Second Ave. Sagas

On the Super Bowl-ready buses that sat idle after the game

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

The post-Super Bowl crowd awaits some semblance of relief from NJ Transit. (Photo via Julian Gompertz/Twitter)

A week ago, at this very hour, tens of thousands of football fans were awaiting relief. They were jam-packed outside of Met Life Stadium, hoping that some New Jersey Transit train would show up to bring them to Secaucus Junction where they could wait for another train to get them to Penn Station. Despite New Jersey Transit’s later proclamation of a great night, it was a mess, and both New Jersey lawmakers and the National Football League have vowed to conduct investigations into the situation.

It will be some time before the results of yet another investigation into New Jersey Transit’s poor operations procedures are available, but already, stories are leaking out of something between managerial negligence and managerial incompetence. Shocking, I know, but bear with me. Here’s the latest from the Daily News: New Jersey Transit had 100 buses ready to deploy but no one thought to call upon them. Pete Donohue reports:

While tens of thousands of Super Bowl attendees waited for hours to cram into trains after the game Sunday, at least 100 New Jersey Transit buses were on standby about 6 miles away but were never deployed. “They were lined up one after the other,” a source familiar with Super Bowl transportation plans and game day operations said of the buses. “They were staged and ready to go.”

But for some reason, no one called in NJ Transit’s cavalry of commuter coaches as legions of frustrated fans inched out of MetLife Stadium and waited in horrendously long lines for shuttle trains bound for NJ Transit’s Secaucus Junction station…

One source told the Daily News that in order to have staff available, drivers were called in on overtime and NJ Transit canceled vacation days for some workers. Yet despite the planning, no one ordered the rollout of what could have been a solution to the embarrassing postgame mass transit mess. The fleet of buses was viewed merely as a contingency plan in case problems arose at the Secaucus station, sources said. NJ Transit did send about 20 buses to the stadium from a nearby highway rest area, and they arrived not long after the game ended.

I don’t have too much to add here. Snarky comments don’t do this justice. It is, rather, yet another example of New Jersey Transit’s inability to operate a transit system into and out of some of the most densely populated areas of the country and some of the areas that most rely upon transit. Rolling out the buses wouldn’t have solved the problem for all 29,000 people, but such a measure would have been a no-brainer to attempt to tackle the problem.

Ultimately, still, everyone at New Jersey Transit who was employed before the Super Bowl still has his or her job just like all of those upper-level executives were completely botched the agency’s response to Sandy still have their jobs. There is no accountability at New Jersey Transit, and this carelessness seems to run all the way up to Trenton where Gov. Chris Christie said he was “really proud of the work” New Jersey Transit did during the Super Bowl. As hard as it is to believe sometimes, New Jersey Transit is a vital part of the network that ensures congestion in New York City and its environs is kept to a minimum. It deserves better than this.

Comments

53 responses to “On the Super Bowl-ready buses that sat idle after the game”

  1. John-2

    Is it too late to give New Jersey’s bus system back to the gas company?

    Reply
  2. Michael K

    Time to revive the plans for Tri State Transportation Commission’s regional transportation department?

    NJ balked in 1971 because they thought paying for 45% of the costs was too much and CT’s 10% was too little.

    Reply
    1. Tower18

      10% is definitely too little for CT these days, with the growth in ridership on the New Haven Line. But there really should be a cross-border agency over top of the little fiefdoms, even if it’s just for planning and budgetary purposes.

      Reply
      1. SEAN

        Just remember that was 1971, 8-years prior to NJT’s creation. Also Connecticut didn’t have the population or corporate job base that it has today.

        Reply
  3. adirondacker12800

    If the NFL and their security consultants say you can’t send buses to the stadium why is that NJTransit’s fault? There was a security perimeter outside of the parking lots that buses couldn’t go into. Pedestrians weren’t allowed through it either. So they couldn’t send the buses over to the Izod Center and let people walk to the buses over there either.

    Reply
    1. Ryan

      It’s NJT’s fault for not screaming about the choke points loudly and often.

      Assuming that what you’re saying is true, by not issuing (at the minimum) a press release saying in nicer words “The NFL would rather you all be jammed into this platform like sardines than allow us to send relief buses through the perimeter, so you’re all totally screwed, terribly sorry (not our fault), please complain to any of the helpful folks we’ve provided contact information for below [big old list of NFL executive names and phone numbers]” as this was all unfolding, they accepted culpability for this.

