Commuting from North Jersey Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'll be starting in the fall at a big law firm in midtown. My commute by bus from North Jersey is about 30 minutes without traffic and up to 1 hr in rush hour. Do you think this is doable? I'm thinking I can come in to the office a bit after rush hour and if I stay late, my firm offers a black car service. Would they be cool with me using this service often?

[Anonymous User]

I'll be starting in the fall at a big law firm in midtown. My commute by bus from North Jersey is about 30 minutes without traffic and up to 1 hr in rush hour. Do you think this is doable? I'm thinking I can come in to the office a bit after rush hour and if I stay late, my firm offers a black car service. Would they be cool with me using this service often?

I have been doing this for nearly 3 years and definitely have created a situation where it is doable and workable. What town in North Jersey? Bergen County? I take a bus that has me into the city by around 9:30. Where is your office located? I am happy to discuss this with you further if you'd like to PM me just let me know.

[1styearlateral]

No train stations going into Penn where you're at? Would seem like a quicker commute.

[Anonymous User]

No train stations going into Penn where you're at? Would seem like a quicker commute.

You have to switch in Secaucus or Hoboken, so not necessarily. My bus is a straight shot into Port Authority, can definitely be quicker than taking the two trains.

[Anonymous User]

I'll be starting in the fall at a big law firm in midtown. My commute by bus from North Jersey is about 30 minutes without traffic and up to 1 hr in rush hour. Do you think this is doable? I'm thinking I can come in to the office a bit after rush hour and if I stay late, my firm offers a black car service. Would they be cool with me using this service often?

I have been doing this for nearly 3 years and definitely have created a situation where it is doable and workable. What town in North Jersey? Bergen County? I take a bus that has me into the city by around 9:30. Where is your office located? I am happy to discuss this with you further if you'd like to PM me just let me know.

Good to hear you've been able to do this! I'm from Morris county and my office will be right outside Port Authority. Are you ever worried about the bus having unexpected delays?

[Anonymous User]

I'll be starting in the fall at a big law firm in midtown. My commute by bus from North Jersey is about 30 minutes without traffic and up to 1 hr in rush hour. Do you think this is doable? I'm thinking I can come in to the office a bit after rush hour and if I stay late, my firm offers a black car service. Would they be cool with me using this service often?

I have been doing this for nearly 3 years and definitely have created a situation where it is doable and workable. What town in North Jersey? Bergen County? I take a bus that has me into the city by around 9:30. Where is your office located? I am happy to discuss this with you further if you'd like to PM me just let me know.

Good to hear you've been able to do this! I'm from Morris county and my office will be right outside Port Authority. Are you ever worried about the bus having unexpected delays?

Hm. Morris county on the bus may be a different beast. I take the bus from southern Bergen County and its only a few miles/stops before approaching the city. If you're making a lot of stops through suburban towns or whatnot, then the ride will definitely be longer. Perhaps you will have a lot of bus options that are express, or that take the parkway or the turnpike? The fact that your job is right near Port Authority is a big plus; I have to walk or take the E to get to my office in midtown east so that adds another 20 minutes or so. Either way though, it is totally doable. In terms of delays, if I know that I have to be in the office at a certain time (i.e., a client meeting at 9am or something), then I make certain to leave myself an extra 30-45 minutes or so to account for any delays. I guess it depends on the practice, but I very rarely have this sort of meeting, and my arrival time is not monitored or anything, so I tend to take a bus between 8:45-9:10 and get in between 9:45-10:15 every day, with most days arriving right at 10. I think that you will just need to show that you are very accessible remotely. I frequently take calls and of course answer emails during my commute, and I have it set up so that any calls from my work phone go directly to my cell phone, so that people don't really even know/care where I am answering from. If you can establish yourself as reliable and prompt and do good work, no one really cares if you are delayed every now and again due to traffic. Also, people know that I live far away and are much more accommodating if I want to leave early and pick up from home. I have a family at home so I much prefer to leave the office at 6:15 and pick up back from home than to stay until 8 or 9 for the car, but that's just me. I personally feel like if you have a super long commute AND you're the type who has to get everything done before leaving the office, it's not the right fit for you. The fact that I am fine doing work anywhere definitely helps my commuting situation.

[misterjames]

I come in from Weehawken and echo what the other poster has already said. I would point out one additional factor though, that being "the helix" that leads into the Lincoln (it's the biggest turn you see in this pic https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... l-1955.jpg) Coming from Morris county I would imagine your bus will travel in through that thing and it really is a beast all its own. If you're coming from Hudson or Bergen, the bus comes in from that road that cuts down the center of the "U" part of the helix, and there's far less traffic. Some days the traffic on the helix really looks unreal, so take that for what you will.

