Public Transportation Options

[kembe]

It must be here somewhere: A guide to reaching the trail by public transportation? Love the commuter train stop in NY and wonder where else we can get to by train or bus ...

[Amanita]

I know that AWOL's the AT Guide has public transit listed for each town. The name of the service can then be googled for schedules, prices, ect.

[Blissful]

Harper's Ferry - train station right there.

[Feral Bill]

Buses to Bear Mountain, Arden (the other side of Harriman SP), Greenwood Lake, and Deleware Water Gap. See NY NJ Trail Comference for more details. Lots of hikes in Harriman SP with bus or train access in several places.

[Alligator]

It must be here somewhere: A guide to reaching the trail by public transportation? Love the commuter train stop in NY and wonder where else we can get to by train or bus ...

There was an old thread about this so I merged the two.

Megabus was mentioned yesterday and there are a few cities that are close to the trail on their routes. They also stop in NYC and DC which can be useful for connecting service.

Pittsfield, MA has a Greyhound stop. Pittsfield has local bus service with Bershire Regional Transit Authority (same link as post #17). There is an Amtrak route through Pittsfield MA, the Lake Shore Limited run. That train goes to Springfield, MA where another Amtrak line runs, The Vermonter. The Vermonter goes south through NYC and on to DC. The schedules do not compliment, but Greyhound also runs from Pittsfield to Springfield MA and that bus run is favorable to catching the train south. Additionally, the Amtrak line Ethan Allen Express will get you from NYC to Rutland, VT.

[Alligator]

I didn't know about the train service in Pittsfield, which I found using the public transit option while getting directions in Google. I don't think Google has all the public transit routes in their system but it might be useful to try.

[lunatic]

There is bus transportation to Bear Mountain Inn by Short Line/Coach USA bus:

http://www.coachusa.com/shortline/ss...d=445183734869

Short Line/Coach also has a bus line that goes to Harriman, NY and it will drop hikers at the A.T. on NY17 coming from NY Port Authority. Getting back to NYC from there you have to road walk 2.5 miles to the Harriman MTA station and catch the bus or the Metro North train - which just reopened after damage from Hurricane Irene was repaired.
http://www.coachusa.com/shortline/ss...d=709526629339

[ratfaceraines]

MEGA-BUS to Christiansburg, shuttle to pearisburg, catawba...google mega bus. stops in most major northeasten cities, few stops in between and inexpensive(i.e.,d.c. to c'burg,non-stop, $28) MEGA BUS

[Strategic]

Adding to the excellent suggestions from all (especially Feral Bill and lunatic, who named the transit stops I've used most frequently) I'll add a couple more for the mid-Atlantic states and comment of the NY/NJ stops.

First, I am very fond of the stop near Greenwood Lake that Feral Bill mentioned. It's a NJ Transit bus (route 196/197) that runs between the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC and Port Jervis on the Delaware. It actually runs straight up NY17A, crosses the trail and will make a flag stop at Kain Rd. about 200 yards north of the trail crossing. I find it a lot easier for access than the Harriman MTA station, though if you call a cab from the Arden Rd./NY17 junction where the trail crosses, they can take you right there without the roadwalk along a very busy highway (a couple of the local cabbies tend to have business cards stuffed into the payphone stand at the crossing, so it's pretty easy to find one most of the time.)

Now on to some more obscure transit options.

While the bus service from Philly to DWG is very nice, it's probably the only really well-known option in Pennsylvania. But there are three others that I know of that are almost as useful (in one case, possibly just as useful.)

Moving trail south from DWG, the next transit opportunity is at Lehigh Gap. If you take a look at the LANTA schedule page (which covers Allentown and the surrounding areas) you'll find the schedule for route 218 which begins at the Allentown Transportation Center and terminates at the Wal-Mart in Walnutport. This is only 1.5 miles south of the trail crossing on PA145 and an easy hitch or walk to the trail. It's also an easy place to get to, since a couple of different bus services run to there from NYC and Philly.

Then you hit a long gap from Lehigh down to Duncannon, with its CAT system. This is actually the easiest place to get to by public transit on the trail in PA, rivaling DWG. Both this bus and the one below to Carlisle originate at the Harrisburg Transportation Center, which is also the Harrisburg Amtrak station. If you catch the route 23 bus from Harrisburg, it takes you to the Clarks Ferry Park & Ride, which is at the eastern end of the Clarks Ferry Bridge and directly on the trail. This is almost direct access to Duncannon as well. Some caveats for this line: it runs only twice a day, so be prepared for either an early morning or a late afternoon ride if you use it, and it does not run on weekends or holidays at all (strictly M-F.)