      If what you’re saying is not true, of course, then NJT is culpable for totally dropping the ball AND they don’t have a convenient target to deflect blame onto.

      Reply
      1. adirondacker12800

        It’s been pointed out on other forums that the 300 buses were arranged so that if there was a problem at Secaucus – the antique electrical system on the Northeast Corridor deciding that right after the game would be a good time to shut down for instance – and that if they had diverted them to the stadium and just that happened they wouldn’t have any buses. How many buses should they have had in reserve? 80,000 people at 50 on the bus is 1600. Some of those buses would have been able to make two trips. 1,000? 800?

        Reply
        1. Ryan

          But the problem wasn’t at Secaucus. It was at the Meadowlands.

          300 buses as a contingency in case of general failure is more than sufficient as a CYA measure. The problem is that NJT decided to sit on its ass and do nothing just in case something else happened to go wrong.

          Reply
          1. adirondacker12800

            So they decide to send the buses to the stadium because everything is going swimmingly and as the 298th bus leaves the staging area Penn Station gets closed down. What do they do then?

            Reply
            1. Ed

              No you are wrong prove it

              Reply
            2. Ryan

              Coordinate with the MTA to mobilize additional emergency buses ASAP (because Penn Station closing is a a big deal for EVERYONE) and start shuttling people to Hoboken. Terminate all NY Penn-bound trains at Newark, start running emergency shuttle trains to get as many people out of Secaucus as possible, and instruct 150 of the 300 buses to make their return trip to Secaucus instead of the Meadowlands.

              Multiple things going wrong at once would have been a true disaster, and it would have been absolutely imperative that the contingencies and the plans in place adjust on the fly to deal with multiple points of critical failure.

              HOWEVER. The same argument you’re using right now has another application.

              Suppose rocks fell on the tracks and shut everything down at Trenton. But since everything except for Trenton is fine, should NJT continue to sit on their 300 contingency buses and do nothing because more rocks might fall on the tracks at Secaucus? How about if some idiot intern spills coffee on the wrong piece of machinery and EWR has to close, but Secaucus is fine. What then?

              What’s the point of having contingencies in place at all if you won’t use them when something is going wrong now, because something else might go wrong later?

              Any number of very bad things could have gone wrong, but they didn’t. And while the NJT would probably be making one hell of a sustained “we made the right call” victory lap right now if the Northeast Corridor had totally failed or Penn Station had closed or a surprise meteor had obliterated Metropark and cleaved the line in half and those 300 buses were what saved the day, everything else went fine.

              And because everything else went fine, NJT has an awful lot of egg on its face right now.

              Reply
    2. Joseph Steindam

      Well that can’t be true, because there were all of those Fan Express buses that moved some 12,000 people before and after the game. They were $51 for the round trip, but they sold out. So the NFL didn’t have any issue against using buses within the security perimeter.

      The 100 buses could’ve helped move an additional 5000 people, and if they were just going to Secaucus, they probably could’ve moved as many people in an hour as the trains were moving. If they had planned on using the buses, they could have actually set up an additional waiting area, the platforms didn’t get so heavy, and divided the crowd towards either the train or bus to Secaucus. I don’t doubt the logistic difficulty of improvising solutions to moving crowds bigger than expected, but more could have been accomplished to get people out of the Meadowlands in less than 3 hours.

      Reply
      1. Chris C

        The fan buses only moved 12k people?

        Not sure how that fits in to the numbers as I understand them.

        82k in the stadium

        33k used the trains (5k more than to get there)

        leaving 49k using the buses and their own cars.

        I understand that 10k car permits were so assuming 2 occupants per car that still leaves 29k using the fan buses.

        I believe that the NFL predicted that 14k would use the trains, 50k on the buses and the rest in their own vehicles.

        NJT got 28k fans to the game without major incident i.e. double the numbers the NFL told them to expect and 1/3rd more than the 18k NJT were apparently working too. That shows to me that NJT did do a reasonable job in planning the train service – even adding on more capacity than the NFL said they would need.

