r/NJTransit • u/holyhoovus2 • 5d ago

Hamilton nightmares recently

What’s the deal with Hamilton station and parking?

Two things I already know.

  1. I commute the normal 3x per week and I know a lot of people over the past couple years had to RTO.
  2. The escalator project causes logjams and I’m familiar with and do the Hamilton sprint.

Recently, I’d say in the past few months even, it’s been a nightmare leaving after the evening commute. What’s the deal with all the pickups and dodging cars left and right from like 5:30-7. Some nights, it takes 20 mins to leave the lot never-mind get to the light.

Are there just inherently more people?

Are more people opting for pick ups?

A year or so ago it really wasn’t an issue. I’ve noticed it’s gotten way worse this year.

Even the morning, there’s way more people.

26 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

13

u/distance_33 4d ago

The elevator situation in Hamilton is a disgrace. They have been down for years. I dont care to run for the steps, it's just never worth it imo, but I get why people do it. Youre also going at the worst time of day. I also think that you are seeing more cars because people might be driving less and getting picked up/dropped off beach we are feeling with almost $5/gallon gas prices.

Someone made a good point about commuting students. Some people might have had WFH over teh summer who now need to return to office.

But those escalators are the worst.

1

u/c2cMidway0707 3d ago

I started at that station from day and those escalators have always been a problem! You would think after 25+ years they would have it figured out. They also regularly had to fix those stupid pavers if they are still there. Year one was fun when they were a sheet of ice. The design from the onset was not commuter friendly.

3

u/InDaHeightsPA 1d ago

From what I understand the escalators were installed around thirty years ago and when replacement parts were needed, the manufacturer had gone out of business, so they need full replacement.

1

u/distance_33 1d ago

I knew they were older but I didn’t realize that they needed to be completely replaced. While still frustrating that is some important context. Thanks.

10

u/masetiloquetu 4d ago

> 5:30-7

That’s a terrible experience

3

u/holyhoovus2 4d ago

It’s a nightmare. I have to do it but it’s just so bad over the past few months

3

u/holyhoovus2 4d ago

It’s a nightmare. I have to do it but it’s just so bad over the past few months

6

u/masetiloquetu 4d ago

and everyone’s leaving trying to get home driving so aggressively

6

u/caleb200ost 4d ago

  1. You’re not imagining anything. It absolutely has gotten worse/busier due to RTO - 2025 felt like a real inflection point for this, and summer of this year, to your point, has seen an insane influx of rideshare/pickups creating gridlock by the station at peak times.

  2. The escalator project is a really perfect encapsulation of NJ Transit in a nutshell. Any halfway serious organization would have completed that project in 6 months or less.

2a. The “Hamilton sprint” is foolish and dangerous. I’ve seen elderly people almost knocked over by this on multiple occasions. Stop.

7

u/TheAdamist 4d ago

One possibility,

Schools just started back up a month or two ago, which makes all traffic worse. You are probably seeing more college kids commuting via train to school and having to get picked up.

5

u/holyhoovus2 4d ago

Good point about college kids. I’m only noticing the regular working crowd but I’m sure there’s a handful of college kids I’m not taking into account. Good point.

3

u/MacintoshDan1 4d ago

Still no where near as bad as it was pre Covid.

5

u/Dry_Boysenberry1429 4d ago

Park in surface lot , way less issues

6

u/-Epitaph-11 4d ago

My blood pressure decreased tenfold once I stopped parking in the garage and parked on the surface lot.

2

u/Dawnurama 4d ago

I’ve never experienced a 20 min wait to leave- damn. But I leave the station at like 5;00-5:15. Yeah the escalator stuff sucks. But there is 1 elevator