Commuting to New York City and Princeton

Introductory Testimonial

For five years, I commuted on a daily basis to my job in Manhattan from my home in Bensalem, PA. And it wasn't half bad. In fact, it was quite a pleasant experience most of the time -- restful and relaxing -- but I found two things about it to be rather amazing:

1) That it only takes an Amtrak commuter train 65 minutes or less to travel from Bensalem, PA, to Manhattan's Penn Station at 33rd St. and 8th Ave., and...

2) That almost no one in New York looking for a home in the 'burbs had any idea at all that Bensalem, PA, existed. New Yorkers think the world ends at Trenton!

So I investigated, and figured out that the problem is that Amtrak doesn't post route maps in Penn Station, but New Jersey Transit does. Sure enough, New Jersey Transit maps show the world ending at Trenton. (And, like Columbus sailing off the edge of a flat earth, there's a clear implication that trains which overshoot New Jersey's capital fall into the Delaware River! ;-)

The fact is, the fastest New Jersey Transit train from Trenton to Penn Station runs 5 minutes slower than the slowest Amtrak train running from Bensalem, PA, through the Trenton station, all the way to Penn Station underneath Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. Bensalem is 11 track miles farther away from New York than is Trenton, but its trains get there faster!!

Puzzled that few knew these facts, I investigated where it was that all the thousands of New York City commuters getting off the evening trains at Trenton were going. Many, it turns out, were driving across the river to houses in Bucks County, PA, not far from my own home. But many others were laying down big money to live in outsized, expensive, freshly minted new homes located in unlikely developments stuck in former corn fields outside Trenton. I heard stories of grown men giving each other high fives over landing homes in desolate old potato patches. It all seemed like such a heart-breaking waste -- a mistake!

There's a huge difference between living well in the 'burbs, and living in a lettuce patch while thinking you're living well in the 'burbs. I honestly think that most of the people making New Jersey farmers comfortably rich in their golden years (by planting suburban dream homes in old turnip fields!) either don't understand what they're buying into or don't realize they have alternatives.

If you've read this far, I sincerely hope you'll choose your suburban home well, with full knowledge that trains don't fall into the Delaware River, and there's some utterly fine civilization just 11 miles beyond. Good luck with your house hunting!

-- Rick Booth

There are three practical ways to commute to New York City from Bensalem. The fastest and most convenient is, naturally, the most expensive. Some who commute on Amtrak get their employers to cover some or all of the cost. It's a very good ride.

The table below summarizes estimated times and costs for commuting from the door of the house I'm selling to Manhattan's Penn Station underneath Madison Square Garden at 33rd St. and 8th Ave. in Manhattan. Each method is subsequently explained.

Average Trip Time

First, have a look at the Cornwells Heights station:

The satellite image above speaks volumes about the Cornwells Heights station. There are nearly 2,000 parking spaces at the station. This image shows the parking lots as they appear on a typical weekday. The big parking lot in the middle is nearly full, and the auxilliary lot on the left is empty. Both of these parking lots offer entirely free parking every day. There is a cross-over bridge ramp from Iinerstate 95, visible at right, going directly into the parking lots. At the bottom of the picture, the Northeast Corridor train tracks run beside the station. The southbound station house and passenger shelters are set close to the tracks below the lower left end of the I-95 bridge ramp.

But wait.. It gets better!

The image above shows a satellite closeup of the small parking lot next to the northbound passenger shelter, where the New York City commuters board their Amtrak trains. The lot isn't even full. There are empty spaces where you can park within 10 feet of incoming trains, and it only costs $1 per day to park there. Four shuttle buses are shown at the right side of the picture waiting to take departing passengers back to the huge free parking lots on the other side of the tracks. So you can take your pick: $1 parking at trainside, or free parking on the other side.

By comparison, at Princeton Junction, there is reportedly about a two-year wait to even get a morning parking space for your car, and it costs a lot more than $1/day to park there once you've served your time, so to speak. Furthermore, Princeton Junction doesn't have shuttle buses.

There are two morning Amtrak trains that stop here to get commuters to New York City before 9 a.m.

There are likewise two Amtrak trains which return commuters to Cornwells Heights in the evening.

If you miss either one of these trains, you can use the same monthly pass to get to get on and off many more Amtrak trains which stop at Trenton. If you go in by Amtrak from Cornwells Heights and miss the direct return trains, take another Amtrak train to Trenton, and then pay $4 to take a SEPTA train to Cornwells Heights.

Right now, a monthly pass for travel between Cornwells Heights and New York CIty costs $972. And if you spring for the $1/day parking, that puts you pretty close to $1,000/month for the Amtrak commuting costs.

Some people who use this station for commuting negotiate with their employer(s) to get the commute subsidized outside of salary. There may also be ways to pay for it with pre-tax dollars, so that may be worth looking into.

But even if you pay full price, you do get a darned good ride, to and from New York City, in a comfortable, reclining, padded seat with lap tray. For many, it's the most relaxing hour (each way) of the day.

A much less expensive option is to take local SEPTA commuter trains to Trenton, and then catch one of the many New Jersey Transit trains to New York City. It's an easy, same-platform transfer.

The monthly NJ Transit pass goes for $352, and the monthly SEPTA pass to get to Trenton costs $96. Call it $450/month. The commute time is a bit longer, and subject to missed connections from time to time at Trenton. you basically have to figure out your options by studying both the SEPTA route R7 schedule to and from Trenton, and the NJ Transit schedule to and from New York.

And finally, you can drive the 15 miles to the Trenton station, which takes about 25 minutes. Allow another five minutes to get to your train. Monthly parking at Trenton's commuter parking garage costs $155. And again, the monthly NJ Transit pass costs $352. At current prices, you would use about an extra $80/month just in gasoline costs for driving to Trenton, so the drive-to-Trenton options comes out to about $600/month.

If you don't mind the driving, the flexibility of havng a car waiting for you at Trenton at all hours can be nice.

People do commute succesfully all three ways.

Though it's quite possible to match up SEPTA trains with NJ Transit trains to get to and from Princeton Junction, the best way to get to the Princeton Route 1 Corridor is by car. It's about 25 miles to the lower end of the major business corridor. Factor in rush hour traffic as necessary. Sorry the train option there doesn't work out! ;-)