        What they could not really plan for is a last minute switch of 5k people from using the fan buses or cars to the trains to leave – yet they still got these fans away from the stadium.

        I may be mixing up some of the figures here but I got them either from posts on here or on the LIRR today so I think that they are broadly correct.

        Was the transport perfect? No of course not. Could they have done things differently? Yes of course but only within the capacity they have in train numbers and infrastructure. The decision not to use the extra buses was obviously wrong in hindsight.

        The NFL have lessons to learn too.

        $51 for a fairly short bus journey looks to me like price profiteering rather than providing a service at moderate charge and which covered its costs. A full bus would generate $2500 of income, what were the operating costs?

        But in the end NJT did get everyone away reasonably quickly so it is not quite the disaster some are making it out to be.

        Reply
        1. Michael K

          Only 12k fan express bus seats were available.

          1,100 bus permits were issued as well. The NFL assuming that each bus would be max capacity at 50 persons per bus, used that as their calculation.

          Turns out, most charter buses were practically empty

          Reply
        2. MDC

          “$51 for a fairly short bus journey looks to me like price profiteering rather than providing a service at moderate charge and which covered its costs.”

          Would you honestly expect them to provide a service at cost, rather than shamelessly extort every possible dollar out of fans? That’s what American professional sports leagues (including the tax-exempt “non-profit” NFL) do.

          Reply
      2. John-2

        Well that can’t be true, because there were all of those Fan Express buses that moved some 12,000 people before and after the game. They were $51 for the round trip, but they sold out.

        Apparently the bus permits sold out, but the buses were vastly under-used by the fans, according to Monday’s Bergen Record:

        A source involved with transportation planning said 300 charter bus permits were not used, even though they had been sold for $350 apiece. The NFL had estimated that as many as 50 fans would ride to the game per charter bus, accounting for up to 15,000 fans.

        The problem likely was the disparity between the prices for the train and the buses, especially with a fan base going to the game with no experience dealing with post-game NJ Transit rail travel from the Meadowlands. If there had been only a $15-$20 difference instead of a $40 difference in fares, you probably would have had more fans opting for the buses to begin with, and those 300 bus permits would have been used.

        Reply
        1. adirondacker12800

          Someone buys a $1,000 ticket to the Superbowl, flys in from somewhere, spending hundreds of dollars, takes a cab from the airport to their hotel, which is costing hundreds of dollars a night and a 51 bus fare is going to deter them from using the bus. Okay.

          Reply
          1. John-2

            Remember the stories that were also out there the Monday-Tuesday before the game about the huge number of tickets put up for re-sale? Many of the normal people with access to tickets re-sold them to honest-to-God Seahawk and Bronco fans, or others just wanting to go to the Super Bowl.

            The re-sale buyers were footing the tickets, and likely the hotel and the travel to/from New York on their own dime, not as some corporate perk tax write-off. Those are the ones who likely saw an easy way to save $40 bucks and opted for the train over the bus.

            Reply
  4. JJJJ

    I think the biggest scandal was forcing the Secaucus transfer, and not operating to Hoboken, so folks could opt to transfer to PATH, HBLR, Ferry or local bus.

    Reply
    1. WaltGekko

      I think part of the problem here was the NFL, at least going to the game was concerned someone could sneak on without a game ticket and then either on the train or in The Meadowlands cause serious problems. Given the threats to the Sochi games we were seeing in the days leading up to those games and the Super Bowl AND the attempted hijacking of a plane overseas while the opening ceremonies were going on, that was quite understandable.

      As said previously, which needs to be done anyway would be to build connections from both Penn Station and Newark into the line going into The Meadowlands so there can be direct service to The Meadowlands from Penn Station and Trenton.

      Reply
      1. Nyland8

        … or never have another high-profile, high security event like the Super Bowl at the Meadowlands again.

        Reply
        1. Ryan

          I’ve heard commentary to the effect of “never again in NYC” regarding the Super Bowl – not because of this NJT disaster, but because the atmosphere of Superbowl NYC NJ was absolutely terrible by sports-fan metrics.

          The argument they are making boils down to “other cities are swallowed up by Super Bowl festivities. New York City swallowed up the Super Bowl.” And that, apparently, is unacceptable. Everything else can be forgiven! Not that.

