New Bus Shuttle Project Will Take Seniors, the Disabled from Ridgewood to Tri-Borough Office Complex

Amid the clanging noise of construction and announcements from the PA system overhead, Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney held a press conference at the soon-to-be wheelchair-accessible Ridgewood train station on Friday afternoon to introduce a new county shuttle bus project.

The County Executive annouced that a $450,000 grant from the New Jersey Transportation Planning Authority will enable seniors, the disabled and employees of the Tri-Borough office complex in Montvale, Park Ridge and Woodcliffe Lake to take free shuttles from the Ridgewood train station to the Tri-Borough office district. Return service back to the Ridgewood train station will also run.

The grant, funded by federal money, will have two shuttles running from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week providing direct access to the corporate zone, which representatives from Montvale said lacked parking accomodations and a viable public transportation system. The grant will allow the county to run the project for three years.

"It will bring our communities closer together in Bergen County," McNerney said.

According to the McNerney, the project "will provide an excellent source of free public transportation for employees and residents of the region linking it here to the Village of Ridgewood train station."

Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk (R-39) of Montvale said the corporate sector in the Montvale office complex area have long talked about some way to get the traffic off the road while also bringing County residents to the area.

According to the assemblywoman, many of the corporations said they were still looking to hire more employees but were unable to do so due to the lack of parking accomodations in the area.

The corporations that are still looking to hire "will be very happy to hear this news," she said.

"This is the type of progress that government should be involved in," said Vandervalk.

In addition to the job opportunites, she and many other officials that spoke lauded the project as a benefit for the environment, as it aims to reduce emissions from vehicles, as well as general congestion on the roads, a problem throughout the densest populated state in the nation.

"Traffic in Bergen County is a critical concern for residents and legislators alike as we work to find solutions that will alleviate congestion and provide residents with more lost effective and convenient alternatives," said McNerney.

He continued: "This program will provide an excellent source of transportation for employees and residents of the Tri-Borough region, open up employment opportunities for seniors and disabled residents at the Tri-Borough Complex, as well as a greener alternatives for everyone who otherwise might have driven."

Mayor Keith Killion attended the press conference and thanked those involved for seeing the project through and said the Village is looking forward to the start of the project. 

According to the mayor, "It will lessen traffic, it's a green alternative to not have all these cars on the road, and Ridgewood being the end or beginning stop is going to bring more people to town."

"That's always good for our local businesses," he said.

Where those commuters to the Tri-Borough area are going to park has yet to be determined, Killion said.

"When the plan finally gets implemented, the [New Jersey] Transit will be having a discussion with us on the staging area," he told Ridgewood Patch.

"I'm sure we can work out an accomodation for this wonderful project," said the mayor.

For Ridgewood, this project will accompany the existing senior bus project, giving Ridgewood seniors and the disabled more options on places to go, and if interested, work. The current senior bus moves about 50 people a week, Assistant Village Manager Janet Fricke said.

The project will likely bring more wheelchair users to the Ridgewood train station, which has in the recent past seen one disabled resident express concern that the $41 million update poses safety and efficacy issues. The resident said there were concerns due to the height of the platform and the loss of a useful sidewalk in the design.

Dan Stessel of New Jersey Transit said the station will likely be ADA accessible early next year when the outbound platform is completed (it's still low-level, Stessel said via e-mail), but until then disabled riders are encouraged to use other stations.

Paul Aronsohn, Village Council member and chair of Ridgewood Community Acesss Network (CAN), said he supports the project, noting that transportation is "one of the key challenges faced by people with disabilities."

"Anything we can do as a community to address that challenges is a step in the right direction."