Traffic & Transit

Some Hoboken Ferry, PATH, Bus Service Is Cut Amid Coronavirus

Workers commuting from Hoboken to Manhattan hospitals complained to Mayor Ravi Bhalla that they needed the 5:25 a.m. bus restored.

HOBOKEN, NJ — Because the number of Hoboken residents commuting to New York has dropped drastically amid the coronavirus spread, the local ferries, buses, and trains have cut their service — although at least one bus route had to be added back after emergency workers complained they needed early-morning service to Manhattan.

Last Monday, NY Waterway, which provides ferries from New Jersey to Manhattan, said it was dropping almost all of its local routes starting Tuesday, including all ferries from Hoboken across the river to New York.

And on Sunday, PATH said it would reduce its train trips from New Jersey to Manhattan, using a "modified weekday schedule with additional peak service" and "modified weekend schedule." The new schedules can be found here.

Find out what's happening in Hobokenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

NJ Transit, which runs buses from the Hoboken PATH station through upper Hoboken and then to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, also reduced their service, but apparently didn't get word out to emergency workers who took the first bus of the day. Mayor Ravi Bhalla asked the agency to return that first bus route. Here is a link to the trans-Hudson bus route changes.

Watch Hoboken residents take to their windows Saturday night to applaud emergency workers (video here).

Find out what's happening in Hobokenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Bhalla wrote in an update on Saturday, "We received news this morning from several frontline health care workers that New Jersey Transit adjusted the 126 bus schedule to start in the 6 a.m. hour, which was problematic for a number of hospital workers who relied on the 5 a.m. hour services to reach their places of employment at New York hospitals." NJ Transit restored the 5:25 a.m. bus from Hoboken terminal to midtown Manhattan.

Bhalla said Sunday night that 96 Hoboken residents have been confirmed with the virus, and officials stated that a third of the patients in the local hospital were coronavirus patients — causing the hospital to beg for 13 more ventilators.

"Unfortunately, with the apex not projected to hit for another few weeks, and with expanded testing ability, we are likely to see an even greater amount of confirmed cases in the coming days," Bhalla wrote in an update Sunday.

On Sunday, Gov. Phil Murphy said that 161 New Jersey residents have died of the disease and more than 13,000 are confirmed to have it. Nationally, it was reported that an Illinois infant died from coronavirus, the first child that young in this country to die from the disorder.

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Residents who have questions about coronavirus can call 211 or contact the State of New Jersey's hotline at 1 (800) 222-1222.

Experts say that the novel coronavirus, because it's new, is more lethal and much harder to treat than the flu.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

Got a Hoboken news tip or just want to reach out? Email caren.lissner@patch.com.

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