981 Port Liberte-Grove Street

The 981 Port Liberte-Grove Street is a bus route operated by Seven Bus Corporation, a Coach USA subsidiary, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, under contract to New Jersey Transit for its Wheels service. It connects Port Liberté with the Grove Street Port Authority Trans-Hudson station, operating entirely within the city of Jersey City. As of 2008, buses operate on weekdays only, with 14 trips from and 15 trips to Grove Street in downtown Jersey City.

On April 14, 2010, as part of system-wide budget cuts, New Jersey Transit announced that it was ending Route 981 effective May 2010.^[1] As of May 29, 2010, Port Liberte will have no public bus service. Port Liberte plans to expand its private shuttle service to provide residents with access to the Grove Street PATH station. ^{[2] [3]}

History

The origins of the 981 lie in the Central Avenue Bus Company, chartered in 1925.^[4] By 1938, it had become the Central Avenue Bus Owners Association, an independent bus owners association of former jitney operators.^[5] By 1977, the route continued south from Journal Square, near the south end of Central Avenue, to the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Communipaw Terminal.^[6] The route was eventually acquired by Red & Tan in Hudson County, a subsidiary of Coach USA, and operated between Port Liberté and Hague Street in Jersey City Heights via Journal Square and Central Avenue as the 231.^[7] Coach USA decided to cancel the route effective Friday, January 27, 2006, and New Jersey Transit began operating the 981 as a replacement service on Monday, January 30. Only the portion south from Journal Square to Port Liberté did not duplicate any existing routes; NJ Transit's 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, and 88 routes already served the general area between Jersey City Heights and Journal Square or downtown Jersey City. Additional trips were added to the 87, which includes about half of the 231's Central Avenue run, to make up for the loss;^[8][9] Central Avenue now sees no buses from Franklin Street north to Congress Street.

References

1. New Jersey Transit, [http://www.njtransit.com/var/var_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=ServiceChangesPvtCarrierTo
2. http://www.portliberte.com/insider_info_detail.php?type_ID=3
3. http://portliberte.biz/Shuttle_Schedule.pdf
4. New York Times, New Jersey Charters, April 14, 1925, page 34
5. New York Times, Henry Hohorst; Founder of a Jersey City Bus Line Dies in Glen Rock, December 24, 1938, page 15
6. BusTalk.Net Surface Transportation Media Gallery, Central Avenue IBOA
7. New Jersey Transit, Private Carriers, accessed February 2, 2007
8. New Jersey Transit, Press Releases, NJ Transit Adds Bus Route in Jersey City: Service begins January 30 between Grove St. PATH and Port Liberte to provide replacement for Coach USA #231, January 24, 2006
9. New Jersey Transit, Service Adjustments, Attention Coach USA Bus Route No. 231 Customers, January 24, 2006