Local transportation in the Montclair area

Hello interested folks in/near Montclair! Several volunteers have been meeting regularly to explore options and ideas for improving local transportation around our town.

We’re growing our discussion now to include more participants and more voices. Would you like to hear more, or to participate? If so, please let us know your contact info here: tiny.one/MtcTransport

Our next meeting is on Thursday April 15 at 7:00pm. We’ll send you the Zoom link.

One of the ideas so far is a low-cost local bus, shuttle, jitney, or ride service, around Montclair and perhaps to certain sites in Bloomfield, W. Orange, or other adjacent towns.

We have identified several needs in Montclair:

• • Travel between “food desert” areas of Montclair and grocery stores in Montclair, Bloomfield, and/or W. Orange.

  • Student travel before/after school between south and north areas of town and Montclair High School.

  • Student travel between Montclair businesses, local transport hubs, residential areas, and Montclair State University.

  • NYC commuter travel between local neighborhoods and train stations (including Bay Street station on weekends).

  • Travel for residents who want to shop or dine in downtown Montclair and other hard-to-park areas, without a car.

  • Travel between shopping areas, hotels, restaurants, and other attractions for Montclair visitors and tourists.

We’ve identified some potential options for local transport:

• • A shuttle loop, regularly scheduled on a fixed route.
  • A call-in or app-in service to summon a personal off-route stop, by the next nearby jitney vehicle.

We’ve identified some potential funding sources:

• • Passenger fares.
  • Support fees from local business districts/establishments.
  • Town/county budget appropriations.
  • State/federal transportation grants.
  • Private/foundation grants.

More ideas are needed!

We’re aware that various local transport options have been tried in Montclair, and that some still exist (possibly on hiatus during the pandemic).

We’d like to open the discussion to additional participants, leaders, and ideas. We’re eager to see this group include even more local transportation users.

And then we’d like to see the group move toward action: some kind of well thought-out proposal, request, or other concrete steps.

Please contact us for Zoom meeting details.