          As a non-football-liker, I personally think that’s an excellent argument for holding it in NYC far more often. Of course, as a non-football-liker, I’m far from having the appropriate mindset to be calling the shots as to where to hold the Super Bowl. But there’s the argument, such as it is.

          Reply
          1. Eric

            What? As a football fan (but not an especially serious one), I heard that the atmosphere was much better than normal. In a typical Super Bowl, most of the seats are given as corporate perks to upper managers who don’t care much one way or other about the game. This year, those rich people didn’t want to go to an outdoor game in January, so they resold their tickets, where they were bought by actual fans. So the crowd was much more animated and involved in the game than usual.

            Reply
            1. Ryan

              The atmosphere being referred to in this case is everything surrounding the game before and after – not the game itself.

              Outside of Super Bowl Boulevard and certain hotels at certain times, you barely noticed that there was a Super Bowl coming up. By comparison, cities like Indianapolis you could hardly get away from the Super Bowl without leaving the city altogether.

              It’s that sort of “just another day in NYC” je ne sais quoi that was so offensive.

              Reply
              1. SEAN

                It’s that sort of “just another day in NYC” je ne sais quoi that was so offensive.

                That was the best part of it. NYC went on like it always does & wasn’t overwelmed by the moment – transit failures not withstanding.

                If the Giants or Jets were playing, then things may have played out differently since the metro area would have a ruting interest.

                Reply
                1. Ryan

                  Oh, no, don’t misunderstand me. You and I are in total agreement about what the best part about having the Super Bowl here was.

                  I’m just forwarding along the message I’ve been getting from die hard fans and sports personalities – that message being what you and I thought was the best part of the Super Bowl being here in NYC was the one thing that NFL/fans can’t and won’t tolerate.

                  I guess, phrased differently, the argument boils down to “NYC was too big for the Super Bowl, we want to hold it in smaller cities that we can effectively overwhelm.”

                  Reply
                  1. AG

                    yup… like the pretty girl in high school that goes to college and realizes she isn’t the prettiest anymore.

                    Reply
                    1. SEAN

                      Sorry Ryan, I goofed.

                2. AG

                  well there was only the failure at the Meadowlands bottleneck. Part of the reason that NYC was not overwhelmed by the SuperBowl is because of the mass transit system. IN other cities everything is choked with ppl trying to get a peak of some related event. In NYC – there is no heavier than usual road traffic… and the added riders on the subway system were barely a blip day to day. As much as we gripe about the subway – it’s really a testament to their efficiency (as crazy as that sounds – lololol).

                  Reply
            2. AG

              Eric – you are both right in a way. Well except that while the game atmosphere was noted to be more lively – it was not because rich ppl didn’t go. This Super Bowl had the highest priced tickets compared to the last 6… The locals that did go still paid a pretty penny… It’s just like US Open tennis – when you get to those later rounds there are no “bleacher creatures”. You are paying a pretty penny (unless you get the ticket free) – but those matches are well known in the tennis world to be the loudest. Sahme with professional golf… The USGA always makes note of how loud the NY area crowds are (only the Phoenix Open crowds can compare)… which is why they try to make sure the US Open for golf is in the NYC metro area once ever 5 years.

              On the flip side – I believe what Ryan is talking about is that in terms of marketing – the Super Bowl usually “shuts down” any city it goes to… in NY/NJ that just wasn’t the case because NYC is always crowded and always busy and there is always some national or internationally televised event going on. The NFL probably wasn’t too happy that the NHL played an unprecedented 2 “Stadium Series” games at Yankee Stadium that were nationally televised during Super Bowl week. Then of course – Fashion Week just started and that actually has a bigger economic impact (without the TV audiences) than the Super Bowl.
              That said – the owners of the Jets/Giants stated openly they hope to get another Super Bowl in the next 10 years. They said publicly – once the league and owners look at the numbers they will agree again – because there is simply too much money to be made in this area.

              If/when it does happen again… hopefully there will be greater rail capacity at the Meadowlands and the NFL/NJT will have another 200 buses available.

