By BONNIE FRIEDMAN Jersey Journal Staff Writer
Coach USA is discontinuing bus service on its No. 231 route – which operates between Liberty State Park and Hague Street in Jersey City – starting Friday, officials from said yesterday.
As a result, NJ Transit is starting limited service between Port Liberte and the Grove Street PATH station – where no alternatives exist. The new route – No. 981 – will begin operating Monday but only during peak periods.
For customers who currently ride the No. 231 bus in the Heights, alternative bus service is available on NJ Transit routes 83, 84, 87 and 88 into Journal Square.
But for Ken Milk, 53, a disabled Heights resident who takes the bus from Central avenue, the walk to Summit Avenue will be a hardship.
“I’m on a fixed income,” he said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. This isn’t fair.”
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for NJ Transit, said the agency is considering rerouting one of the four bus lines to serve customers who live on Central Avenue.
“We are looking into making changes to those routes but that is not a change we can make immediately,” he said.
“We certainly know there are customers of Coach USA with disabilities and that’s why we are looking at this. We are doing what we can as quickly as we can.”
A message left for Coach USA last night was not immediately returned.