The last route is the route C bus, also out of Harrisburg to Carlisle. This bus (except for some of the express versions of the route) goes down US11 (Harrisburg Pike) with a scheduled stop at Kost Rd., .7 miles from the trail crossing. The bus goes directly past the crossing, but there's no scheduled stop closer (though if you sweet-talk the bus driver and it's not a busy day he might do a request stop for you at the actual crossing.) This is a much more frequent route than the 23 bus, but still doesn't operate on Sundays or holidays.

Once we get past the area of Harrisburg, there's really not much else before you get to Harpers Ferry. The rabbittransit system has a commuter bus (the route 15N) that links Harrisburg and Gettysburg with a stop between at Dillsburg, but that's as close as you can come and that's still some 15 miles from the trail at the Transfer Center in Gettysburg (and even though you're technically closer in Dillsburg, it's actually harder to get to the trail there unless you go the 7 miles by road to Boiling Springs on much less used roads than run out of Gettysburg.)

Hagerstown, MD has the County Commuter system, that has a bus that runs to Smithsburg that might work, since it has a stop on Rt.77 just east of the town and only 1.5 miles from the trail crossing (just north of Ensign Cowall shelter.) The problem there is not getting to the trail, but getting to Hagerstown, which requires taking the DC Metro to the Shady Grove station in Maryland and then catching the MTA's route 991 commuter bus from there. This bus also stops at the Myersville Park & Ride, which is just off I-70 about 4 (road) miles from the trail crossing at US40. The bus actually crosses the trail, but it's on I-70 at the time, so there's no opportunity to get off anywhere near it.

That takes us right up to Harpers Ferry and the well-known train station there. From there on south my knowledge gets too foggy to be reliable and has probably changed drastically since I was there last (it's been a long time.) Hope all this helps the Public Transit effort, it's a worthwhile enterprise and a benefit to all trail users (and the environment we use.) Keep up the good work!

[JansportD2]

The Harrisburg PA (CAT) route 23 bus runs in the afternoon (one bus daily) that stops literally on the trail at Clarks Ferry across the river from Duncannon. Don't get on the express bus - it goes right by the Clarks Ferry Park and Ride. http://www.cattransit.com/routepdfs/...illersburg.pdf Also, MegaBus runs from several Northeastern cities to the Harrisburg Mall, which is a short bus ride from downtown. Megabus is cheaper and more comfortable (IMO) than Greyhound.

[Skyline]

Amtrak's Crescent (NYC>New Orleans via Atlanta), a train between Lynchburg and DC, and the four-day-a-week Cardinal (Chicago>NYC), stop in Culpeper VA, about 25 miles from the AT at Thornton Gap in SNP. There are taxis in Culpeper, Front Royal, and Luray that can get you to/from.

Amtrak and Greyhound stop in Charlottesville for those wanting to join the AT further south in SNP. Cabs in C-ville.

See ATC's shuttle list for other train/bus-to-AT travel options east of SNP.

[JimSproul]

There was an old thread about this so I merged the two.

Megabus was mentioned yesterday and there are a few cities that are close to the trail on their routes. They also stop in NYC and DC which can be useful for connecting service.

Pittsfield, MA has a Greyhound stop. Pittsfield has local bus service with Bershire Regional Transit Authority (same link as post #17). There is an Amtrak route through Pittsfield MA, the Lake Shore Limited run. That train goes to Springfield, MA where another Amtrak line runs, The Vermonter. The Vermonter goes south through NYC and on to DC. The schedules do not compliment, but Greyhound also runs from Pittsfield to Springfield MA and that bus run is favorable to catching the train south. Additionally, the Amtrak line Ethan Allen Express will get you from NYC to Rutland, VT.

You can get off the Amtrak "Vermonter" in White River Junction and it is not too bad getting to Hanover from there.

[chiefiepoo]

In Charlottesville, VA there is JAUNT
http://www.ridejaunt.org/aboutus.asp

If you fly, bus or AMTRAK there, they might be a possible solution as JAUNT runs some routes west into Nelson County that go within a few miles of the trail at Rockfish gap. I64 / US250 at the Skyline Drive. They also have some on demand service. I called them in '10 for a ride and they could get me to Afton, which is real close to the AT, on a scheduled route but it was limited to certain days. I wound up with a friend of a friend running me up to Rockfish Gap. C'ville airport has occasional good fares via USAir, if you are a flyer. There is no bus from airport to town and the cab drivers are predatory. Call Jaunt, they were very open to helping.