West Orange Jitney Woes Expected To End By Late Summer: Township

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Jitney service in West Orange is still seeing lingering issues from the coronavirus pandemic, but town officials are predicting an end to many woes by late summer.

The West Orange Department of Public Works released a message for local residents about the issue last week, noting that there may be a return to “full service” by September. Officials wrote:

“The COVID-19 pandemic still adversely impacts West Orange’s commuter jitney service. The shortage of bus operators with commercial drivers licenses and an endorsement to allow a driver to operate a vehicle with passengers hinders the return of the jitney service to pre-pandemic levels. However, a new contract with a vendor will take effect July 1, 2022. That contract will enable the vendor to offer competitive salaries to allow the return of full service by September. No longer will routes be combined as they have been for over two years. With schools open, more traffic and an increase in jitney riders the combined and longer routes make keeping on schedule difficult. That will end by late summer.”

West Orange officials continued:

“Furthermore, the new contract requires the vendor to have on site supervision and a backup driver on paid standby for when a driver is absent or a bus breaks down and a replacement vehicle is necessary. Additionally, in the meantime, the township’s senior bus drivers will add to the pool of standby drivers to minimize the disruptions starting June 6, 2022. Finally, as the service levels increase the township will restore full time monitoring of jitney bus and train operations so timely updates can be provided to riders.”

“Thank you for your patience the past two years,” officials concluded. “Full service will be restored shortly with full time monitoring to keep West Orange an attractive commuting suburb of New York City.”

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