By Peter Elacqua
Staff Writer
Area residents who commute to and from Wall Street in New York City via Academy Bus on Route 9 are continuing to assert that the company does not provide a satisfactory level of service.
Freehold Borough resident Steven Ferguson said he has been an Academy Bus commuter for 16 years. Ferguson commutes from Schibanoff Road in Freehold Township to lower Manhattan.
Before changing jobs, Ferguson commuted to and from midtown Manhattan via New Jersey Transit.
New Jersey Transit does not serve lower Manhattan.
“The glaring differences [between New Jersey Transit and Academy] are accountability, keeping to schedules, and having enough buses and drivers to accommodate the needs of the riders,” Ferguson said.
On June 1, the monthly fee for daily Academy Bus service to Wall Street from this region increased from $350 to $360, he said.
Commuters have taken to social media to express their concerns about the company’s service. A sampling of comments states that, “I never know if I am going to show up or get home on time,” “Worst in customer service … Buses are always 20 minutes late. … If you need to depend on Academy to get you to and from work … you are putting your job in jeopardy.”
In May, state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) wrote to Thomas Scullin, vice president and chief operating officer of Academy Bus. Beck relayed the concerns commuters expressed to her office and asked for answers.
“According to my constituents, it is quite common for riders to wait 20 to 45 minutes for a bus. This is quite unbearable during the winter months. It seems as though Port Authority is given a higher priority and resources are often pulled from Route 9 and given to other routes,” Beck wrote.
“When buses do arrive, sometimes there are not enough seats due to the line being underserviced. Additionally, there have also been complaints about cleanliness. Some of the buses are not cleaned after school trips and are littered with garbage during commutes back to New Jersey. Some riders are displeased with unpleasant smells as well,” the senator added.
“When inquiring about late buses, riders have had difficulty getting information from dispatchers about the next arrival. They are also disappointed that their complaints go unaddressed, especially in light of the (June) fare increase,” Beck concluded.
Scullin replied to Beck in June and said most of the issues regarding schedules were related to a shortage of drivers as a result of several drivers being out for medical reasons.
“To correct this problem, we have assigned some of our commuter routes from our Toms River terminal to Leonardo and Perth Amboy,” Scullin wrote. “In addition, we have temporarily assigned 30 drivers and buses from our southern terminals to our New Jersey operations, providing us with additional resources.
“We are also aggressively seeking to hire more drivers and have increased our hiring sign-on bonus for drivers to $5,000 and have improved our wage and benefits plan. I am confident our short-term solution will fix the problem and provide us with sufficient time to hire more permanent full-time drivers,” he said.
Forums at which commuters were given the opportunity to air their concerns about the company’s service were held in 2007 with Beck with Scullin in attendance. Ferguson said after those forums were held, service on Academy Bus improved for a while before issues began reoccurring.
In response to a request for comment this week, Academy Bus issued the following statement regarding the concerns expressed by commuters: “Our riders are our top priority. Academy Bus is working diligently to recruit drivers for the routes servicing the Route 9 corridor. While progress is being made, regulatory procedures and training require a brief period of time before new drivers are on the road. We expect that service will return to normal levels in the near future and we will monitor all motor coaches on these lines for cleanliness.”
