Parking at Willowbrook Mall NJ transit to NYC?
I have a plan to get to NYC, I want to park my car at the Willowbrook Mall in NJ and take the NJ Transit bus into Manhattan. Their website says they have 800 spots open for commuters but…
1. How fast do these spots fill up i.e. how early will I need to arrive to snag one?
2. If I just park at the mall as a shopper, go in, buy something, hop the NJ Bus to NYC and then come back before the mall closes with proof of purchase, will they know I wasn’t shopping?
Has anyone tried this method before and has any input? Thanks!
Wait, does it cost anything to park there?
You shouldn’t have difficulty finding a spot – I’ve done that a number of times myself. Granted, if you don’t get there early, you’re unlikely to get one of the spots closest to the buses, but this is not a major issue, because you’re literally talking about an extra couple hundred feet of walking or so – hardly a major inconvenience. If worse comes to worst, you could indeed take one of the spots reserved for shoppers, but I’d only do that as a last resort, and even then make a point of only using one of the spots that isn’t especially desirable for shoppers, i.e. not right near the stores.
This is a good option you’re planning on using, by the way: much cheaper than the train, and reasonably quick – a little over a half hour when traffic is moving efficiently, 45 minutes to an hour when it’s bad.
Center City Buses 2