DC to NYC and Back

I don’t want to get into a major comparison of Washington, DC vs. New York City, except to say that as of 2013, the Federal government’s massive role in our country has made DC just about as important as NYC, a state of affairs which definitely did not exist before World War II.  And when you consider the cities, you also have to consider the surrounding metropolitan areas.  For DC that’s Montgomery and Prince George’s County, Maryland, plus Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County, Virginia – possibly Loudoun, Prince William and Fauquier as well.  For NYC that includes Long Island, Staten Island, and northern New Jersey.  We could think of southern Jersey as a big suburb of Philadelphia. 

So the DC-NY corridor winds up heavily travelled – by myself included.  My first trip up was in March 1991 to visit my friend Dave, who lives out on Long Island.  From then until a few years ago I took several trips to New Jersey to visit my friend Ken, who progressively moved from Bloomfield, to Ford, and then to Hillsborough, and to this day still lives in NJ.  Since June 2009 I’ve been back and forth to Fort Lee, which is on the NJ side of the George Washington Bridge, a part of NJ which is northwest of Manhattan. 

Plane.  Of course you can fly – if you want.  There is a shuttle, and the standard flight takes 30 minutes.  DC is served by three airports:  DCA (Reagan National), IAD (Dulles), and BWI (Baltimore-Washington), while NYC also has three:  JFK, La Guardia, and Newark.  The problem with flying between the two cities is that the logistics of getting to and from the airport mean it will take longer to do so than the flight itself.  I’ve never flown, just to fly between those two cities, although on home leaves we’ve flown from Paris to DC by way of JFK.  If the train is impractical, the plane is even worse.

Train.  DC is served by Union Station, a huge edifice near where 1^st Street, NW, and Massachusetts Ave. converge.  Like many European stations, it began in 1907 as yet another palace of transportation.  When rail travel began to decline after the national highway system gave Americans their own Autobahn, Union Station likewise fell into decline.  Its renovation has been fitful and controversial.  I rarely travel by train, so every time I’d go there the place would be set up completely differently inside. 

On the New York end, Penn Station is now buried deep under Madison Square Garden.  It was built in 1910 and was originally above-ground, just as spacious and magnificent as the other major rail stations.  In 1968 all the above-ground sections were demolished, replaced by the Madison Square Garden skyscraper complexes above, and became completely underground.  My guess is that most modern depictions of a fabulous, Art Nouveau era train station in Manhattan are actually showing Grand Central Station, which is completely different.  Whereas Penn Station is on 8^th Avenue at 33^rd Street, Grand Central is at 42^nd Street and Lexington Ave.  I’ve seen one concert at MSG – AC/DC, during the summer of 1988.  Although we did in fact use Penn Station for train travel to NYC – the only time we’ve done so – it was not in conjunction with that concert, which simply took place during our time in the city.

As for the logistics of it, the train is as rigidly bound by schedules as the bus, but much more expensive, and thus impractical.  That’s why I never take the train to NYC.

Bus.  DC’s bus terminal used to be the Greyhound Station located a few blocks north of Union Station, which only recently moved to Union Station itself.  The bus terminal was a very small, square building and only served the Greyhound intercity bus system.  Today’s “Chinatown” buses stop elsewhere.   I won’t call Union Station a backwater, but it’s really only busy because of itself.

In NYC, the Port Authority Bus Terminal dates from 1950.  I recall going through there as a kid whenever our family went to NYC by bus, or went through NYC on the way up to Glens Falls to visit our relatives in upstate New York.  The PABT also handles considerable local bus traffic, including the 158 bus to Fort Lee.  It’s a huge, multilevel building which occupies the equivalent of 4 city blocks, on 8^th Avenue at 42^nd Street.  Walk out of the building and you’re on the famous part of 42^nd Street leading directly to Times Square.  Very convenient!  There’s also a bronze statue of Ralph Kramden, the famous bus driver (Jackie Gleason) from “The Honeymooners” right in front, and the New York Times building is across the street. 

Nominally the bus takes as long as driving yourself:  4 hours (add more time due to traffic, as necessary).  In my case, it’s more like 7 hours: getting home from work, getting a ride to the bus stop, and at the NYC end walking to the bus terminal and then getting the 158 bus to Fort Lee.  The price paid for dozing off on a bus and not paying gas or tolls is that the logistics eat up 2-3 hours as well:  plus you have to leave according to a schedule instead of whenever you want.  Nowadays Greyhound has competition from various other small private companies who simply run DC-NY routes, in particular TripperBus (the one I use), but there are others, such as the Bolt Bus and Megabus.