              Reply
              1. SEAN

                On the flip side – I believe what Ryan is talking about is that in terms of marketing – the Super Bowl usually “shuts down” any city it goes to… in NY/NJ that just wasn’t the case because NYC is always crowded and always busy and there is always some national or internationally televised event going on. The NFL probably wasn’t too happy that the NHL played an unprecedented 2 “Stadium Series” games at Yankee Stadium that were nationally televised during Super Bowl week. Then of course – Fashion Week just started and that actually has a bigger economic impact (without the TV audiences) than the Super Bowl.
                That said – the owners of the Jets/Giants stated openly they hope to get another Super Bowl in the next 10 years. They said publicly – once the league and owners look at the numbers they will agree again – because there is simply too much money to be made in this area.

                If/when it does happen again… hopefully there will be greater rail capacity at the Meadowlands and the NFL/NJT will have another 200 buses available.

                What is being described here sounds like upstaging on a city level. Only NYC & L. A. could upstage an event like the Super Bowl, wich isn’t a bad thing at all.

                Reply
                1. AG

                  well yes it’s exactly “upstaging”. It’s the pundits though – not the NFL. Even in the promos and pre-game half of the commentary was about how “special” it is (was) to have the game in NY/NJ. The media pundits have to have something to talk about… and since there was no blizzard to complain about – they chose that angle.

                  Reply
        2. Ryan

          To the point of high-security events OTHER than the Super Bowl, as long as the next event sets up the misanthropic choke point at Meadowlands station, I say keep holding them there.

          As long as they’re not jamming Secaucus or anywhere actually important to the regional network with dog and pony shows, confining everyone in the Meadowlands represents the minimum possible disruption to ordinary people’s lives.

          Reply
      2. JJJJ

        Security is not a concern on the way out.

        Reply
    2. SEAN

      think the biggest scandal was forcing the Secaucus transfer, and not operating to Hoboken, so folks could opt to transfer to PATH, HBLR, Ferry or local bus.

      I understand where you are coming from, but keep in mind that Hoboken Terminal is a nightmare for security purpuses. If you have walked the entire complex, you would see that the complex is pritty much wide open. That’s why the crowds were directed through Secaucus.

      Reply
      1. JJJJ

        In? Perhaps. Although the TSA Tunnel of Terror was the most dangerous part of the entire super bowl.

        Out? What security concern?

        Reply
        1. SEAN

          Out? Remember you have 82,000 people litterally squeezing there way to the parking area with a huge percentage of them atempting to board transit – as directed by every news outlet & the NFL it self. Both the NFL & NJT weren’t prepared for the onslaut of the increased train riders since the busses were left in vertual limbo instead of being lined up ready to go.

          Reply
  5. Jros

    From the perspective of someone who has taken both train and bus to giants games for many years; I offer a few observations:
    1. the coach buses to the stadium still have a loyal following despite the train because from the customers view it is simpler, cheaper and in most cases faster and more comfortable; despite loading 55 pp at a time instead of 1000. How is that possible? This story would be really big news if it didn’t happen.
    2. The seems to be no schedule coordination at Secaucus to Penn; every game it seems as if they are doing this for the first time. Most sunday games there are 4 trains/hr to Secaucus but all within 17 min; at 57;04,11 and 14; if you miss the 11:14; you miss kickoff!
    Coming back is just as haphazard; especially after night games; where you can wait in Secaucus( and sometimes on the packed train ) for a track into Penn at 1 AM.
    3. Despite the many great people on the front lines at NJT; there is clearly no customer service culture. at almost every turn, I get the feeling that management feels that everything would be so much smoother if they didn’t have to deal with all of these passengers! BTW, as a frequent traveler, but not daily commuter,this is very similar experience at the LIRR, MNR and to a lesser extent Amtrak.

    Reply
    1. Larry Littlefield

      “Most sunday games there are 4 trains/hr to Secaucus but all within 17 min; at 57;04,11 and 14; if you miss the 11:14; you miss kickoff!”

      They only use one track on the weekends so they can do maintenance in the other. So you have a bunch of trains going one way, and then a bunch of trains going the other way.

      They probably figure scheduling the way they do is the best way to get people to the game, including those who are a little late.

      Reply
      1. adirondacker12800

        According to rumor were running a President’s day schedule. The other rumor is that they were running shuttles that aren’t on the schedule. …They weren’t running the normal Sunday schedule.