[Anonymous User]

I come in from Weehawken and echo what the other poster has already said. I would point out one additional factor though, that being "the helix" that leads into the Lincoln (it's the biggest turn you see in this pic https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... l-1955.jpg) Coming from Morris county I would imagine your bus will travel in through that thing and it really is a beast all its own. If you're coming from Hudson or Bergen, the bus comes in from that road that cuts down the center of the "U" part of the helix, and there's far less traffic. Some days the traffic on the helix really looks unreal, so take that for what you will.

I come in on the helix as well (poster above from southern Bergen county). You are correct that the traffic on the helix usually looks really crazy, but the trick is to time the XBL (Exclusive Bus Lane). It is from 6-10am, and I typically reach it around 9:25 or so. By then, the main commuter bus rush is over, so while the other lanes are still pretty jammed then, you can typically get into the lincoln tunnel on the XBL with little problems. However, it is only one lane, so any bus breakdowns, accidents inside the tunnel, etc. will cause major delays. Anecdotally, the Port Authority has gotten better with dealing with this stuff in the time that I have been commuting, and there's only a crazy delay like that once every few months. When it does happen, it typically happens earlier in the morning and is often reported on the news or on the Port Authority's twitter page, so you can know to take the train or a different option that day. But most accidents are cleared up within an hour or so anyways, so you'd have to get really unlucky timing wise to get stuck in anything that nuts. That being said, in the 3 years I have been commuting this way, I have had a number (I would say maybe 10-15) of 2+ hour commutes one way, with 3 or so of those taking 2.5 or 3 hours. So it does happen rarely, but people understand.

[Anonymous User]

No train stations going into Penn where you're at? Would seem like a quicker commute.

You have to switch in Secaucus or Hoboken, so not necessarily. My bus is a straight shot into Port Authority, can definitely be quicker than taking the two trains.

From Morris County, I would definitely research options of places somewhat nearby where you can drive to a direct train, like somewhere along the Morris-Essex line, or even consider driving to Harrison and taking the PATH. Less direct/convenient options, but will likely save you a lot of headache in the long tun.

[Anonymous User]

No train stations going into Penn where you're at? Would seem like a quicker commute.

You have to switch in Secaucus or Hoboken, so not necessarily. My bus is a straight shot into Port Authority, can definitely be quicker than taking the two trains.

From Morris County, I would definitely research options of places somewhat nearby where you can drive to a direct train, like somewhere along the Morris-Essex line, or even consider driving to Harrison and taking the PATH. Less direct/convenient options, but will likely save you a lot of headache in the long tun.

Is it just the Morris-Essex line that has direct trains into the city? What other train lines in the area do?

[Anonymous User]

I commute by bus from Livingston. It's doable but can be painful. The biggest annoyance is having to be in the office by around 9:30 every day just in case something comes up (random partner asks for an in person team meeting with 30 minutes of lead time), even when you were up until 3 or 4 the night before getting work done. Associates who live in the city have more flexibility to sleep in on nights like that because they can be in the office on short notice.

That said, I enjoy living in the suburbs and getting less sleep is the price i pay for that. It hasn't really affected my performance at work at all.

[Anonymous User]

I commute by bus from Livingston. It's doable but can be painful. The biggest annoyance is having to be in the office by around 9:30 every day just in case something comes up (random partner asks for an in person team meeting with 30 minutes of lead time), even when you were up until 3 or 4 the night before getting work done. Associates who live in the city have more flexibility to sleep in on nights like that because they can be in the office on short notice.

That said, I enjoy living in the suburbs and getting less sleep is the price i pay for that. It hasn't really affected my performance at work at all.

Is there no possibility for you to ever say to the partner, politely and at the right time, that you live over an hour away and have to contend with interstate traffic in the mornings and would really appreciate more than 30 minutes of a heads up? I would think they would understand that reality of commuting, plenty of people have similar commutes from Long Island, etc.

[Anonymous User]

Thoughts on taking the ferry if the firm is in Hudson Yards?

[ruski]

I commute by bus from Livingston. It's doable but can be painful. The biggest annoyance is having to be in the office by around 9:30 every day just in case something comes up (random partner asks for an in person team meeting with 30 minutes of lead time), even when you were up until 3 or 4 the night before getting work done. Associates who live in the city have more flexibility to sleep in on nights like that because they can be in the office on short notice.

That said, I enjoy living in the suburbs and getting less sleep is the price i pay for that. It hasn't really affected my performance at work at all.

Is there no possibility for you to ever say to the partner, politely and at the right time, that you live over an hour away and have to contend with interstate traffic in the mornings and would really appreciate more than 30 minutes of a heads up? I would think they would understand that reality of commuting, plenty of people have similar commutes from Long Island, etc.

I don't care where you're at, calling a meeting at 9:30 AM with a 30 min lead time is total bs

[misterjames]

Thoughts on taking the ferry if the firm is in Hudson Yards?

depends how far you are from the ferry on the jersey side. the ferry is expensive but if you're walking distance from the port that would be amazing.

[1styearlateral]

Thoughts on taking the ferry if the firm is in Hudson Yards?

Still probably better off taking the bus, then the 7 one stop to HY.