![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gaslamp-branch.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Commuters in Glen Ridge and Montclair will have a new way to get to Midtown Manhattan beginning Tuesday, Oct. 13, when private transportation company Boxcar launches a new bus route in response to NJ Transit Portal Bridge service disruptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new route, called the Gaslamp Branch of the Essex Express, will provide direct service from Glen Ridge and stops along Grove Street in Montclair to Midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n The construction will temporarily divert Midtown Direct trains on the Montclair-Boonton Line to Hoboken.<\/p>\n Boxcar said the new service was developed following a survey that drew more than 450 responses from commuters about preferred stops and departure times.<\/p>\n The company will add three morning buses and three evening buses, supplementing its existing Essex Express service.<\/p>\n Morning buses will depart from the Glen Ridge Post Office at 6:05 a.m. and 7:12 a.m., with a third bus leaving from the Glen Ridge Municipal Building at 8:20 a.m. The earliest bus is scheduled to reach the Port Authority Bus Terminal at approximately 6:53 a.m., while the later buses are expected to arrive at 8:23 a.m. and 9:31 a.m., respectively.<\/p>\n The route will include stops along Ridgewood Avenue in Glen Ridge, Bay Street in Montclair and Grove Street, including Walnut, Chestnut, Dodd, Watchung, Mount Vernon, Bellevue, Inwood and Alexander avenues.<\/p>\n In Manhattan, buses will stop at Port Authority, Bryant Park and several locations along Madison Avenue, including 43rd, 47th, 52nd and 57th streets.<\/p>\n Evening buses will depart from Lexington Avenue near 57th Street at 4:05 p.m., 5:25 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., making additional pickups along Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street before returning to Montclair and Glen Ridge.<\/p>\n The new route will not affect existing Essex Express service, according to the company.<\/p>\n Tickets cost $24.49 for morning trips into Manhattan and $22.49 for evening trips. Boxcar also offers a $39.99 monthly membership that reduces fares to $16.33 in the morning and $14.99 in the evening, or $31.32 round trip. Boxcar requires passengers to reserve seats in advance through its app or website. <\/a><\/p>\n The company said passengers who reserve on the first day of booking, Oct. 13, will receive a $10 credit.<\/p>\n The Gaslamp Branch is scheduled to operate through at least Nov. 15, when the Portal Bridge work is expected to conclude. However, Boxcar said it hopes to make the service permanent.<\/p>\n Boxcar developed the schedules using commuter survey responses and travel times from existing Essex Express buses.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s reporting on Essex County? We are.<\/p>\n Get the news that matters \u2014 for free in your inbox.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Commuters in Glen Ridge and Montclair will have a new way to get to Midtown Manhattan beginning Tuesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[136856,75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-371048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-boxcar","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/gaslamp-bus.jpeg\")
Morning schedule for Gaslamp Branch Essex Express (BOXCAR)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Boxcar-bus-scaled.jpg\")
A Boxcar bus in Manhattan. The Gaslamp Branch is scheduled to operate through at least Nov. 15, when the Portal Bridge work is expected to conclude. However, Boxcar said it hopes to make the service permanent.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/essex-local-south-mountain-waterfront.png\")
<\/p>\n