Monmouth County, Middletown and NY Waterway are working together to mitigate NJ Transit strike impact

Monmouth County, Middletown Township and NY Waterways officials are working together to lessen the possible inconvenience to commuters in the event of a New Jersey Transit strike starting Sunday morning.

“The County is working with NY Waterway and Middletown to take a proactive approach to the situation we may face next week if there is any disruption to how our residents travel to work,” said Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone. “We understand the inconvenience that a disruption would cause and are actively taking measures to make sure we are doing everything we can to arrange to accommodate an increase in ferry passengers.”

The Belford Ferry Terminal, located at 10 Harbor Way in the Belford section of Middletown, has free parking for 1,000 cars and complimentary van service that circulates throughout the parking lot to pick up passengers and bring them to the ferry terminal. Ferries operate Monday through Friday, with capacity to transport more than 2,000 passengers per day. Ferries from Belford stop at Wall Street’s Pier 11 on the East River, the World Financial Center on the Hudson River, Paulus Hook in Jersey City and Manhattan’s West 39^th Street.

“We are already preparing and if any service interruption occurs, we will provide a plan for handling the increase of passenger flow at the Belford Ferry Terminal,” said Deputy Director Serena DiMaso. “I encourage any commuters planning to take the ferry next week to make an effort to carpool to the Terminal’s parking lots with fellow commuters.”

“Given our successful 14-year partnership serving commuters in Middletown and Ocean Counties, I am confident that Monmouth County, Middletown Township and NY Waterway can work together to address the issue of access to the Belford/Middletown Ferry Terminal if we face an emergency next week,” said NY Waterway President & Founder Arthur E. Imperatore. “We have ferry capacity to get more than 2,000 commuters to work each morning and to get them home. What we must work on is landside access to the terminal.”

“We are working proactively with Monmouth County and New York Waterways to develop an action plan should commuters need to make alternate transportation arrangements because of a NJ Transit strike,” said Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, Ph.D. He noted Middletown has over 1,000 commuter rail permit holders. “We want to do everything we can realistically do to get commuters get to and from work as safely and efficiently as possible.”

Middletown in asking commuter rail permit holders to complete a contingency plan survey on the Township’s website. “We understand that many people are already planning what they will do in the event of a strike,” Scharfenberger said. “Knowing people’s plans and preferences will help us allocate resources to the greatest need.”

Scharfenberger is urging commuters who can work from home on Monday to do so.