The buses are much cheaper than the train, let you relax instead of driving, and take care of the tolls and gas as well.  They sometimes – not always – stop at the rest stops in northeast Maryland, a big new facility in Delaware, or the smaller ones on the New Jersey Turnpike. 

Car.  If you can’t predict when you’ll come or go, or don’t want to be fixed to a bus schedule and are inclined to drive  yourself, you can do so. In addition to the gas you’ve got tolls.  Lots of them, and as of 2013 they really add up.  Fortunately EZPass makes it more convenient, but the cost remains basically the same.

Let’s start with the baseline.  This is the simplest, most direct route which most people will probably take (and the bus takes it).   For simplicity I’ll just go northbound but note toll differences.

1.         95 or 295 (BW Parkway) from DC to Baltimore.  No toll.  This is the first hour out of 4.  To the extent there is any nasty traffic which would make the trip last 4.5, 5, or 6 hours, it’s probably here.  In 2006 it once took me 3 hours to get from Falls Church to Baltimore, and earlier the DC Beltway traffic was so horrendous, it took me two hours to get from Rosslyn just to the exit for 95 North from the DC Beltway, over near College Park. 

2.         Fort McHenry Tunnel or Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (by way of the 895 Bypass):  $4.00 each way.

3.         JFK Memorial Highway, i.e. 95 from Baltimore to Delaware.  $8.00 northbound only.  This is the second hour out of 4 – so crossing into NJ means you’re halfway there.

4.         Delaware Turnpike (95) from MD to the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  $4.00 each way.

5.         Delaware Memorial Bridge (DMB) from DE to NJ.  $4.00 southbound only.

6.         New Jersey Turnpike from DMB to Exit 18, the very end, at the George Washington Bridge.  Note: the Lincoln Tunnel is Exit 16 and puts you downtown most likely where you want to be.  The full turnpike toll is $13.85 both ways.   The halfway point on this part of the trip is Exit 7A.

NJTP charges a different rate for peak vs. off-peak: the full toll in off-peak is $10.40.  Peak is defined as 7-9 a.m. and 4:30–6:30 p.m. M-F and all day Saturday and Sunday.

Trip Toll Total from DC to exit 18 on the Turnpike: $29.85 northbound, $25.85 southbound, round trip total $55.70 ($48.80 off-peak).

Recently I got back from northern New Jersey (Fort Lee) and took a very strange route, which added 30-60 minutes in travel time but eliminated all tolls.   Is it really possible to avoid them?  Yes, but it takes some work.

Toll saver alternate Route 1.   Northbound, take Route 40 in Delaware from 279 (last MD exit before DE) and get back on 95 just before the DMB (NB); if going southbound, get on Route 40 just after crossing DMB into DE and follow it to 279 in Elkton, MD, back onto 95.   Route 40 is a four lane highway with a huge median and not many stoplights. You can stop for gas or fast food.  Total amount saved:  $4.00 each way.  It’s not a bad change of scenery.  I took this route when DE was redoing its toll plaza, causing massive backup southbound.

Toll saver alternate Route 2.  Northbound: immediately after crossing into NJ on the DMB, keep right and take 295 North.  295 goes parallel to the NJTP a few miles to the west.  When it passes Philadelphia it gets very confusing, but follow signs for 295-Trenton and there’s no problem.  But eventually at exit 36 it allows you to go back to the NJTP at Exit 4.   Going southbound, get off the Turnpike at Exit 4, go west for less than a mile, and then take 295 south.  The savings are $2.60 (peak) and $1.90 (off-peak), or $5.20 and $3.80 respectively, round trip.   The junction at the end is right at the bridge, and at Exit 4 it’s about a half mile, hardly noticeable.  Moreover, the bottom end of the Turnpike is VERY boring, especially at night.  295 isn’t much of a scenic route, but at least you’ve got mile-marked exits fairly often (36 to 1).  The big catch is the confusing business around Philadelphia, but if you follow the signs carefully you’ll stay on track without a problem.  I found this to be a worthwhile detour.

Toll saver alternate Route 3.  Instead of veering east for the DMB on 95 in Delaware, veer north towards Wilmington and Philadelphia and take 95 up that way.  Eventually 95 will cross the river, plunge into New Jersey, loop around on a major detour, and …eventually find its way to Exit 7A on the Turnpike.  This is kind of a pain in the ass detour, plus you run the risk of hitting Philadelphia traffic.  The savings are $4.30 peak, $3.35 off-peak, for $8.60 peak roundtrip or $6.70 off-peak roundtrip.  I don’t find this detour to be worth the savings.

