Re: (erielack) EXTENDED COMMUTER SERVICE

["Jim Guthrie" <jguthrie_@_pipeline.com>]

> Martz Bus has two 'peak hour' trips scheduled from Scranton to New York at 
> 2 >3/4 hours each; I don't know how close to that time they actually 
> operate.  They >do not stop at all of Martz's pickup points (other trips 
> cover them) and have the

My experience riding the bus scheduled to leave Scranton is as follows:

There are usually 4-5 passengers from WIlkes Barre sound asleep in the back 
of the bus when we board (along with maybe 20 others) shortly before 5:45 
AM. The bus is usually filled at Stoudsburg; there's usually enough of a 
stop there that people can use the restroom and maybe get a soda or a bottle 
of water in the bus station.

The first delay is usually after Netcong -- sometimes all the way to I287. 
It the speeds up again, but it is sometimes a slow go from just west of 
Newark to the NJ Turnpike, and then slow again getting off the turnpike and 
through the Lincoln Tunnel -- bus lane or no bus lane <g>.

It can also take 15 minutes or more from the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel into 
PABT, because of the local streets and traffic lights encountered entering 
the lower level of the terminal.

The earliest it has arrived was 8:50 AM, and has been as late as 9:35 AM 
(Due 8:30).

I wish there was a place to get coffee in downtown Scranton at 5:30 AM -- or 
a full breakfast at 5 <g>.

Westbound is interesting as buses leave as soon as loaded. The 6:30 PM 
departure has then left as early as 6:15 PM. Passengers are sometimes 
exganged at Stroudsburg so there aren't two buses to Scranton and Wilkes 
Barre -- one to Mt Pocono and the other direct to Scrantonb, for example.

There are usually 8-10 passengers for Scranton on this bus -- all (except 
us) on multi-ride tickets.

Martz runs 57 buses on its various routes, and lobbies (generally trying to 
stay under the radar) against resumption of rail service.

Transbridge runs similarly to Easton, Bethlehem and Allentown -- and we've 
had to change buses at Clinton. What I hate with them is the surprise of 
having the bus loop through Newark Airport with attendant delays. I've also 
been on the Transbridge bus when the driver has pulled off the road because 
of chatty cell phone conversations, telling people they can all wait -- or 
arrange for the talkative one to depart the bus.  Time keeping is also 
spotty -- for much the same reasons as Martz. But I've also done the trip in 
a blizzard, which is a load of fun.

In any case, I don't think we'll see Scranton restoration in our 
lifetimes -- there are too many consultants who need to do studies (the 
current study on restoration of service to Andover will extend the time from 
NJT Board approval to the END OF THE STUDY longer than the DL&W took to 
plan, build and open the entire Cut-off.

Finally, when Frank Martz died in the 1930s, the company went bankrupt and 
had the same Federal Judge as the Wilkes Barre and Eastern. As it turned 
out, regulatory oversight was the only thing that stood between the judge 
and his cronies looting the company and its reorganization. Judge Johnson 
also tried to loot the WB&E -- but the ICC also put a stop to that (I guess 
he'd be another one grousing about how regulation killed transportation 
entrepreneurship <g>).

Judge Johnson was later impeached.

I have a copy of a short history of Martz I can send along if anyone is 
interested.

"Her gown stays white from morn to night,
She eschews the road of anthracite
On Miss Phoebe's modern travel days,
she rides the bus of Martz Trailways . . ."

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie
ELHS #1296


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