Maplewood Ends Jitney Service to Millburn Residents

It was a decision that the Maplewood Township Committee had tried to avoid.

After all, this is one green — meaning environmentally conscious — town. The much-lauded and groundbreaking provides regularly scheduled pickups and dropoffs for commuters on several lines throughout town, reducing car traffic to and from the Maplewood train station — as well as parking demand.

But on Tuesday night, the Township Committee resolved by a vote of 5-0 to end Maplewood jitney service to stops in Millburn as of July 1, 2011, due to low ridership and the inability of the service to cover costs on the extended Wyoming line.

Committeeman Marlon K. Brownlee said that the annual costs for fuel and maintenance on the line were about $3,000, but revenues were at $1,400. An agreed-upon fee from Millburn Township had not been enough to make up the gap considering the lack of increase in ridership to boost revenues. In addition, the Millburn stops extended the length of the jitney's loop, making it take longer to take riders to and from the train station and inconveniencing Maplewood residents.

The Maplewood Township Commitee had considered ending the service to Millburn in and But had reconsidered upon intercession by Millburn leaders and when petitioned by . In late 2010, Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca reached out to Millburn elected officials and worked out to see if Millburn could raise ridership through advertising and promotion.

Brownlee noted that the latest statistics on the Millburn stops provided by the Maplewood Transportation Committee showed only three Millburn riders in the morning and four in the evening as of June 2011. He said that nine Millburn residents had purchased jitney permits for the year — two of those in just the last month.

Ann Ludwig is one of those Millburn riders -- and has been from the beginning, she said.

She was disheartened to get the notice that she'd no longer get to ride the Jitney.

"For such a 'green town,' they are leaving me stranded," she said in an email.  "I could think of many alternatives, such as limiting runs to Millburn, adding new Wyoming Jitney stops closer to the Millburn border, or changing the route on the Millburn side."

Since she lives equidistant to both the Millburn and the Maplewood stations — one mile from each — "My option is walk the mile, or take a bus from my job in Newark."   

Maplewood Township Committee members agreed that all Millburn jitney permit holders would be reimbursed.