Residents lack convenient, safe commuter parking
Margaret M. Jelcich
Guest Column

I must comment on your recent article regarding Old Bridge's commuter parking lots, empty or otherwise ("Old Bridge To Allow Sayreville Use of Empty Commuter Lot," Suburban, July 26).

Commuters have complained for years about the lack of convenient parking (and bus service). People are lured to move here by the alleged "great commute," but the infrastructure has not kept pace with the population boom (ask any former New Yorker on the long lines in Port Authority). NJ Transit provides substandard local rush-hour service along Route 9, despite two fare hikes in as many years. Route 9 businesses are loath to allow commuter parking in their near-empty lots. Don't they realize that commuters who park there are more apt to shop there? This is prime real estate; whatever resident parking lots exist are courtesy of either a loan (Jake Brown Road) or zoning approval givebacks (Inverness Road). Other businesses don't mind commuter parking as long as desperate commuters pay them $150 monthly.

The Old Bridge park-and-ride actually consists of four different lots on the northbound side and one on the south; only one lot is for township residents only and is filled by 7:15 a.m. (Despite what was written, there are 388 resident parking spaces, not 800). Many Monmouth County residents drive here to save on bus fares and park at the four "public" lots, while taxpaying residents (who, in addition to the daily parking fee, must purchase a yearly parking pass that does not guarantee a parking space) are limited to only one.

The Inverness Road lot provides 252 resident-only spaces. Approximately 18 months ago it was half empty at 11 a.m.; by January 2007 it was full by 7:15 a.m.

The additional spots the township secured for residents are, for the most part, too far from the Route 9 bus stops. It's not surprising that only one car was parked in the Home Depot lot (its existence is not even listed on the town's Web site). Those who know about it wonder if anyone from the township actually walked from Home Depot - across three crowded shopping-mall parking lots, over the Route 9 overpass, up or down a steep flight of stairs - to reach the park-and-ride bus stop. Try doing that twice a day, in the snow, rain or after rush hour when the lots are dark and deserted. It's incomprehensible why the township forces a taxpaying and permit-paying resident to walk about a mile under difficult circumstances to reach a bus stop when a nonresident can just stroll a few hundred feet to catch the same bus. Perhaps the town and/or NJ Transit could give the Home Depot lot to the nonresidents (Sayreville included) and make all four park/ride-north lots for residents only. That would get my vote.

The Carl Sandburg Middle School lot is also inconvenient and dangerous (and absent from the town's Web site). It's another long walk to either the limited No. 133 bus on Ticetown or to Route 9. Oddly, other, closer spaces are marked "no commuter parking"; it's probably more important for joggers to park closer to the track. I parked there once and was extremely nervous walking the barely-lit distance at 10:30 p.m., only to find my car scraped from front to back. Needless to say, I won't be parking there again.

If, like me, you've grown weary of stressing yourself trying to find a parking space after 7:15 a.m., you can take the very limited No. 133 bus line, which adds 45 minutes to your already-long daily commute.

Why haven't township officials investigated alternate options? Last year I wrote asking them to consider shuttle buses to/from the Matawan train station, where there's a 15-year waiting list for parking passes and commuters arrive at 6 a.m. and sleep in their cars until 8 a.m. (I understand it's not much better at South Amboy). NJ Transit has successfully worked with towns along the Midtown Direct train route, providing funds and equipment for jitney buses taking residents to/from train stations. The company says it has also sent information packets to our area towns, but no interest was expressed.

So to hear our officials congratulate themselves that there is "more parking for resident commuters than necessary at this time" is ludicrous. No one parks in these spots because they are either totally inconvenient, dangerous, or in a more expensive fare zone. Could we hear some smart ideas for a change?

Margaret M. Jelcich is a

resident of Old Bridge