last week to explore the ease of access from midtown New York to the swamps of Jersey.
It just so happens that The Dead was playing two nights at The Izod Center, formerly Brendan Byrne Arena and Continental Airlines Arena.
This was also a bit of a journey of personal nostalgia, returning to the venue of my first Grateful Dead show on 4/16/83. So when we heard about the shows, my brothers and friends figured it would be a fun outing. Hear some good music, have some laughs, see some friends.
Concert tickets procured ahead of time, as the plan fell into place, my wife and brother would carpool from NJ. I was coming from Manhattan after work — I assumed I would simply catch a shuttle bus from the Port Authority, as I’ve done in years past for hockey games, concerts, and football games at the Giants stadium. For this trip, I’m glad I did some checking ahead of time!
Nowadays, buses from the Port Authority only run for Giants and Jets games. For other events, NJT runs shuttle buses from Secaucus Junction to the Meadowlands.
The $10 round-trip train ride and ten minute shuttle bus ride went off without a hitch. My train arrived at Secaucus Junction speedily [Editor's Note: What, no Terrapin Station joke here?], and I detrained to wander the empty sprawling complex that is the Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction Station. The clean and window-filled station is state-of the art–or art-of-the-state, considering the $450 million price tag for construction, but a welcome sight, compared with the commuter warren known as NY Penn Station.
Ticketing for the train and shuttle bus was similar to the DC Metro – my train ticket served as my pass through exit turnstiles, and would be reusable for the round trip.
Hoping for connection signs to The Meadowlands, I soon found my way, a few other tie-dyed folks heading out to parking lot, where a shuttle bus was loading up.
The drive through downtown Secaucus was not very trafficky for rush hour, and the (non-opera singing) driver was quite pleasant, and even offered to play any CD that us riders wanted to play for the short journey. (Nobody had one…probably worried about Arena security at the gates).
We arrived about 15 minutes after our departure from Secaucus Junction.
Dropped off on the north side of the arena, I soon found my wife and friends. The return shuttles were scheduled to leave promptly 30 minutes after the concert ended. I’m hoping my all fellow riders caught their after-concert connection back to Secaucus. If they missed the ride to NYC, they could have easily found a ride to Philly for
next leg of the Dead tour.
- jerseyjim