        Reply
  6. lawhawk

    No one loses a job over incompetence, negligence, or even willful acts at NJ Transit. Weinstein is still in charge despite being the head of the agency when the rail fleet was flooded out and will continue to be in charge despite the failings on Super Bowl Sunday.

    He’s bulletproof.

    Christie’s giving him undeserved cover despite major screwups that have cost commuters serious out-of-pocket expenses from months of Sandy reduced schedules due to hundreds of trains being out of service. That damage and service disruption was in part preventable had the agency followed its own half-assed disaster plan that called for moving equipment to higher ground like at Waldwick (for Bergen/Main/Port Jervis equipment) instead of putting it at Hoboken where it was all flooded out. The agency could have bounced back faster and resumed service much faster, but its own incompetence caused incalculable costs to commuters who rely on NJT to get to their jobs – hitting the local economy too.

    So, it’s not particularly shocking to learn that NJT had buses available to loop to Secaucus (they touted building an expanded bus area at Secaucus as part of the Super Bowl plans). Nor was it shocking to learn that the agency never used the buses even though they were available.

    The buses wouldn’t have completely eliminated the backups, but it would have allowed better crowd control and dispersed the crowds in a more controlled fashion.

    Why they didn’t use them? I can’t wait to hear the inevitable excuses.

    Reply
    1. Nathanael

      Christie is the source of the unaccountability, the root of it, the center of it.

      You’d think Weinstein knew some blackmail info on Christie.

      Reply
  7. alek

    There goes a bid for the next super bowl host place in 2019!

    NJ Transit screwed up end of story. The MTA was more prepared than those loons

    Reply
    1. WaltGekko

      That was a relatively minor problem compared to the MUCH bigger problems the NFL would have had almost anywhere else during Super Bowl week. The NFL forgot that many high rollers who might have used the $51 bus to get to/from The Meadowlands likely had long committed to being in Sochi for the Olympics and had committed $10-25,000+ and three weeks to that before New York ever was awarded that game. I see New York being awarded another Super Bowl, but in a non-Winter Olympic year.

      Reply
      1. AG

        If i’m not mistaken – didn’t the $51 buses sell out?

        Reply
        1. WaltGekko

          From what I have read, they did not.

          Reply
  8. 3ddi3

    This is only half bad if this wasn’t an occurrence EVERY single time there’s a game at Giants stadium, I went to my first game at MetLife in Nov 12. I took the train there, and the regrets started inmediately upon arriving at NY Penn, the train took forever to get there, and it was very overcrowded and smelly at that station, I’m sure this is normal for daily commuter, but for me it was a disaster.
    The switch at Secaucus wasn’t so bad, but the return was terrible, people trying to jump the line, the long wait, it was like 45 minutes waiting there for a train, then the switch it seemed that there was no coordination to have another train there.
    I swore never to take the train again, which I have not done, I’ve been to MetLife twice after and I’ve gone by bus. Certainly pretty bad, but waayyy much better than the train.

    Reply
    1. SEAN

      I posted this last week & I’ll post it again – reduce the number of parking spaces. It sounds counter intuitive, but it will traffic volumes.

      Reply
      1. SEAN

        lessen traffic volumes…

        Sometimes I cant type to save my life.

        Reply
        1. afk

          At the meadowlands? And run extra buses which will move better with less traffic?

          Reply
  9. Beebo

    Silly question. Where does the majority of the outgoing people want to go?

    1. Secaucus, because, they want to grab a NJT somewhere in the ‘burbs, or Amtrak to Boston, or what-have-you.
    2. Penn Station.

    If everyone knew the trains would just go direct to Penn; you dope out where you want to go after that… Would there be a complaint? I’m thinking, “no.”

    But then we’d have to go back to how they couldn’t handle the 28k — surprise! — 33k passengers who showed up for the ride home.

    Reply
  10. Stephen – NYC

    I wonder if SAP’s tag line “Run Better” might have been a better option for getting home? 😉

    Reply
    1. Nathanael

      Probably! If the NFL hadn’t *prohibited pedestrian access to the site*, insanely.

      Not so viable for people heading east. The G W Bridge is the southernmost pedestrian crossing of the Hudson River. But it might have been the sane thing to do for people in Secaucus, Lyndhurst, Rutherford, etc. If it were *allowed*.

      Reply

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