Toms River Has Relaunched Free Ortley Beach Shuttle

The free shuttle to Ortley Beach from mainland Toms River is back this summer after a one-year hiatus following Superstorm Sandy, township officials said Thursday.

“We had a lot of requests to bring the shuttle service back to Ortley Beach,” said Jared Tate, Director of Recreation for Toms River. “A lot of families don’t want the pressure of trying to find a parking space as close to the beach as possible, so we are providing this service, three days a week, to accommodate those requests.”

The shuttles will pick up from Toms River High School North at 11 a.m. and from High School East at 11:15 a.m. and depart Ortley Beach at 3 p.m. Children must be over 14 years of age to ride alone. The schedule, which is subject to change, will run on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays between July 1 and Aug. 30.

The service is in conjunction with Toms River Township and the Toms River Regional School District, officials said.

"The more people that take public transportation, the more we can reduce the parking problems," Mayor Thomas Kelaher said.

Kelaher said the shuttle is not only a convenience for the residents, but provides transportation for those who don’t have their own means of getting over the bridge into Ortley.