Toll saver alternate Route 4.  This is the big one:  off into banjoland Pennsylvania but NO TOLLS.  Roundtrip savings approximately $50.  Additional driving time 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on traffic, but it is a VERY different route and during the day quite scenic and picturesque.  No huge smoking refineries, no huge bridges or rivers, no tunnels, no Dupont ethyl lead plants, but lots of liquor stores, tattoo parlors, farmland, etc. 

It’s a bit different each way, but the general idea is 95 > 695 > 83 > 30 > 222 > I78 > 287 > I80.

1.         Drive up 95 North or BW Parkway to the Baltimore Beltway (695).  Take 695 west/north to Towson.

2.         Take 83 North up to York, Pennsylvania.  This becomes a 4 lane highway winding its way through hills and forests, somewhat reminiscent of the lower Turnpike but more up and down.

3.         Get off (N. Hills Rd/462), continue straight on Hills and take a right onto 30 East.  Follow this for about 30 miles.

4.         Take 222 northeast all the way to Allentown.  This is by far the worst of the trip.  The road varies from highway to two lane road, back and forth, and several times you have to exit 222 onto 222 (???).  The key is to continue on “222” towards Allentown and not get distracted by the route numbers and road changes.

5.         Just south of Allentown, get on I-78 East.  This takes you east into New Jersey and remains a major highway all the way through.  By this time you’re probably fed up with “small roads”, especially if you’re driving at night and can’t see much anyway.

6.         Take 287 North.   This remains a highway, apparently curving up parallel to the Garden State Parkway (which is to the east).  287 N eventually meets the NY State Thruway if you follow it over the NY State Line.

7.         Take 80 East.  The interchange is exit 43 on 80, about ten miles west of Wayne.  Follow 80 East to NYC.

            Overall time:  just under 5 hours and NO tolls.

As noted, southbound it’s a bit different.  It’s still I80 > 287 > I78 … 222 > 30 > 83 > 695 > 95, but getting from I78 to 222 is the tricky part.

1.         Take 80 West to 287 S.  As of 11/13 they’re doing construction on that interchange, so the traffic is nasty.

2.         Take 287 S to I78 West.

3.         Here’s where it gets crazy.  To avoid the toll in I78 in PA, you get off I78 right before PA, at Route 122, getting on Main Street, a winding two lane road through Phillipsburg, NJ, crossing a bridge at Union Square over the river into Easton, PA, through the traffic circle, right on 3^rd St., left on Snyder, which then gets you onto 22 (Lehigh Valley Thruway), which leads to I-78.  

4.         Almost immediately after getting onto I-78, take 100 S, then a right onto Schantz road, which turns into 222 south.  

5.         Continue following “222 South” to get off onto 222 South (???), finally leading to 30 West towards York.  30 crosses the Susquehanna River, a similar two-bridge deal just like all the way down in northeast MD and 95. (the nicer parallel bridge to the south is 462 connecting Wrightsville on the west bank and Columbia on the east bank).

6.         As 30 West hits York at N. Hills Road, take a left turn at a stop light, go down the road about a mile, take a right onto Market, and immediately get onto 83 South.  From there it’s back down to 695 West, 95 South and the DC area again.  NO TOLLS.  

** Note 1: the westbound toll on I78 from PA into NJ is only $1.00; the toll is actually for the bridge itself.  I found it worthwhile to waive the "no toll" concept, eat the $1.00 EZPass toll, and simply stay on I78 from NJ into PA, then take 222 south at Allentown.
** Note 2: When going to/from Frederick, MD to NYC, it works better to take 70 West to Hagerstown, pick up I81, then follow that to Harrisburg and pick up I78 East, which starts there.  

Having a GPS is a huge help with this, as you might imagine.  The Android maps app can be programmed to avoid tolls (I83 route), which gave me a route identical to the AAA TripTik, which is what us twentieth century fossils use. 

I get off in Fort Lee, NJ, without actually going into NYC itself (except on the bus, but then the bus company pays the tolls).  Driving up the Turnpike you’d go into NYC in the Lincoln Tunnel, which dumps you between 42 Street and 34 Street on the west side of the island.  Driving on the alternate route would get you into NYC over the George Washington Bridge, which is up around 175 Street, also on the west side of Manhattan.  From there you can go east to the Bronx (and on to Connecticut), southeast on FDR Drive over to Queens or Brooklyn, or just stay on the West Side Highway.  The tolls for cars on the Lincoln Tunnel and GW Bridge are the same:  $13 cash, $10.25 peak, $8.25 off-peak, and $4.25 “carpool” (3 or more persons).   They only charge going INTO Manhattan – “escape from NY” is free.

I bitch about the tolls, but the real benefit was simply a completely different route than the one I’ve endured since 2009.  I really do NOT like the lower half of the Turnpike, especially at night.